3 Questions with Resonates Bryan Gernert

Kristina: Resonate's roots are in politics, and you continue to work with political marketers and advocacy groups. Which issues is Resonate tracking closely this election year?

Bryan Gernert, CEO, Resonate: This year, the Presidential Election will dominate the political landscape and as such so we are following attitudes surrounding the economy: the importance of a balanced budget, taxes, and the funding debate surrounding defense and education. We also took a deep dive into attitudes surrounding the Healthcare Reform bill. Our research showed that a majority of Americans are fine with the Bill, if the Individual Mandate is removed. That is something for the Congress to think about as they debate its' future.
Political campaigns come to us because we can target voters based on those issues, as well as ideology, partisanship, voter history, environmental concerns, healthcare, same-sex marriage, gun control come immediately to mind.

Kristina: Do values differ for voters and consumers? How do you tell which are the most important?

Bryan: Voters are consumers and vice versa, the difference is that instead of voting on a ballot for a candidate the consumer votes with their wallet. In other words, a person's values are their values. Putting it in the context of the person as a voter or the person as a consumer of a particular product doesn't change who they are or what they value. The values that motivate a person in the voting booth or at the check-out aisle are the same. If you value "belonging" that doesn't change because you are making a different type of choice.

Kristina: What is the biggest lesson that brands need to learn, and that political marketers already understand?

Bryan: [T]he simple answer is that Brands need to learn that values gets results.
The reality is that agency and brand media teams possess an immense amount of data about their target audiences. They have been refining their understanding for years. When they hear "values", it is understandable that is sounds similar to what they already do.

But, there is a fundamental difference. Their data describes what people have done in the past, what they own today. Values provide insights into what people will do and buy tomorrow; it's a much better indicator of the future.

Brands have been talking about aspirational targeting for years and now with Resonate they can actually do it. And the political marketers have already taken it out for a very rigorous test drive and proven it works.

Tags: 2012 Election, advertising, online advertising, Resonate, tips