Local Elections, old codgers and phone zapping…
We were in our local, the Inniscarra Bar, one of the most authentic old style pubs you will find in the country, part of that dying breed where the walls will talk warmly to you about everyone who has sat there before you and before them.
It was early on a Saturday evening and we were having a sneaky pint before heading home to cook some grub.
The two old codgers sitting at the bar sipped quietly on their pints and every now and then there was some chit chat between them. One of the guys had a battle weary black dog with him who was busy going from one patron to the next, sniffing and being friendly.
For some strange reason there was a large election poster leaning up against the wall for one of the local candidates, Shane Fallon. I’m not really sure if this was a practical joke or if it was a serious election tactic by the candidate?!
Out of nowhere the two men got very animated and their conversation got louder and louder..
“Those f##king posters are a f##king disgrace and they should be banned as they are ruining the environmentâ€
Wow….it went on..
“Sure, don’t they have email and don’t they have the internet and..and don’t they have, you know yourself, can’t they just zap phones the way they do?â€
“You are so right, a f##king disgrace!“, followed by lots of huffing and puffing and then back to their pints.
Were they right??
It’s funny …just a few days beforehand I was standing in front of my Dublin Chamber Council colleagues presenting them an overview of our business sector.
To do this I reached out to many of the member companies, both large and small and looked for their feedback about trends in the sector.
A BIG MESSAGE was that there was a huge shift from traditional media to digital but this was loaded with a gentle warning that clients need to be very careful not to put all of their eggs into this one channel as you just won’t reach your audience in a way that your message will land.
As I walked back from the pub I noticed all of the election posters – who do I like the look of?
When I pushed opened the front door open I looked at the flyers that had been pushed through the letter box – who are you and what are you promising?
And if I believe you really care about the location I do expect you to knock on my door and chat to me.
I tweeted three of the candidates who had dropped in their literature and two responded. One just took herself out of the running!
It’s great that the old codgers got so animated about the environment, but unfortunately a candidate who relies only on email (GDPR has that one squeezed to death!!) and zapping phones (I’m taking this to mean social media) will not be successful.
The candidates need to integrate their social media with their traditional media and however they manage it, they need to be recognised, liked and if possible connect in some real way with the voters.
Greg