How Sen. Lincoln Chafee Is Like Fleetwood Mac. Don’t Forget To Vote.

Our favorite marketing guru Seth Godin makes the comparison:

"…Rhode Island’s Lincoln Chafee is quite likely to lose in his run for the Senate. Not because his constituency doesn’t like him–they do. No, he’s likely to lose because they don’t like his brand…

"…Fleetwood Mac (what a segue) was one of the hottest selling blues bands in Europe in the late 1960s. Then they lost their lead guitarist (Peter Green) and wandered aimlessly for more than five years until they added two lead singers and became a very different sounding group. The result was Rumours, one of the best selling albums in the history of music."

"…If Chafee had swallowed his pride and switched parties (brands), he would have won in a landslide. Same candidate, different trappings. Fleetwood Mac kept the name, changed the sound and reinvented themselves for a different decade."

"…While it’s often better to ‘stay the course’, it’s never a good idea to do so just because you can’t consider the alternatives."

I’m not in love with having my musicians or politicians reduced to brands, but the overriding lesson is worth learning.  How often have we each been so in love with our past success…so sure we we’re right….so afraid of failure that we made change impossible?

Change is good.  Get out and vote today.