Before it began, the trial of Rod Blagojevich may have seemed—to those not directly involved—like a simple formality. There were conversations on tape, after all. But this week, he was convicted on only one of 24 counts.
Implications: According to coverage in the New York Times this week, the failure to convict on any of the remaining 23 counts could be blamed, at least in part, on a law that was broken by the prosecution rather than a defendant: Keep your message simple. (Click here to read the story.) Knowing a retrial is almost assured, the jury foreman offered this advice to prosecutors: Streamline the charges, drop some, pick your shots.
Think about that. The prosecution had a confined audience (in jury box), and therefore, presumably, the attention of the people they were selling to. But by the time the case was over, instructions to the jury about how to deliberate and decide ran longer than 100 pages.
How complicated is the marketing message you’re trying to sell? Is your product or service so complex that it defends itself against consideration? Do you successfully sell the foundation (the value proposition) of your product or service before moving on to related features or less relevant details? And while it is obvious that you must sell to the buyer... are there family members or other decision influencers (hold-out jurors) who have the power of veto over the sale you're trying to make?
Mike Anderson
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