A blimp is a BAD IDEA - here is why

[austin356]

It depends on how much it costs.

Are people tlaking of buying a blimp?


hmmm... that is very intriguing.

Intriguing is right. Not intriguing enough for a cost of $200,000 though.

 

[DealzOnWheelz]

Blimps are awesome is probably one of the most valid points.
Everyone loves to see these things fly, kids will grab their parents and mom will want to run out side and take pictures and although it may not make people vote for him it should definantly help with name recognition with the help local media will provide.

RUN OUTSIDE AND TAKE PICTURES?????


You must be in your 50's Maybe when you were a kid but this is the computer age nobody is gonna grab mommy to come take a pic of a Ron Paul blimp or any blimp for that matter unless they are already a Ron Paul supporter and want a piece of history.

For the money it costs; 200,000 to 300,000

if you really want to make a blast take that money & the 100,000 that one guy has to donate start a chip in and get close to $1 million and do some crazy National TV ad's during American Idol or some other reality TV craze. Or even during Playoff football games they aren't as expensive as the superbowl.


The key is targeting.

People are not that stupid...

Nobody says
"oh look a blimp with a sign on it let me go home and research what the blimp was talking about because it must be important if it said so on a blimp"

 

[LBT]

What percentage of the day do people spend looking up into the sky? Less than 1% probably. Most people are indoors most of the day. One single billboard on a busy highway probably gets much more exposure than a blimp.

As has been said, if blimps were good advertising the skies would be full of them, yet they mostly only come out for the occassional big event.

The only way this blimp thing would work would be if it leveraged or spawned some other type of viral marketing strategy, and putting something like that together is a BIG RISK.

There is some potential to do something like a live position webpage where RP fans meet and greet the blimp on its journey. But a bunch of videos showing Paulites screaming at a blimp is not likely to create interest for very long imho.

 

[Matt Collins]

$600,000 is TN's proportional share of money raised relative to number of delegates.

Please explain? I am curious.

And also realize that I was talking about Nashville or Middle Tennessee, not Chattanooga, Knoxville, Bristol, or Memphis.

 

[Ozwest]

The one advantage to using a blimp over TV, billboards, radio, and print, is the guaranteed MSM and local media spinoff. It would be huge!
It would also be a good enticer to draw people to events.

 

[Matt Collins]

The one advantage to using a blimp over TV, billboards, radio, and print, is the guaranteed MSM and local media spinoff.

No it's not guaranteed. A blimp is not newsworthy. A blimp bought by a group of grassroots supporters has a certain amount of newsworthiness to it, but that does not guarantee press coverage, ESPECIALLY if it's a busy news day!


What guarantees being in the paper, on the radio, or on the TV? Paid advertising!

 

[Ozwest]

No it's not guaranteed. A blimp is not newsworthy. A blimp bought by a group of grassroots supporters has a certain amount of newsworthiness to it, but that does not guarantee press coverage, ESPECIALLY if it's a busy news day!


What guarantees being in the paper, on the radio, or on the TV? Paid advertising!

Have you seen the blimp they are looking to hire? We're talk'in Good Year. Of course it would generate media.

 

[Man from La Mancha]

The blimp proposed now is $350,000/month and will carry 12 people and is 200ft long and can have words on it it can be seen for 3 miles or lighted scolling signs seen for a mile. Rides in it can be given to media, politicians and kids or people that win "A Ride in the Ron Paul Blimp" contests in cities it visits. One will be avalable at the end of the month which is hard to do on short noticed. Look..http://airshipman.com/ourairships.htm

I used to think that it was dumb but the history of very large blimps when used for advertising seems huge in getting people to remember what they saw and the amount of people who see it, don't we want to attract a large group of non Republican people to get them to be Republican and vote for Ron and to get them to donate on December 16th? Don't you think that every news media will show pictures of the Ron Paul blimp and comment? Resulting more money in PR then spent on the blimp? Only thing I know will be to see how fast people could pledge to do a stunt like that. it only will work if people put their money where their mouths are and fast. Like the bombs it might generate money for the blimp that might have not been raised anywhere else.IMO

.

 

[DealzOnWheelz]

Half of the people even talking about donating to a blimp are the same people that were bitching about the campaign's email for more $$$$$$

Does that make any sense????

 

[european]

i believe the blimp is a good idea. it will help with the name recognition. which is what RP needs.

 

[paulitics]

I think $300k would be better off going towards advertising in magazines of a specific target audience, specifically firearm and hunting magazines.

I agree.

 

[AlexMerced]

good point

 

[paulitics]

The one advantage to using a blimp over TV, billboards, radio, and print, is the guaranteed MSM and local media spinoff. It would be huge!
It would also be a good enticer to draw people to events.

Guaranteed? The same media that we acuse of an ongoing blackout, and bias against RP or libertairianism in general?

 

[Proemio]

I agree that unique is good, to an extent. The reason companies keep spending millions of dollars on marketing via traditional media (print, radio, TV, outdoor, direct mail, etc) is because these methods of advertising ARE EFFECTIVE!

That's because they peddle traditional stuff to traditional targets, in a traditional fashion.

Since a revolution - this rLOVEution - is anything but traditional, it follows that traditional approaches are wanting from both the point of view of hits and as a generator of energy. Energy and inventiveness are the lethal weapon to get this done. The dark side is not lacking money, they are lacking energy and ideas.

Besides, people who are excited about an idea, will support that idea. Lobbying against it will at best create a bunch of posts/threads, because it does not follow that the money they spend on their favorite projects would otherwise go towards a traditional medium.

In the end, it all works, as long as stuff gets done... (see energy)

As for the blimp itself? I have no idea...

 

[Ozwest]

Guaranteed? The same media that we acuse of an ongoing blackout, and bias against RP or libertairianism in general?

Oh well, might as well give up then. Never happen in a million years.

 

[Man from La Mancha]

Guaranteed? The same media that we acuse of an ongoing blackout, and bias against RP or libertairianism in general?

Yes, they like things that are different, it gets people to watch and the advertisers like that too.. Proof is the Nov 5th bomb.

.

 

[noztnac]

How about a blimp over say...the University of South Carolina Clemson football game at Williams Brice Stadium, South Carolina?

 

[leipo]

I agree that unique is good, to an extent. The reason companies keep spending millions of dollars on marketing via traditional media (print, radio, TV, outdoor, direct mail, etc) is because these methods of advertising ARE EFFECTIVE!

It's only effective if you're selling a product that people don't need. People do need Ron Paul, so this is different.

 

[Man from La Mancha]

How about a blimp over say...the University of South Carolina Clemson football game at Williams Brice Stadium, South Carolina?

Yes give free or cheap access to the blimp for their cameras for sky cam shoots. There are many ways this blimp could generate 10x the money spent on it. Imagine the blimp over head for several football games for 3 hrs. Not only the people in the stands would see it, people from 3 miles around passing by on all major streets and freeways would see. And all the people watching on ESPN. You talk about signing street corners or putting up banners over freeways, this thing would Rock. Heck for 3-4 hrs in one spot how many repeat hits would it get from people going somewhere on the roads then coming back. Plus the Night lites.

.

 

[leonster]

a blimp would build some very minor buzz... when was the last time you saw a blimp, do you remember what is was for?

I remember exactly... 3 years ago, in Williamsport, PA, for the Little League World Series. It was a Met Life blimp.