Just received a communique from Frank Luntz, the king of communications.  Today, his latest book came out, What Americans Really Want…Really: The Truth About Our Hopes, Dreams, and Fears. If you have not read anything by Dr. Luntz, you should also check out Words That Work, Revised, Updated Edition: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear.  OK, on to Frank’s missive:

I never send out emails about newspaper columns or media appearances.  I don’t want to fill up your email inbox.  But this is different.

If you’ve ever wondered what 300-million Americans really think about their jobs, their politics, their religion, their kids, their retirement and their day-to-day lives – and whether most people think like you – I’ve got the brand new book for you.

As you know, two years ago I wrote Words That Work, an attempt to examine the power of words in business and political communication.  Now, I have attempted to bring together, in one book, the definitive account of who we really are as a country, what we really think, how we really behave and what we really want out of life.

Whether you’re in politics or business, sales or marketing, the media or Hollywood, this book is filled to the brim with what’s really happening in America today.

But it’s not a boring book of polling data.  Rather, I’ve approached it the way you might approach dinner with friends or a night on the town.  The book is designed as a conversation starter for almost every conversation you could imagine:

–    Do Americans care more about the Ten Commandments or the Bill of Rights?  We’re a lot more divided than you might think.

–    Are you “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore?” The percentage who says yes – and why – will shock you.

–    If you’re a parent, you’ll discover what your kids really think about you, about school, about their job, and about their life.  And you’ll learn the six specific ways to keep them away from drugs.

–    If you’re an employer, you’ll learn the five attributes of the job that will keep your employees engaged.  If you’re an employee, you’ll learn the four ways not to get fired.

–    And are you one of the 90% of Americans who think they’re smarter than average, or one of the 60% think they’re more attractive than average?  And what is “average,” anyway?

–    What do Americans really want from their elected leaders?  Clue: one word beats everything else … combined!

These are just a few of the questions that are answered in “What Americans Really Want … Really.” There are hundreds of information nuggets and factoids that will often amuse and occasionally anger you, but they are all designed to inform.

And if you click on the Barnes & Noble link here — http://www.bn.com/frankluntz -- you can get the internet discount.

I promise you an interesting, informative read – including breakthrough analysis never made public until now.  It’s an exclusive, accurate look at what Americans actually think and why.

So apologies for the interruption.  You are now being returned to your regular programming.

Frank Luntz

Brian Devine, has been fake tweeting as Frank Luntz for more than a year, and doing it in the subtle, nuanced, and understated — the sort of way that neither raises suspicion nor created controversey — until now (but, IMHO, in a good way), ‘Frank Luntz’s’ Tweet Nothings:

For more than a year, a couple thousand Twitter fans tuned into the musings of political consultant Frank Luntz. Like the microblogs of many chattering-class types, the Luntz tweets were a mix of mild political commentary (“bummer about Sanjay Gupta stepping aside”), horn-tooting (“the Hill offers an article on my speech last night”) and banal oversharing (“could definitely go for chicken francaise tonight”).

But ha! The joke’s on all of you who thought you’d found a real-time pipeline into the cranium of the former boy wonder of Republican polling. For Luntz’s Twitter account … was a fake.

Turns out it was written not by Luntz but by Brian Devine, a 20-something staffer at Rosslyn marketing consultancy New Media Strategies. A co-worker of Devine’s, Simon Owens, unmasked him in a blog post last week after a follower of the mock-Twitter raised suspicions.

Devine explained to Owens that he pulled off the hoax for so long because his postings were deliberately non-outrageous. Which raises the question of … why? Fake Condoleezza Rice Twitters or even fake Chuck Norris Twitters you can see the fun in, but Frank Luntz? Devine, who used to work for Luntz, told us it was an inside joke with other Luntz veterans. Not “a statement about anything — just a gag.”

“It’s actually kind of scary,” Luntz, 47, told us from L.A., where he moved last year. He was most bothered by the fact that Devine-as-Luntz tweeted about his actual news clippings and TV appearances, which he said he would never have done: “It’s tacky.” Though flattered that so many people, including major politicians and journalists, were following the fake account, “the idea that 2,000 people would care about what I was doing on a daily basis is kind of absurd.”

He’s not a Twitter fan; he finds the 140-character limit unable to “communicate passion or intensity.” And no, he won’t take up Devine’s now-abandoned account. “Why the hell do I want to be twittering in D.C when I can drive the Pacific Coast Highway?”

I received a lovely missive from the King of Language and Message, Mr. Frank Luntz:

I’m Back!

After five weeks without a home or a name, I have finally settled on both.

I think it’s fully appropriate that a pollster actually conduct a poll to determine what to call his company. Thanks to the input of some of the most influential people in politics, business and American culture, I have settled on “The Word Doctors” as the entity for the work I do going forward. (Sounds a little like a primetime soap opera, I know.)

[ . . . ]

Life in Santa Monica is slower and more relaxed – and I am eager to maintain that life-affirming pace going forward. What research projects I do accept will be in conjunction with my old firm – LMSR.

But if you’re looking for strategic guidance or long-term planning, or you want someone to deliver a State-of-America speech to your company or organization, I hope you’ll allow The Word Doctors to find the right words for you.

All the best,

Frank Luntz

(See the above email in its entirety online)

I just received this announcement from Nancy Martira over at Ketchum, following-up on my blog post with the big announcement that Frank Luntz is leaving Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research:

As you reported on your blog, the close of the 2008 Election Season also brings to a close Frank Luntz’s time as CEO at Luntz Maslansky, a non-partisan, market research and communications consulting firm.  As reported in Ad Age on Friday afternoon, Lutz Maslansky Strategic Research (LMSR) is pleased to announce that President Michael Maslansky will be taking over the role of CEO effective January 1, 2009.  The Luntz, Maslansky Method of Language Strategy, used recently by news organizations such as CNN and FOX News to track voter reaction to the presidential debates, is used to understand how target audiences “hear” messages and how to craft the precise language that resonates most powerfully with those audiences. 

Founder and outgoing CEO Frank Luntz will relinquish day-to-day responsibilities and assume the role of chairman emeritus.  Prior to his five years of service as the President of LMSR, Michael Maslansky was president of MarketResearch.com, a leading market intelligence company where he remains on the Board.  “Michael is the ideal person to take the firm to the next level,” said Luntz.  “At no time in recent history has the importance of clear, credible and persuasive communications been greater than it is today, with corporate American facing unprecedented financial challenges and a new era in Washington.”

I just received this email from Frank Luntz:

To: Friends & Family
From: Frank Luntz
Re: A New Beginning
Date: November 5, 2008

---

The end of the most interesting election in modern times will also be the end of my career with Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research. Having sold my company to the good people of Omnicom, it’s time to move on.

When I hired my first employee and opened up an office in the basement of my townhouse in 1992, I never dreamed that I would someday have the honor of working for presidents, prime ministers, and CEOs of the world’s most successful companies and most influential foundations. Our roster of corporate and public affairs clients is unprecedented for a firm of our size, and I’m so deeply proud of them and the positive impact they have had on their customers, their communities, and the world at large.

I am also grateful for the privilege of analyzing the great events and social trends of our time in so many diverse public settings. While I may have a face for radio and a voice for newspapers, the willingness of so many network presidents and executive producers to give me the opportunity to apply the skills of public opinion to explain the who, what and why of the world are some of the most fulfilling and enjoyable moments of my career. I can never adequately thank them for making life so interesting and invigorating.

But a time comes in everyone’s career where it becomes important to tackle new challenges and scale new mountains. Now is as good a time as any to get out of DC and start examining more closely what is really happening in American life and culture. I also want to take my research of words to an entirely different level, applying it where it has never been applied before. There’s a lot I still want to learn and do – and staring at the Pacific Ocean from Santa Monica, California is as good a place as any to do it from.

So while I will be leaving my home and my company, I am certainly not retiring or disappearing. I’m much too young and much too excited about what’s ahead. But I don’t plan to work as hard – at least that’s the plan. Those of you who know me well know that I work 18 hour days, seven days a week. This year alone I will have flown more than 300 days and logged 300,000 miles … and frankly … I’m tired. I need this change of scenery and change of pace to recharge my batteries and extend my shelf life.

Not everything will change, however. I have been offered and accepted the privilege of serving as “Chairman Emeritus,” of LMSR, a title normally reserved for people who live past their sell-by date. And while I may be gone, the company name will remain the same, as will the team I have painstakingly assembled over the past decade. These are uniquely capable people with solid research experience and the most creative brains I have ever worked with. I recommend them highly for all your research needs.

And if you are looking for advice and guidance, I’m definitely still around and still in business.

To end on a personal note, I did not learn until the death of my father how much he enjoyed my frantic calls asking him for help or guidance – and that he missed them when I grew old enough to handle these tasks on my own. You don’t realize how much I appreciated the chance to serve you – even when the calls were late and the tasks were tough. While I have made my share of mistakes, I do not regret a single minute. You have given me a very fulfilling life, and I thank you for making it worth living.

Frank

Here’s a version of this email online.