I’ve spent the better part of my career in Marketing, and at the risk of dating myself, this means I have planned, executed, and reported on everything from “dial for dollars” campaigns on dial telephones (yes, these are a real thing) to Google AdWords. And you know what? Unless you have products like Apple or Marketing budgets like Anheuser-Busch, it can be difficult to get noticed, especially online. There are a lot of people out there competing to just get their voices heard… or their products into your homes… or their services on your “preferred provider list.” It’s easy to get overlooked amidst all of the digital noise.
So imagine my delight when I walked into work yesterday and discovered one of our presidential candidates voted on our flagship product, the Franklin Voting Booth, and therefore pictures and videos of our product were suddenly everywhere. And not just on obscure politico websites. We’re talking People Magazine! People! And of course in a “the universe loves me” moment, the pictures went viral. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tumblr (is that still a thing?)… My phone exploded with family and friends asking, “Is that your voting booth?” For a brief moment, I felt just a little bit like a Kardashian (but with her clothes on).
Andy Warhol memorably said, “In the future, everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” Turns out, he was right. But I think the sentiment behind Warhol’s comment missed the mark (voting pun intended). It’s not the attention that matters. It’s what follows. And what’s followed for our company in the wake of this “product placement” is a wonderful outreach from our manufacturer, our customers, and our advocates. You see, while to many it’s an image of a presidential candidate voting on Election Day, to these individuals it’s an image of efficiency and accessibility. For the voters (including yesterday’s “celebrity”), the Franklin voting booth allows for multiple voters at a time, one of whom may have a disability. For the poll workers, that little four-station voting booth represents a user-friendly design – facilitating easy assembly and easy dismantling in the polling place. And for our employees, that little four-station voting booth represents a connection – to thousands of county clerks across the country who are charged with facilitating an expedient, accessible election experience for all of their residents and thus turn to Inclusion Solutions for products and guidance.
So thank you to the Westchester Counties, to the People Magazines, and to the tweeters, posters, emailers, and callers. You made this Marketer’s day. Nah… if you only get 15 minutes, then you probably made this Marketer’s career.