Tonight is the vice-presidential debate between Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Entrepreneurial students are using the event to “cash-in” on the debate and promote their school. To accomplish that, they are selling pink elephant and blue donkey cookies to measure the support for each candidate. Not only are they making money, but they are generating national press coverage. Baskin-Robins ice cream is also churning a political promotion. It’s asking consumers to vote for their favorite Presidential candidates by selecting between two flavors dedicated to Republican Senator John McCain and his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama. The ice cream representing McCain is called “Straight Talk Crunch” which is a white chocolate ice cream, caramel ribbon with chocolate pieces, crunchy mixed nuts and candy red states mixed in! The ice-cream chosen to represent Obama is “Whirl of Change” a flavor of peanut-nougat ice cream swirled with hunks of chocolate-covered peanut brittle and complimented by a caramel ribbon. Is there a way your business can build a promotion about the upcoming November elections? Perhaps, you could run a special promotion on your web site with two options relating to each candidate. Don’t forget your home-town candidates too. If there is a hot race is your community, you might generate interest by focusing on it. Be creative. It’s a great way to build buzz. This election has everyone talking. Why not make sure they’re talking about your business too.
About Susan Wilson Solovic
Susan Wilson Solovic’s career in broadcast and print journalism, with a focus on small business, spans 25 years. She is an Emmy award winning corporate television producer, a former news reporter for NBC and CBS affiliates, a former featured columnist for UPI on businesswomen issues and a best-selling author of The Girls’ Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business (published October, 2007), The Girls’ Guide to Power and Success, Reinvent Your Career: Attain the Success You Deserve and Desire; and Hanging onto the American Dream. She has been an adjunct professor of Women’s Entrepreneurial Studies at St. Louis Community College. In 2000, the Small Business Administration recognized her as a leading small business journalist. In addition to her CEO and anchor duties at SBTV.com, Susan is a frequent columnist for publications such as Enterprising Women, a frequent on-camera small business expert for Bloomberg, CNN, CNN/fn, Early Today Show on NBC, World News this Morning on ABC and is frequently quoted in Cosmopolitan magazine on career advice for young women. Susan can often be seen as a keynote speaker, emcee, panelist or moderator at many conferences such as:
- National Association of Women Business Owners
- Women Business Enterprise National Council
- New York Times Small Business Summit
- Business Marketing Association
- Women Impacting Public Policy
- National Women’s Business Council
Prior to leading SBTV.com, Susan created a series of satellite television programs focused on women entrepreneurs in the United States and Canada. Susan is an attorney licensed to practice in the state of Missouri and previously served as the Vice President of Corporate Marketing for ITT Commercial Finance, an international asset-based lending institution which had $28 billion in finance volume. Susan has served on numerous boards including the National Business Women’s Council, the Women Presidents’ Organization National Advisory Board of Directors and the inaugural board of directors of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP). She is a member of the Board of Directors of the John F. Cook School of Business, Entrepreneurial Studies program at Saint Louis University. She served as a member of the John F. Kennedy School of Government Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard University until 2004. Susan holds a B.A. in history and political science from Columbia College and a JD from Saint Louis University.
Susan is a frequent guest on numerous mass media venues.