The Enthusiasm Gap
Originally coined as a political term, the “enthusiasm gap” was meant to describe the different levels of enthusiasm between political parties for their respective candidates. Pollsters served it up, and cable news talking heads ate it up. For the past decade, in every election, someone talks about the enthusiasm gap. Republicans were not enthusiastic about Romney in 2012, and he loses. Democratic voters were not too excited about Hillary in 2016, and she suffers defeat. Roughly 60% of eligible voters vote in a Presidential election, but only 40% will bother in the upcoming midterms.
Who’s to blame? The media? The people? The candidates? The answer is D) All of the above.
The media’s job is to present the news, but they show us their bias.
The people’s job is be informed citizens, but many — especially Millennials — suffer information overload, and have stopped voting.
The candidate’s job is to inspire you to vote for them, but most fail miserably at this.
Now think about your own company. Do you have an “enthusiasm gap?” Are people biased against your products or services? Do your customers suffer from information overload? Do you have a hard time engaging Millennials? Do you inspire people to buy your products or services?
If you answered “yes,” then maybe it’s time to inject some enthusiasm into your brand. #BoldBrandsWin
Monday, April 16 – “Love You Gut, Protect Your Butt.”
On Monday we had a great conference call with Hitting Cancer Below The Belt founder Melinda “Mindy” Conklin. Madison+Main is so proud to support their efforts in raising awareness of colorectal cancer and helping our community prevent this senseless disease. The Madison+Main-iacs and I will be supporting them by drinking beer and raising money on Tuesday, April 24th at the “Love Your Gut, Protect Your Butt” event at Social 52. RSVP here and let’s have a little fun and raise some funds for a great cause.
Tuesday, April 17 – Tuesday Nothing Happened
Just kidding. There was plenty of work going on at Madison+Main, but we recently changed our policy and cleared our calendars on Tuesdays, which are now dubbed “Production Days.” I spent most of my day in a studio… A design studio, a recording studio, and even managed to work with our interns to help them finish their semester project. I think they did an amazing job, check out Madison+Main’s new intern recruitment video here!
Intern Video | Spring 2018
Wednesday, April 18 – Field Trip
On Wednesday, Local Printing Legend Ric Withers gave some of the Madison+Main-iacs a tour of Wythken Printing. Media Buyer Meredith Mason, Communications Manager Kent Brockwell, Account Executive Leanne Ferry, Sr. Graphic Designer Carissa Ghaffari, Client Services Coordinator Haleigh Lader and Graphic Designer Erin Rebmann all joined together on a = field trip, inspired by the Ric’s knowledge of the print manufacturing process. Afterwards they went to Postbellum for happy hour!
The Madison+Main-iacs drain some brews at Postbellum. #fieldtrip
Thursday, April 19 – I heard ya!
On Thursday, we invited Lindsay Korman Marketing Director at Live Better Hearing in for a special presentation. We showed her our new designs for their upcoming direct mail pieces and presented storyboards for a new TV spot. Great news, she loved it! We’ll be shooting this spot in about two week and it will be hitting a television screen near you in June. By the way, they just opened up a brand new location in Midlothian, bringing their total locations 24! My wife Sue has already booked me an appointment to check my hearing. #Whatwasthat? #Huh
Calendar!
WhosYourDriver.org Race Weekend
Richmond Raceway
April 20-21
NASCAR action is headed back to Richmond Raceway on April 20-21 for the Toyotacare 250 and the Toyota Owners 400 and we’ll be there supporting our client DRIVE SMART Virginia! Don’t miss your chance to check out the ultimate in short-track racing and visit the Who’s Your Driver display to say hi and learn how to make Virginia’s roads safer! Get your tickets to the race today!
FC Richmond Travel Soccer Tryouts
Huguenot Park
April 22 – 30
Registration for travel soccer tryouts is now open! Tryouts are April 22nd – April 30th. All the information to kick some grass is on FC Richmond‘s website.
Hitting Cancer Below the Belt: Love your Gut, Protect your Butt
Social 52 Gathering & Raffle
April 24
Looking for a tasty place to eat or enjoy a drink? Like winning prizes and helping an important cause? If so, join our friends over at HCB2 at Social 52 on April 24th, from 4 PM – 7 PM for HAPPY HOUR! Proceeds go towards LOCAL efforts in colon cancer PREVENTION and attendants will be entered in a gift card raffle! RSVP here!
Leadercast Richmond 2018
Parkway Baptist Church
May 4
Leadercast Live is the largest one-day leadership event in the world. It is a pairing of inspiring messages and rich interaction with fellow leaders who are being intentional about raising their standard of leadership, through a creative, energetic and memorable experience. Our friends over at Leadercast have set up a special discount code for all of our readers! Simply enter “MM” at checkout for a $10 discount! Get your tickets today!
Friday, April 20 – Start Your Engines!
Team Madison+Main is on-site and on-point today at the track, helping our clients Drive Smart Virginia promote safe and sober driving!
Who says Dave can’t jump? #InYoFace
In between visits to RR (Richmond Raceway) today, Business Manager Brandy Seay and I dropped by to meet with the fine folks at Henrico Education Foundation. We are discussing helping them with a new website and some PR and digital marketing services. We’re always jazzed when we can work with an organization that works to help others.
In case you didn’t know, it’s Earth Day this weekend. Come out to the RVA Earth Day Festival tomorrow and stop by our client Virginia Energy Sense booth to learn more about ways to save energy! Also, check out the Earth Day Jack video we helped put together for this weekend.
Virginia Energy Sense | Earth Day