Government Affairs Blog

Getting your message to stick

Watching a piece the Politics Show this afternoon about the Liberal Democrat leadership contest I was struck by the challenge of how one makes your message stick.
 
The piece preceded the interview between the candidates and the exchange regarding a document that apparently the Huhne team sent to the show.  I shall leave it to others to comment on that one
 
In the proceeding section that caught my eye three people at a boxing club and two of them had no idea there was a leadership contest or who Clegg or Huhne are.
 
The challenge to get your voice out there, make people remember your message, let alone be interested in it, is a great challenge for everyone who works in communications.
 
Many years ago a researcher told me that he was interviewing a politician and during the forty-five minutes they were chatting she had received about 100 emails.  For those trying to get her attention in 2007 things are even harder.  And she is probably at least going to have an interest in the topics.
 
There is no quick fix to this challenge but it something that one has to deal with on a daily basis because only by getting our one's message every day, perhaps using different mediums, can one hope for what Malcolm Gladwell calls 'stickiness'. 

Simon Goldie is a member of the CIPR GAG committee and Head of Communications at The Chartered Institute of Taxation - www.tax.org.uk