An Anatomy of a White House Marketing Flop
From the National Journal
President Obama is holding a nationwide contest for high schools to show how they're preparing kids for college. He's the prize. And no one is applying. But it's not for a lack of trying.
So few schools entered to win a commencement speech from Obama, CBS News' Peter Maer reported, that the entry deadline for the White House's Commencement Challenge was extended from February 25 to March 11. A panicked memo from White House staffer on February 22 warned there was "a major issue" with the challenge--only 14 schools had applied. More than a thousand schools applied to win the a commencement address from the president last year. By February 28, the number of entries was only up to 68. Another memo went out saying, "Something isn't working."
So few schools entered to win a commencement speech from Obama, CBS News' Peter Maer reported, that the entry deadline for the White House's Commencement Challenge was extended from February 25 to March 11. A panicked memo from White House staffer on February 22 warned there was "a major issue" with the challenge--only 14 schools had applied. More than a thousand schools applied to win the a commencement address from the president last year. By February 28, the number of entries was only up to 68. Another memo went out saying, "Something isn't working."
Read the rest of the article here:
In a 2 paragraph response (a minimum of 5 sentences for each paragraph), answer the following questions. In paragraph # 1, write about your opinions on a contest like this? Do you think it's a good idea? Why or why not? Why do you think that no one is applying and taking advantage of the opportunity? Be specific with your thoughts.
In paragraph # 2, write about how you would market the contest differently. What 2 ideas do you have that you think would have made the promotion more successful. List and explain each idea. Be specific with your thoughts.
Please sign your name to the bottom of your blog entry.
I think the contest is just a popularity stunt that obama is trying to pull of so he can get more votes and be president again. i thinck its a bad idea because the prize is just a speech the president gives you, if it where something like a sholorship or a thousand dollar prize then it would be a good idea.i thinck poeple are not joining because either one they dont like obama or two they dont like the prize that they are handing out.
ReplyDeletewhat i would have changed is the celebrity endorement and the prize. the celebrity endorsment i would change to some thing that poeple listen to know and (not justin bieber)that would have probably made people sign up some more. another thing i would change is the prize, not many people care about a presidential speech, its all about money for college of schollorships thats what most people are looking for.
It's funny how Obama won by popularity, yet it doesn't show in this contest. This contest is a good idea because students will receive a speech from their president which should inspire them. But the contest is bad because it could make the president feel bad if no one applies, like in this situation. I think no one’s applying because either they haven’t heard about it, like me, I haven’t heard about this until now, or they don’t care for Obama. There could be a long list of reasons why schools aren’t applying, it’s different for each school.
ReplyDeleteIf I could make this contest better I’d fix a couple of things. I’d start with advertising it on Facebook because teenagers could see it and would want to hear from the President and ask the school to apply. Also, I’d advertise on television during the News and I’d send a note about the contest to every school. Obama should give more than just a speech to the winning school. The winning school should receive a speech and pictures with the President. But also Obama should buy them new supplies or give them a check so every senior can get a small discount on at least one application they send out to colleges.
-Brigitte Chavez
I think the contest is very intriguing. This is the first time I’ve heard of a contest like this held by the white house. However, the contest does not seem to be going very well because Obama’s popularity has gone down since his election. The people pronounce that Obama just has not fulfilled their expectations of him being president. I do not think this is a very good idea because it just exclaims Obama’s position he is in right now.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to market this sort of contest, I would have used a celebrity promotion as well. However, since this targets high schools, I would have used someone that has captured the attention of high school students. For instance, I would have used someone like Miley Cyrus. She has been capturing the audience’s attention with her television show as well as her singing. Another way I would of promoted this contest is telling radio stations to broadcast this. Many listen to popular radio stations like 99.5 during their car ride and it would be a perfect time to tune in.
Alex Wong
I think this contest ic basically impossible to when with all those other schools applying. whats the chances of a little school now where near the white house getting picked. and that exactly why i think less people signed up for it. they know theres no chance they can win, so then didnt want to get their hopes up or anything. thats the only reason i cn think of, and it makes sense. why apply if thousands of other schools will do the same if anything they'd pick one of the biggest schools that applies. and as a student i could understand why many other schools didnt apply.
ReplyDeleteYahia M
I think this contest is a good idea, but the prize could be a little more other then Obama making a speech. I believe that whichever high school wins should receive a speech from Obama and money going towards the school. I think that nobody is applying, because maybe they don’t want Obama as a prize. Maybe they think that the prize is low, even though it’s the President. I think that what High Schools are looking for is money. A lot of high schools are in low budget, because of the economy and can’t do very many things, because almost everything costs money now. Especially if this contest is about how high schools are preparing kids for college.
ReplyDeleteThe way I would market this contest would be by making banners and sending them to high schools, so students would be able to see them and hopefully like it. If a high school sees an opportunity to help their school, they would take it. There are a lot of students that love to help their school. If they see a banner in their school about this contest, they would want to learn how they can enter this contest. Another idea would be making it a scholarship for a student that puts so much effort in this contest. Having students help out their school is great, and by making this contest a scholarship for a student that puts so much effort in this would be great.
Anna Vallejo
In a contest like this, including a president, most people do not share the same opinions on the president and parents might not want certain presidents speaking to their kids. So only few schools would risk having the president come speak over many angry parents. Another reason is that the incentive might not be enough for some people. Kids do not want to write essays just for the president to give most likely a brief speech congratulating them for writing. It just doesn’t sound very appealing.
ReplyDeleteI think money always makes a bigger impact. Adding scholarship money to maybe the top 5 essays that the students write would make the incentive a lot better. Also, the president should give a much more meaningful speech than a commencement speech. The speech should include the values of school and not taking things for granite. Parents would rather their kids listen to the president talk about what to do for your future than “congratulations”.
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ReplyDeleteI think it is a good idea that they are doing this contest because it gets high school more involved in their student’s success toward getting into college and helping preparing their students. They might not want to write a long essay because they don’t have the time or don’t know what to write. I also think nobody is applying because they might not even know about
ReplyDeletethe contest so they can’t apply.
I would have gone to different high schools to promote the contest so that everybody would know about this contest and get more kids to be involved in this contest so that it can help them so that they can get them into colleges. I would also tell them what the benefits of applying to contest and how it would help them.
sulma cisneros
I think this contest would have been a success if they would have released the video of Joe Jonas or Justin Bieber. They would have had a lot of schools in the contest, not just 14. This contest would be a good idea because it gets teen to want to go to college. I would want Edison to be in this contest. It’s a great way to prepare and support going to college. People might not want to write a 250 word essay, so that’s why they might not even have a lot of people running to be in this contest.
ReplyDeleteIf I could change the way that this contest was noticed, I would change the requirements to an essay kids would want to write about. Make it however long they want to make it, as long as it is more then 5 sentences. I wouldn’t want to write a boring topic if I had the chance to win a contest. I definitely wouldn’t want to make it really long, but I would make it so that they could write however much they want to. If they don’t write a lot then ill see who is really interested and who isn’t. I would just worry about the people that are interested to be in the finials between who I pick.
Gladys Monroy
I think that this idea is good. It is a good idea because it gets high school students into a good college. I think that some people are not taking the advantage with this program because they think it might be a set up or maybe they just want to feel succeeded by making it to college their own way. They also might not be taking advantage of it because they have to write a 250 page essay and honestly nobody would really write an essay. Although I would write it because it is a great opportunity and all your doing is writing a paper to get in a college. Everybody’s dream is to go to a college, study well and be successful.
ReplyDeleteI think that I would promote it by telling everybody at school. I would probably also hand out flyers, and probably want to ask him to come to schools and explain why this program is so important and give them ideas and to make them think.
- Karla
My opinion on the contest is the reason why I think that so little schools sign up for the contest is because President Obama status has gone done. What I mean by that is that his popular has gone done with all these jobs getting cut. I think that President Obama needs to go on damage control to get people who once vote for him back on his side. Because the way it is looking right now he will only be a one term President. I’m sorry to say it but I think people are starting to see who he really is on the inside. The question people should be asking them self’s ….. Is the president really looking out for us and are children or putting up a front?
ReplyDeleteThe way I would market the contest is by one putting it on facebook to promote it. I know for a fact that a lot of people use facebook and that a lot people will view my contest online. Using facebook will reach out to are young people who are not inform about this contest. Second I would put it on TV because everybody watches TV so I know someone will tell their school after seeing it on TV and have their school sign up. I believe using these tools will make the contest a great success in the long run. If President Obama used these tools he would have had a lot of schools sign up for his contest. Tenacia Chappell
I think this is great idea. It is different and it's going to benefit students. It's going to help a lot of students get into college. It will benefit a lot of teenagers. It will increase the number of kids going to college.The only thing that I would change is the prize. I think they should also include another prize.Then more people would apply for it.
ReplyDeleteI would tell everyone about this contest. I would also do something so the contest would be noticeable. I would use popular websites to inform everyone about the contest. As I mentioned the only thing I would change is the prize. I think if they give a better prize then they will get more people to apply. The contest will be more interesting.Then people would actually want to participate in the contest.
-Mah Noor
I think it was funny that in the elections when Obama was elected president that he won due to popularity but in this contest his popularity has had a dramatic drop. I also think that this is only being done to get an idea of which seniors are going to be voting for Obama in the upcoming election by how many apply for his speech at their school, however to his dissatisfaction hardly anyone has applied. This could be because of many reasons such as they haven’t heard about it because I know I have not until this article or they do not care for Obama. Each school is going to have a different reason for not applying and even if a whole ton of schools do not apply the select few that have should still be able to participate and win in the contest because they are still eligible even if they are only one out of three.
ReplyDeleteIf I could improve this contest I would start by achieving better advertisements, such as commercials, hot radio stations, Facebook, etc. so that their target market, teenagers, could hear it and then go ask the school to apply. I would also send a flyer or email to every school in each county just so they know that there is a contest going on and that they are eligible to apply if they would like to. Another thing that I thought was kind of interesting is that all Obama is going to do for the winning school, is give a speech. Don’t get me wrong a speech from the President is nice and all but he should do something more than say a few words at a school for the ones that applied. He should help the school out, if they are struggling financially or set up some sort of scholarship for a senior that meets the standards of the scholarship at that school, just something more than a speech.
Katie Gaskins
My opinion on the contest I think it not worth it because the college graduates so should do no always not jus because the president is coming. And I also think Obama is doing for he can get votes again to stay as president I don’t think it going to work. I don’t really think students will be interested anyway since most kids don’t even like the president since they feel like he not doing nothing.
ReplyDeleteA few way they could make this contest better is by have celebrity appearance like their favorite rappers than they might want to do it. Also the prize should be better so the students will be push more hard for they can win and see what they win .and they should give money since that’s what future college students want for they can pay their college fees since that what they think about.
-Rene Romero