T. Boone Pickens separates from the field

Check out the following television ad from legendary Texas oil man T. Boone Pickens and then continue reading below.



Mr. Pickens' public awareness campaign should prompt an important question: How does your organization elevate its message in a crowded field? In the case of Mr. Pickens, he has waded into a crowded debate over energy policy. Cable news and newspapers are saturated with ads promoting the latest solution to our energy challenges. They are sponsored by an alphabet soup of business coalitions - U.S. Climate Action Partnership, the American Clean Coal Coalition, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, Americans on Energy Independence to name a few - making it virtually impossible to distinguish one from the other. The end result is muddled messages and a disconnected audience.

The Pickens communications strategy is different. There is no coalition. There are no actors. There are no professional voice overs. The audience hears from one man - a well-known, authentic oil executive speaking his mind. The entire Pickens public awareness campaign - from newspapers and television to radio and the web - follows a strategy unlike others in the energy debate: one man, one voice. As a result, the message in my view is more compelling than its competitors.

Some may consider the Pickens campaign effective; some may not. Either way, it begs the question every organization should ask: does our message stand out in a crowd?