If you’ve been following American politics recently (aka, you’re a masochist like me), you’ve heard our main candidates championing unity. In their speeches anyway. It made me think about how that DAM slogan - the single source of truth - can apply to any unified campaign.
The latest news - that President Biden is no longer running and instead endorsing his VP Harris as the Democratic candidate - could have gone very differently if the party reaction was anything but the unity we’ve seen. Kamala Harris received over $81 million in donations, the most in any 24-hour period ever, along with countless endorsements and the majority of delegates pledged to almost certainly win the nomination. The quick, clear, unified response was far from certain even a week ago and a sign that a lot of planning went into Biden’s decision to end his campaign on his terms. Usually, the Democratic Party is a little messier (I say fondly), with infighting, nit-picking, and purity tests even when the fundamental tenets are similar.
In contrast, the Republican party of the past 10 years has been more closely committed to party unity. Even when candidates’ opinions on domestic and foreign policy issues vary widely, the voters tend to get in line and vote for their nominee. Past rivals endorse each other. This has served them well - even if you disagree with 90% of Trump’s positions, as a Republican you might look past them for the overall goals of a conservative Supreme Court. Long game thinking.
So how can we take the best of these very different worldviews and apply them to something on a (usually!) much smaller scale with our DAM strategy?
Define your values or your rival will do it for you: Brainstorm with your team to learn how the DAM can support the company, institution, or client business goals. Do you need to break down silos? Communicate and reinforce a rebrand? Recover from a legal issue? Lower costs? Knowing what is valued can help focus the strategy to prioritize solutions. When a tough decision has to be made quickly, look to the core values and choose what gets you closer to that goal.
KISS (Keep it simple, stupid): As former President Clinton said when discussing the economy, keeping it simple can help clarify issues. From language - why choose “utilize” when “use” will do? - to asset structure, the simplest solution might be the best. Think in slogans when you need to communicate anything complicated that you want to keep memorable. Maybe name your DAM platform something on-brand and even funny. We built the LOL (Library Online) to keep it light and fun while clearly stating the purpose of the program at bumper sticker length.
Pick your champions wisely: Who is talking about your DAM is almost as important for its success as how it works. Work hard to educate and win over key stakeholders. Listen to their needs and (as long as values align, we aren’t Machiavelli) find ways to give them quick wins. You can’t be in every room but you can increase knowledge and adoption of the DAM with a growing group of invested supporters.
Communicate your message early and often: Don’t wait for perfect to start sharing your plans and progress. You don’t want to go too far down the wrong path. Communicate resource needs early too, especially if you need more money or people added to the DAM team. Maybe try to avoid the onslaught of daily texts asking for donations though! A weekly update to your close stakeholders and a monthly broad newsletter to the wider community should be enough to keep the DAM fresh in people’s minds. Share what you have done to benefit the company as a whole. No one cares what your intentions are, so plan to show results.
Following these tips might get your DAM closer to the goal of a company unity tool. Tie in some upstream and downstream product integrations and you’ve made it Infrastructure Week every day. Balance the entrenched power of a well-known entity with some exciting new bells and whistles to attract swing voters and single-issue voters. Unity might still be elusive in politics, but our DAMs can reflect the best of those goals.