We all know that marketing strategies have their roots in paleosymbols and emotion-based responses, most of which tend to lie just underneath the conscious access the intended market audiences have to them. We often don't know why we immediately feel comfortable in one cafe over another; but we tend to frequent the cafe that engenders that positive feeling. People pay $$$ just to study the whys and hows of these responses and pay even more to utilize them.

Yet just as the human being is as fickle as the weather, a campaign must stand the test of time and pro-actively respond to "natural" variations to stay effective. Politics shows us most poignantly the struggles leaders have to maintain their positive approval ratings AND push through their agenda, which most inevitably will be controversial. Popular politicians know how to pick the fights they can win and unpopular ones pick whatever fights they want, regardless of the outcome, despite the often popular overreaching principles and culturally accepted ideals behind them.

Only those who have the foresight to engage and accurately predict the eclectic responses of the intended markets and only those who can respond quickly and navigate effectively all the inevitable unintended responses will be able to win the "fights they pick." Otherwise it's just a waste of time and energy.