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George
Pataki As a little known State Senator from Peekskill, George Pataki was given almost no chance of winning the Republican nomination for Governor, much less defeating such a formidable national figure as Mario Cuomo. Russo Marsh + Rogers designed a media campaign focusing on four distinct themes. First, we defined George Pataki as someone with the courage to stand up to the leaders of his own party and to vote against higher taxes. Second, we defined Mario Cuomo as too liberal on issues such as taxes, government spending, crime and the death penalty. Third we reinforced the fact most New Yorker’s already knew – Mario Cuomo had been in office for too long. And we closed by defining Cuomo as a politician more concerned with politics than with governing. An experienced campaigner, Cuomo refused to give up easily. His responses were strong and rapid. Perhaps the most important element to Pataki’s success was our ability to produce and air response ads within 24 hours of the attack. In the final phase of the campaign, Cuomo was able to play one of his strongest cards – the Republican Mayor of New York City. As a result of Mayor Giuliani’s endorsement, Pataki dropped 23 points. To counter, Russo Marsh + Rogers produced an ad which defined the Giuliani endorsement for what it really was, a political deal. Our closing ad put the focus back on Cuomo and allowed Pataki to emerge the victor in what many describe as the best-run campaign of 1994. John
Shimkus When Dick Durbin vacated his House seat to run for the U.S. Senate, Democrats in Washington DC named this seat their highest priority to hold. Popular State Representative Jay Hoffman quickly became the consensus candidate for the Democrats. Republicans, on the other hand, faced a seven way primary race. John Shimkus, Madison County Treasurer, retained Russo Marsh + Rogers. We designed a primary strategy that would position Shimkus as the mainstream conservative. The Shimkus primary effort focussed on targeted radio advertising and extensive direct mail. Shimkus won the primary with 51% of the vote. Democrats knew they were in a fight and targeted this district for a full measure of party and labor support. The Shimkus campaign fought back using targeted television and radio advertising, as well as, direct mail to convey its message that only John Shimkus could be trusted to “fight for the forgotten middle class.” Despite being heavily out-spent by a ratio of more than three to one in this traditional Democrat district, Shimkus narrowly defeated Hoffman and has the distinction of being only one of four Democrat seats picked up by Republicans outside of the South on election night. National
Federation of Independent Business Producing radio commercials for 40 Congressional candidates across the country, Russo Marsh + Rogers was a leading factor in the 1996 success seen by the National Federation of Independent Business’ Independent Expenditure campaign to elect pro-business Republicans to the United States Congress. Our work included producing and placing the various radio spots in a massive coordinated effort to help the NFIB achieve its goals. From strategy to message, Russo Marsh + Rogers was responsible for one of the largest Independent Expenditure campaigns in the United States. George
Deukmejian During his original 1982 Gubernatorial campaign in California, George Deukmejian called on Sal Russo to take over as management and media consultant when it became apparent during the closing weeks of the race that his campaign was floundering. With less than six weeks till the election, George Deukmejian’s new consultants went into action. All of the campaign’s advertising was replaced and the strategy completely recast. Old media buys were canceled and a new media placement design was created to better reflect the new strategy, target audiences and motivational message. Statewide news media gave considerable credit for salvaging the campaign to Russo Marsh + Rogers. California
Republican Party Russo Marsh + Rogers was hired by the California Republican Party to help salvage a sagging campaign to pass Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative. This initiative was the subject of national debate due to its ending special preferences based on race or gender. In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Proposition 209 was steadily dropping in the polls. We produced an advertising campaign which saved the initiative. The advertising campaign produced and placed by our firm resulted in victory by a margin of 54.6% to 45.4%. Howard
“Buck” McKeon According to political insiders and pundits, Assemblyman Phil Wyman was the shoo-in for California’s new 25th Congressional District. In the State Assembly, Wyman represented a large portion of the district and had been running for the seat for over a year. The early polls had Howard “Buck” McKeon, a Santa Clarita businessman far behind Phil Wyman. Russo Marsh + Rogers was hired to design McKeon’s campaign strategy and media. We defined McKeon as a “tough businessman for tough times,” and contrasted this image with that of Phil Wyman’s — a 14-year political insider out of touch with the people. The message was communicated through a strong direct mail effort combined with an intense grassroots volunteer and coalition program. In the end, Buck McKeon upset the favorite. George
Nethercutt For years Republicans in eastern Washington tried unsuccessfully to defeat their Congressman, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tom Foley. But each time, the Republicans nominated a candidate too weak to topple the Speaker of the House. 1994 was their opportunity because a promising newcomer emerged from the primary, Spokane adoption attorney George Nethercutt. Russo Marsh + Rogers was retained by the George Nethercutt for Congress Committee to serve as Direct Mail Consultant and to oversee the daily management of the campaign. While Mr. Foley’s showing in the primary election demonstrated he was vulnerable, his team was prepared to wage the most expensive campaign eastern Washington had ever seen to ensure the Speaker stayed in power. Knowing Nethercutt would be heavily outspent; we executed a direct mail campaign designed to take away Foley’s monetary advantage. Russo Marsh + Rogers defined the race on the Foley campaign’s conduct and creatively used interesting characters and different size mailers to deliver our message. On November 8th, voters of eastern Washington rejected Tom Foley’s negative campaign and made history by defeating the first sitting Speaker of the House in over a century. Referendum
for Ukrainian Independence Russo Marsh + Rogers has been called on several times to provide consulting in elections in other nations, including the election of Violetta Chamorro in Nicaragua and the campaign for independence in Ukraine. In October of 1991, we were recruited by a consortium of organizations dedicated to assisting the electoral efforts of emerging democracies in Eastern Europe to provide media consulting, creation and production for the referendum in favor of independence for Ukraine. While
there was little question the referendum would succeed, it was critically
important that it receive overwhelming support among all ethnic
groups including Russians living in Ukraine. We created and produced
four television commercials and negotiated their placement on the
single state-owned television station. The commercials were highly
effective in solidifying existing support for independence and bringing
ethnic Russians into the effort. On Election Day, the referendum
received over 90% of the vote including large majorities in the
predominately Russian regions of Ukraine. |