By John Gifford
Publisher and Editor
At this time of year as the Presidential race comes to a head, it is only appropriate that we look to he example of John F. Kennedy’s campaign strategies and techniques and perhaps try to emulate them for increasing and maintaining our customer base.
Kennedy’s campaigns — House of Representatives in 1946, 1948, and 1950; Senate in 1952 and 1956; and President in 1960 — utilized strategic networking, media outreach, development of celebrity status, and an effective support system.
In his initial race for the U.S. House from Massachusetts, Kennedy effectively used a grass roots approach, speeches at targeted meetings, and sell-through methods.
Grass roots equalled hand-shaking at manufacturing plants in the morning, at lunch time, and at closing each day. In between these times, Kennedy’s staff set up teas for women from each neighborhood — from 20 to 200 in each gathering — at which Kennedy would charm these would-be voters.
In the evenings, one to three rallies were set up at which Democratic faithful and their guests would attend, and Kennedy would give a rousing speech.
The key period during these meetings came after the speech when Kennedy would enlist as volunteers those who came forward to shake his hand.
The “sell-through” strategy in those days did not involve email lists, but it was tactically effective. One early key staff member, Dave Powers, was babysitting for his sister’s children when Kennedy walked up to the third floor apartment and knocked on his door.
Kennedy knew that Dave had an intimate knowledge of his neighborhood and knew everybody. Growing up, Dave had numerous paper routes and he was currently ushering at five masses every Sunday. Kennedy won Powers over and relied upon him in his own district to provide information on where the best places to shake hands were, who to get to run evening meetings, and what issues to stress.
Kenneth O’Donnell was another early Kennedy enthusiast who was well-known in his neighborhood. O’Donnell went on to organize JFK’s presidential campaign schedule. In 1946 and in the 1948 and 1950 House races, Kennedy relied upon his own recruits, often new to politics, to run his campaign. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, encouraged him to make use of the existing Democratic power base. JFK , however, wanted persons who were loyal to him personally, not workers who would easily switch allegiances.
By the time Kennedy ran for the Senate from Massachusetts in 1952, he needed additional strategies to win. He still had his loyal-follower base, but he needed additional help. He collaborated with William Dever, who was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Massachusetts. They shared campaign headquarters and activities in the Boston area, while maintaining separate campaigns throughout the rest of the state. Both JFK and Dever won.
One other example of coalition building happened in 1956 and was ultimately crucial in influencing Kennedy’s nomination as Democratic Presidential candidate in 1960. Again, Paul Dever collaborated with Kennedy. This time, Kennedy was running for the Massachusetts State Democratic Chairmanship. With Dever’s help, Kennedy ousted the incumbent William Burke and went to the 1956 National Democratic Convention as the head of his state’s contingent. Without this title of leadership, it is unlikely he would have been asked to introduce Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson at the Convention. Kennedy’s powerful introductory speech went far in springboarding him toward the 1960 Presidential Candidacy.
Grassroots networking, sell-through, coalitions, and achieving leadership status were key ingredients in Kennedy’s progressive movement to the Presidency. Consider creating a marketing campaign for your business that incorporates Kennedy’s strategies and tactics.
In the next issue, I’ll give some examples for business that are patterned after Kennedy’s own marketing methods.
Kudos to Bill Bell, who arranged an interview with nationally known author Jeffrey Gitomer!
John Gifford can be reached at
johng@indybiz.com.
