Richard Laermer

What's the difference between marketers and politicians? According to Richard Laermer, author of Punk Marketing and the CEO of RLM Public Relations, not a whole lot: both have the primary objective of selling a message. But while politicians are master marketers, gifted at forcefully selling their platform, marketers oftentimes have no mastery of the skills required of a politician – namely, conveying vague information while still being blunt about what they're selling. The solution, says Laermer, is for marketers to begin thinking of themselves as "candidates" by gathering their constituency and starting a movement that forces them to action.

In this presentation, you will learn how examples of modern movements borrowed the tenets of labor, voting, zoning, and other rights issues. You will learn how anyone with a product can get creative and take their message to the people in a manner that connects with – and gets them talking about – what you have to offer. Attendees will leave this presentation with an understanding of how a non-politician can become a powerful force around which followers congregate, prompting them to invest their thoughts and energies (and, yes, money) into your message and ultimately your product.