Category: City council race
Posted by Joel Kurth (The Detroit News) on Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 7:45 PMCharles Pugh's fireworks surprise
Charles Pugh is going guerilla.
The onetime Fox 2 broadcaster may have put down the microphone for his bid for the City Council, but he's picked up the cell phone and other high-tech dodads to what he says is great effect.
While other candidates have embraced social networking, Pugh is one-upping them, becoming what he says is the only candidate to employ Bluetooth technology for a "guerilla marketing" campaign.
Pugh blasted text messages to crowds in Hart Plaza during the fireworks directing those with multi-media phones to a short video of Pugh asking potential voters -- or volunteers -- to punch in a number to signal their support. The response: "Extremely great," said Pugh's tech guru, Tony Saunders, president of Wyld Marketing Group.
About 500 users accepted the video, a big hit for a "blind" event -- one that has no advance warning, said Saunders, whose firm does similar work for McDonald's and the Lions. For a low cost, the blast immediately gave his campaign contact information of followers willing to donate, volunteer or vote for the onetime morning show host. Pugh's crew will be at it again during a big event or two at Hart Plaza before the Aug. 4 election, he says.
"Will it win me the absentee ballot race?" Pugh asked. "No. But will it engage some voters or possible supporters?"
And that little edge could be a difference-maker in a wild and wooly race that features 167 candidates in which low turnout could mean a few hundred votes could decide which 18 make the cut for the Nov. 3 general election.
Obama's presidential campaign showed the advantages of an aggressive social media strategy, but the verdict may still be out in Detroit. Ken Cockrel embraced live blogging and Internet town hall forums in the February mayoral campaign, while Dave Bing was slow to even set up a YouTube account. Bing won most neighborhoods anyway.
Saunders blames the campaigns, not the technology. He says too many candidates are content to set up a blog, upload a few videos and call it a social network. Pugh is relying heavily on linking followers using mobile devices and sites such as Facebook, where he as 15,000-plus fans.
"It's how you use the technology," Saunders said. "Most candidates get the information (from text messages or other media) and are just sitting on it. They don't value it as much as calling lists. This is the cheapest form of media and easiest way to get messages out, especially compared to robo calls."
