In the days since Standard & Poor’s announced its decision to downgrade the creditworthiness of the Federal Government of the United States of America, I have stood on the sidelines and cheered the stinging criticism of Standard and Poor’s from politicians, everyday folks and even the “mainstream” media.

I even experienced chills of joy when Jon Stewart and The Daily Show ripped the hypocrisy of Standard & Poor’s downgrade. Stewart pointed out (in ways that only The Daily Show can do) that it was Standard & Poor’s that gave the highest possible rating to some of the worst mortgage-backed securities that ultimately set in motion The Great Recession. So, it comes with great sadness that I write that those bastards at Standard & Poor’s actually make a good point. I hate when that happens.

Buried beneath the hyperbole of the reactions. Beyond a week of staggering news of markets tumbling, investors fleeing and London burning there is an important point.  Standard & Poor’s believes the United States has a leadership problem. The S&P “Research Update” http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/us-rating-action/en/us/ points out that “the effectiveness, stability and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened” at the worst possible time – in the middle of “ongoing fiscal and economic challenges”. If there is one thing that screaming partisans can agree upon, this might be it.

In government and business, the best leaders paint a long-term vision with “effective” policies that create greater “stability” and a greater sense of “predictability.” None of this exists today. And let me be crystal clear -- this is not a Barack Obama or Eric Cantor or Tea Party thing. It’s bigger than any one of them. It’s ALL of them.  And as the administration fights with the two (or three) fraternity houses that control the United States Congress, the reputation of the United States of America is suffering.

A few of our smartest business leaders saw this coming. Andrew Liveris, Dow Chairman and CEO, makes the point clearly in his book Make It In America. In his book and in speeches, Liveris outlines a clear path that could revive manufacturing in America.  Liveris says manufacturing jobs are leaving the U.S. not because of high wages, but because business needs “a degree of predictability and certainty when they invest in the United States.”

Predictability and certainty are the collateral damage of partisan political leadership that gravitates to the easy stuff: staging sensational fights focused on our political differences. The really hard work is focusing on areas where there is political alignment (lowering the debt, creating jobs) and finding ways to craft and enact “effective” policies to make it happen.

Let’s face it, the credit downgrade is humiliating. The greatest country in the world no longer has the greatest credit rating. Now that it happened the real question is whether this is a beginning of a bad story or the end of one.

Standard & Poor’s was right, for now. But the real outrage should not be over our credit rating; it should be about our reputation. The only way to fix that is by electing leadership focused on getting the United States repositioned as a true world leader in terms of stability, predictability and effectiveness – oh, and proving Standard & Poor’s was wrong to ever bet against us.

Patrick Milan, a former television reporter, monitors consumer behavior and applies it to brand strategy and marketing programs for clients of Tunheim Partners -- an agency based in Minneapolis. Follow him on Twitter: @pmilan or reach him via e-mail: pmilan@tunheim.com.

I am amazed and frequently frustrated when I hear seemingly smart business people say they are trying to figure out their brand's social media strategy. I think I know why they are frustrated — it's because they are probably wasting their time.  I have a strong opinion on thisfront: No brand should have a stand-alone social media strategy -- it just doesn't make sense. 

 Most of the communication folks stuck in this dilemma work within siloed organizations where marketing and communications are separate functions that barely recognize each other's existence or importance. That's a big problem because it's almost impossible for a siloed organization to create an overarching communications strategy that covers earned, paid, new, owned and social media

 Today, people (customers, prospects, any kind of stakeholder) voraciously consume every kind of media. They mix it up, mash it together, compare the findings and make quick personal judgments about brand winners and losers. It should come as no surprise that the winners have a sophisticated communications strategy while the losers have cobbled together a bunch of of one-off strategies with social media as the latest plank. 

 Sophisticated brands have to cover the waterfront of media. Nowhere is this more clear than in Edelman's latest Trust Barometer (January 2011).  Trust, it turns out, is a very fickle value these days. It fluctuates wildly year after year. How wildly? In 2010 a "person like yourself" ranked among the top three as "credible resources" for information. In that same study, CEO's ranked near the bottom. One year later, the two categories have swapped places. We no longer trust people like ourselves very much and CEOs have shot to the upper echelon of trust (who knew?) This is a perfect example of why no one should have a stand-alone social media strategy. The only effective communication is a synchronized message that covers all media. 

 In some cases, a single consumer is likely to use multiple media resources chasing a single question or curiosity about your brand. Early this year, StrategyOne reported that when consumers want information on a company they go to online search engines first. From search, consumers report they go to online news sites, then visit company websites and finish their quest for information in social media spaces. Only an organized overarching communications strategy will survive this process. 

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Patrick Milan monitors consumer behavior and trends and applies them to brand strategy and marketing programs for clients of Tunheim, a Minneapolis strategic communications agency. He may be reached at pmilan@tunheim.com. Follow him at http://twitter.com/pmilan or subscribe to his blog at http://tunheimmilan.posterous.com/

Integrating New Logo Into A QR Code To Deliver Content Directly From Business Cards

This month, we are re-launching the Tunheim agency brand with a playful logo that allows it to act as a QR code on our business cards. Why, you ask, would anyone care about a new agency logo on a business card? We thinkthis is interesting because it transforms an expected, traditional vehicle into a very unexpected and untraditional link to content. We refer to the new Tunheim calling card as a "Live Business Card "because it brings a static business card to life.

QR codes are relatively new to the United States, but our IPREX agency partners in Asia have been using them for years. How old are these codes? The first QR code was developed by a Toyota business unit to help track auto parts – in 1994. To put this in perspective, these two-dimensional bar codes were created back when Madonna was still on top of the music charts, Forrest Gump and the Lion King were the hottest movie hits and Microsoft was developing a new piece of code for the web called "Internet Explorer." If the QR code was a child, it would be graduating from high school this time next year. And yet, the QR code is just now coming to age here in North America.

Imaginative marketers are integrating QR codes into traditional advertising and communications campaigns to help interested consumers find deeper information - fast. In March, I wrote about Denver bank that uses a brilliant QR code campaign to bring it's brand to life. Since then, QR codes have been popping up on TV screens (not a good idea) and in train stations (a good idea) where consumers are linking to movie trailers while looking promotional posters hanging in public ad frames. QR codes are also being used for some rather unimaginative stuff, too — most business card codes simply link to a Vcard. Here at Tunheim, we plan to be a bit more imaginative. 

Look for ongoing content in this space in social and online media trends,. We will also post our consumer focus group video we plan to produce once a month from great retail centers such as the Mall of America. And we've got a few surprises up our sleeves that will make visiting this spot worth your time. We will launch our first piece of video content is here as well. Next week, this space will transport you to meet our partner in Japan, Yukiko Harada at a wonderful agency named, Train Tracks.

Until we meet again, stay curious!