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October 28, 2013 at 08:00 PM
An ad campaign for a local election plastered the faces of four community members who supported the office seeker.
I found this interesting and noteworthy: Were these four endorsers national celebrities? Local celebrities? Writers whose astuteness and judgment could be verified through a quick Google search?
Actually, none of the above. In fact, they were probably known to few community members. So what did this fab four all have in common? They all had the letters MD next to their names.
Granted, we’re far more familiar with political campaigns with politicians standing next to men with hard hats and other such folksy images. But this was an election targeting an affluent and educated community.
I thought of this in connection with this month’s cover story on prospecting for retirement clients (“Tales of Smart Prospecting”). There are all sorts of angles—indeed, our article profiles five distinctive approaches with the idea that readers will perhaps get ideas that sync well with their own style.
And yet I hearken back to the four doctors. Why would a campaign seeking the support of an affluent, educated public—the same target audience that financial advisors are busy prospecting—list the names of four doctors rather than four supermarket clerks?
And the answer is of course obvious. Doctors are assumed to be smart and capable for the unarguable reason that they spend many, many years getting through college, medical school, residency and often specialist training. They have to do well in difficult subjects like organic chemistry just to pass go.
