This gives a whole new meaning to Step to the Beat. I bet they got their 10,000 steps in that day.

Thanks to Andrea for helping me solve the youtube embedding issue. Now I’m going to go hog wild on youtube embedding;)

I contacted the NB Liberal Women’s association trying to find out the stats on the number of female voters in NB and to what degree they market to Women. I’ve heard nothing back from them as of yet. The PC group doesn’t have a link on their website anymore, so I may drop in to the campaign office near me and ask them. However, Rosella Melanson of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women did respond. She said that there were no recent studies with regards to woman voters, but that it is thought that they vote as often as men. She did say that very little of the political marketing is geared to women, even when it is known that undecided voters are mostly women.

I found this article from 2000 that she wrote that discusses some of these issues, albeit a bit outdated.

The people most likely to be influenced by a political campaign are the undecided. Women make up 66 per cent of the undecided vote in this federal election. Yet, it seems no party is making a pitch for women’s vote.

<<--snip-->>

Faced with such a lack of choice, many women may not vote, leaving men to have a disproportionate influence on the outcome. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain for four years, I figure.

In light of that (I want to have a reason to complain, so I have to vote;)), I see that both the PC’s and the Liberals now have some of their ad campaign up on their website including a youtube video from Shawn Graham, not a bad marketing idea Shawn. Makes it easier for us bloggers to share with everyone. Of course the first words out of his mouth are his branded negative put down marketing. He focuses on the orimulsion fiasco, and the rest of the ad isn’t bad, but I still think that he needs to have other emphasis in his ad campaign and I assume he will. Graham’s constant put-down marketing really bothers me, which means it bothers other potential voters as well (many of them women). He has a whole page on his website dedicated to it, called Tory watch. When I think Graham, I instantly hear in my head, all the radio and news clips of him saying what the PC’s aren’t doing. This election campaign is no different, his radio, tv and newspaper ads all start out with the tell tale Orimulsion fiasco. Tell me (or better yet, show me) what you will do for me as a citizen in NB, and let that speak for itself against the PC’s. I don’t need you to tattle on the PC’s for what they’ve done to the province. I also hope that he will have other ads besides energy ads. Energy is important and I care about the cost of my power bill, but I want to hear more. Yes, he’s talking increased daycare spots, autism support, and I know that because I’ve read the paper and listened to the news on the radio, but the ads are supposed to be influencing me, and so far they’re not.

See I told you, I’d innundate you with youtube video;)

The PC ad (radio, not youtube) is not bad. It’s positive, covers a lot of area and is almost convincing. And maybe that’s partly because he’s easier to listen to without seeing his face, live, full blown, etc.

A quick side note. I think the liberal website is by far the most informative and well laid out. Followed by the PC website and last the NDP website. The NDP website is terrible, difficult to read and does not have much information on it. 78% of women use the internet to research their choices in decisions they make. The more informative a site is, the more they are likely to trust the source. It’s the first thing I did when I went looking for information about the candidates, hit their websites. The PC website has too much of Lord’s face plastered all over it again. It may sound trivial, but it’s part of branding, and seeing him reinforces to me the branding he’s created with me, which is why I found his radio ad more effective. He’s also jumped on the negative band wagon with the liberal reality check. A lot of the articles are pdf files and a bit annoying to load them all if you want to read them. Overall, I’d rate the liberal website the winner here.

The truth is, I don’t like Shawn Graham. I don’t like Bernard Lord. I don’t dislike Allison Brewer. Do I know any of them personally . . . no. My perceptions of them are based from many experiences, tidbits heard in the news, read in the paper, and other media venues. I’m sure they are all very nice people, and it’s not that I don’t like them per se, it’s who they have branded themselves to be to me. Which is why I think waiting until election time to suddenly make promises, or kiss the babies so to speak is too late. The only reason it’s different with Allison Brewer is because I haven’t been exposed to her as much in the media and so the branding is weak.

Truthfully, and anyone who reads my blog knows, my views are probably more in line with the NDP. Does that mean I’m voting for Allison Brewer? Not likely (nor do I know of a candidate in my area as of yet). As Spinks said in a comment somewhere, the NDP in NB is a fringe party and while I may support many of their issues, I don’t believe in their ability to actually win. I know, it’s a catch 22, how can they win if people like myself won’t support them. Am I showing less integrity by voting for someone else. It’s reality. It’s why I think for the most part, politics, voting, etc. is all a sham. And not only that, I’m not really voting for Brewer, Graham or Lord. I have to decide between T.J. Burke and Mike Smith. That’s something I completely don’t understand. What if Mike Smith will provide the better choice for my neighborhood but I want the liberals to win the election?

I’m feeling it already, the voter apathy. I feel this every time it’s election time. No Clear choices, despite what the NDP may have in their tagline.  

I snagged this from Dean this morning and had to share it with everyone. Thanks Dean for the great youtube finds.

When I was a kid I would sometimes go with my Dad when he had to travel around NB for work. I loved that special time that was just the two of us. I think I’ll call my Dad tonight.

I stumbled on this site the other day. From the site (US stats);

This market is continually growing at a rapid pace, yet how many commercials have you seen speak to these women? Perhaps this would change if more marketing companies realized that over 57% of single women currently own their own homes and live fully independent lives. Single women now equal one-fifth of the nation’s population and 42 percent of all registered women voters.  

Do you know that when it comes to politics our politicians are also missing the boat? Without a clear message to this market it is no wonder that statistics show that very few single women exercise their right to vote. In the 2000 presidential election 68 percent of married women voted, but only 52 percent of single women voted.

If I were in charge of a political campaign my first order of business would be to spend time discovering what keeps these women from voting. If I were running a company and I knew I had been missing this demographic I’d be calling a meeting to make sure I don’t continue to make such a costly mistake. How can you market to them? It can be done in three steps:

• Learn what their concerns are?
• Find out what is keeping them up at night?
• Use the above answers to outline how to be more inclusive and explain policies and goals that would improve the lives of these single women, not just “working families.”

This is not rocket science - this is Marketing 101 to an untapped market. Single women have the ability to alter the outcome of an election. They have the ability to grow your businesses and increase your sales. Perhaps it’s time we all began to speak clearly to this market.

Are any of the campaigns here thinking like that, I doubt it. They have their demographics, but it’s based off the old model I think. But I think we’re going to see a shift in how election campaigns are run in the next few years. With web 2.0 creating communities for blogging, youtube videos, etc. the media is changing. Who defines who are the experts is changing. We’ll see campaigns analyzing demographics more carefully as they see that the media is shifting and how they can reach those demographics. Or at least I hope that NB catches up because I know for sure that the rest of Canada and the US is going that way. In many ways, the everyday voter will finally be able to have a stronger voice, should they choose to excise it.

And that’s it for me for election stuff, on to real life again;)

I’m actually going to be making my vote early next week due to my upcoming trip to Austen, TX (yahooooo, ok, ok, I’m having trouble containing my enthusiasm). I’ve never been to the Boston or Atlanta airport, I must make sure that I don’t walk around with my jaw hanging open that practically screams “I’m from NB” lol. I’ve certainly travelled in Canada a fair bit, lived in Toronto and Montreal, but haven’t really visted the U.S. and I understand that the Atlanta airport is a fair size larger than the Toronto Airport. So I confess I might be a bit in awe over the whole thing;)

Skylark has written some great posts lately about beauty and the perception of beauty. From discussions of beauty pageants for young girls to this very graphic and disturbing video of women who starve themselves to try and look like this, which shows what we see in the magazines, etc. it isn’t real;

link in case the youtube video doesn’t work work for you.

I think Dove’s campaign for real beauty is a real step forward in marketing. Yes, it’s highly successful and has made a boat load of money. However, they started a self-esteem fund for girls and the amount of discussion and appreciation by women around the world has been monumental. I’m not a Dove user normally, but it’s true that I have a warm and fuzzy feeling about their product. They branded themselves well, but most of all in an honest way.

I used to breathe a sigh of relief that I have boys, thinking in some ways it might be easier. But I’ve been realizing and reading that boys now too are becoming harder on themselves, much more body conscious, starting to work out at a much younger age and turning to steroids to bulk themselves up. Last week, Alec complained about being too skinny. I cringed when I heard it. I know a degree of self awareness and comparison is normal, but as a parent, I think it is really important to have a continuous dialogue about body image, about what’s real and what isn’t. Regardless if we have boys or girls. Even with my continuous effort at weight loss, I want to bring across the message about becoming healthy and not about dieting. That diabetes and heart disease runs in my family and that I want to avoid that. I don’t stand in front of the mirror and say I look fat. I want Alec and Bram to know about being healthy and making healthy choices and not think their Mom was just trying to get skinny.

So kudos to Dove and to Skylark and all the others for raising awareness.