• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 10, 2021

Plenty of experts believe he needs some high-level messaging for all his successful efforts -- ahead of the crucial 2022 midterm election.

There was a ramping up of vaccine efforts. The American Rescue Act, a $1.9 billion bill passed in March, expanding unemployment benefits, the child tax credit, and grants to small business. The recent infrastructure bill that was passed into law.

At the same time, there is concern about rising inflation -- which many say was a somewhat expected side effect, due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed now by a sharp rise in the economy this year.

For many -- and seemingly by design -- President Biden, the person, the public official, has a lower profile than the previous guy. Is that better? Perhaps, the U.S. President just will be a loyal, perhaps somewhat under-the-radar civil servant.

The argument for better presidential marketing comes from Biden’s current approval ratings -- through 323 days of his presidency is now at an average 42.8%, according to FiveThirtyEight.com -- under a key 50% threshold.

If that sounds bad, take a look at his comparison to Trump’s approval rating at the same time.

At day 323 of his presidency, Trump was at a 37.3% score -- and this was long before COVID. So Biden is about five percentage points better. And Trump’s efforts came amid nonstop marketing/social media messaging from Trump himself via Twitter.

For his first seven months, Biden’s approval ratings were over 50%; Trump was never above 50% for his entire presidency. Interestingly, President Obama, after his initial period 10 months in positive territory, started getting negative approval numbers in December of his first year in office.

Low approval ratings could warrant a big marketing campaign -- paid advertising, better public relations, and perhaps more public appearances.

Biden did benefit from a modest campaign in July -- a $10 million “Building Back Together” effort on broadcast, cable TV and digital platforms. But this was just in the Washington, D.C. area.

About a month ago, on MSNBC, legendary ad executive Donnie Deutsch said if there is a marketing/PR effort for Biden, it should revolve around one word: economy. In press conferences, Biden has talked it up. Dow Jones Index is up 16% since Biden took office, closing at 35,719 on Dec. 8.

Still, right now, perhaps other messaging from “earned media” -- otherwise known as TV and other media news organizations' content -- might need to tell more of his success story.