Playmaker’s Blog
WHAT’S THE PLAY: Decoding Trump’s Election Day Delay
July 30, 2020
RESPONDING IS LOSING: How Trump, Zuckerberg and China Out-Play Us
July 17, 2020Something needs to be said about the strategy of response: It’s a loser’s game. Responding to an attack, rant, brag, insult or lie – whether planned or improvised – seldom slows or stops aggressors. More often it revives them. Consider four examples: TRUMP PLAYS When President Trump decries Democrats as far-left fascists he stirs the […]
ANATOMY of a STRATEGY: How Trump Flipped Fascism (or Tried)
July 8, 2020…and how the president’s plays can be decoded, mapped and countered. Speaking at a July 3, 2020, rally at South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore National Memorial, President Donald Trump used influence strategies to excite his dedicated base – notably an attempt to reverse a rising perception that Republicans promote fascism. Using the Taxonomy of Influence Strategies as […]
Congratulations Brands. You Caught the Car. Now Run Away.
June 15, 2020THE NINE-MINUTE MURDER of George Floyd was real and raw, and it deserved real and raw response. But when sports gear maker Nike dropped its Just Don’t Do It video I had to wonder if the counter-intuitive spot was more about self-interest than public service. By most standards the message was pitch-perfect, but its speed […]
