The Pentagon Gets a Lesson From Madison Avenue

By KAREN DEYOUNG
July 21, 2007
Washington Post

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It's certainly true that popular images of the situations facing war-torn societies exert a major influence upon the behavior of the citizens in those societies. Not surprisingly, people act on the basis of what they believe to be true. It follows that military campaigns place themselves in great jeopardy if they allow citizens to develop images which question and challenge the military's efforts. This is why "information warfare" is so important and why the military is willing to engage in spin control -- and even outright deception -- as part of a broader effort to ensure favorable public reactions.

There is, unfortunately, a tendency for military leaders to forget that it's reality on the ground that is the primary driver of perceptions. When this happens, there is a danger that military leaders may become overly enamored with the power of Madison Avenue spin doctors. This article from the Washington Post highlights a situation in which this seems to have occurred.

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In the advertising world, brand identity is everything. Volvo means safety. Colgate means clean. IPod means cool. But since the U.S. military invaded Iraq in 2003, its "show of force" brand has proved to have limited appeal to Iraqi consumers, according to a recent study commissioned by the U.S. military.

The key to boosting the image and effectiveness of U.S. military operations around the world involves "shaping" both the product and the marketplace, and then establishing a brand identity that places what you are selling in a positive light, said clinical psychologist Todd C. Helmus, the author of "Enlisting Madison Avenue: The Marketing Approach to Earning Popular Support in Theaters of Operation." The 211-page study, for which the U.S. Joint Forces Command paid the Rand Corp. $400,000, was released this week.

The rest of the article is available from the Washington Post.