Political Marketing Guru And Author Phillip Stutts: 5 Questions

BIRMINGHAM, AL - It doesn't take much to get Phillip Stutts talking about politics. Involvement in politics has been a part of his life and a passion of his since he was a student at Mountain Brook High School in the 90s. He carried that passion with him through college at the University of Alabama, and then on to Washington, D.C. From there, Stutts has become a premiere political marketing guru. And now, with the release of his book, Fire Them Now: The 7 Lies Digital Marketers Sell...And the Truth about Political Strategies that Help Businesses Win, he can add "author" to his impressive resume.

With more than 20 years of political and marketing experience, Stutts has worked with multiple Fortune 200 and contributed to more than 1,000 election victories, including hundreds of U.S. House campaigns, dozens of U.S. Senate campaigns and even three Presidential victories. He founded Go BIG Media in 2015 and has won awards for work with US Senators, governors, and presidential candidates, including a Pollie Award for Best Digital/Internet Independent Expenditure Presidential Campaign and the Goldie Award for Digital Video Excellence in a Presidential Campaign.

As busy as Stutts has been promoting his new book, Patch was able to round him up and ask him some questions about marketing, politics and Fire Them Now.

What motivated you to write the book?

Six years ago, I was diagnosed with an extremely rare, incurable disease. Fear of the future paralyzed me for years after that diagnosis. When I was told that a feeding tube was in my future, I made the decision to cure the incurable – but I had no clue where to start. My doctors discouraged me from this path, instead, pushing me to continue taking prescription medications and wait for the inevitable.

I made a different decision; I decided to disrupt my disease. After lots of research and contact-building, I was introduced to a doctor at Johns Hopkins who has been working on this disease for years. I’m now the subject of a one-man clinical trial, the first ever conducted - to try to cure this disease.

Sometimes all it takes is one small step. I had to decide to take this step for myself and for my family, and to figure out another way. I’d been told, “this is the way it is,” by the best doctors in the world. But I tried something else. I took control of my own fate instead of waiting for the tidal wave to crash over my head.

Sometimes we have to be really down-and-out, or be the underdog, to have the motivation to change our circumstances. And that’s what motivated me to write this business book. You see, the global economy is changing faster than most business owners can keep up with. It’s been called the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Technology, and especially digital technology, is completely resurfacing the economic landscape.

We are now firmly living in a “customer-is-in-charge” economy and its disruption will either end or radically alter every business in the world (I give some real, eye-popping examples in the book too). Businesses either conform to how consumers want to be treated or they will die.

The speed of change is completely unprecedented, and no country, no industry, no sector, will be spared from the ripple effects of this massive shift. That sounds kind of scary, doesn’t it? This is a crazy concept to many business owners, but we inherently understand it in politics because voters are always in charge in our world.

Business leaders need to understand the ways the world has changed, and they need to start thinking with a political mindset to take their business to the next level.

Frankly, business owners must move now because, like my disease, you never know what the future holds.

In the age of misinformation seemingly rampant thanks to social media and the like, how do you feel digital marketing can stay ahead of the game?

The old forms of advertising were more in the quick-fix category. If you ran a TV, radio or magazine advertising campaign, there was usually an instant uptick in sales and an immediate validation of the campaign. Nowadays those marketing channels aren’t working as well, so businesses turn to digital marketing firms to get the same quick-fix.

Unfortunately, marketing and advertising firms aren’t honest with them. They agree to a quick-fix and ask for a huge budget for a Facebook campaign. The most important thing for a business to establish is a direction. They need to establish their mission, their purpose, and their culture. They need to tell a story that resonates with their customers, and they need to move them to conversion.

Success isn’t going to happen overnight. Building success through digital marketing involves many tiny steps that add up to a huge distance traveled. In politics, we constantly say that it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon - and we say this about a nine-month campaign! Every day is about winning. It’s one long investment toward a desired outcome.

Business leaders need to understand the world has changed, and they need to start thinking of their marketing as a marathon, not a sprint.

There’s no magic pill. But there’s definite magic in long-term strategy that moves fast.

Is there a line a business should not cross when it comes to mixing politics with commerce

The obvious answer is to not be overtly politically partisan if you don’t want your bottom line to be affected. But that’s comparing apples to apples. Don’t do that. The most interesting chapter in the book is an idea most business owners will never have the guts to try – but if they did, they could have explosive growth; using political style negative comparison ads against their competition. Utilizing nuance, humor and style, this is the biggest game-changer strategy a business can employ. I lay out examples of companies that have done this with massive ROI – and zero negative impact.

What are some examples of businesses that could have benefited from reading this book?

I interviewed over 100 CEO’s for this book – from small business to Fortune 200. If you are a business owner and aren’t on the forefront of technology and marketing, you will go out of business very soon. It’s for those paralyzed by fear of the unknown but they are ready to play the game – the right way. I even offer a complimentary marketing audit for any business owner that wants to gauge where their business currently stands (or sits). My team will evaluate all aspects of your businesses digital marketing footprint, we’ll score it and even tell you if you are wasting money or spending it wisely. Normally we charge clients $5,000 for this audit but we’ll buy it for you so we can get you in the game. Just go to phillipstutts.com/audit

What do you see as some potential hurdles businesses may face in digital marketing in the future?

Simply put, the biggest hurdle is fear of the disruption and technological change that is on our doorstep. It’s not hyperbole when I say 100 percent of businesses will be gone or disrupted in the next few years. Example – Everyone knows that autonomous cars are coming in the next 2-3 years. But what’s the second order consequence of this one disruption? With car accident injuries and deaths reduced by 99 percent, what happens to car insurance companies? How many emergency-care jobs will be eliminated? What happens to local government budgets that aren’t collecting the fees associated with speeding tickets? And finally what happens to those waiting on organ donor lists when there are no more donors coming from (roughly) 33,000 U.S. car accident deaths? This is just one example – when thousands upon thousands of disruptions are coming.

I urge business owners to get in the game before it’s too late.

Photo courtesy of Phillip Stutts/Go Big Media