Branding Lessons from Barack Obama
Dec
While a gazillion blogs are hailing and tracking Barack Obama on his unbelievable feat, I’d like this blog to focus on the lessons that Obama offers in marketing and branding. Obama and his team have demonstrated over a period of two years what great brands are made of.
- Consistency:
Ask anyone who followed the campaign what Obama stood for and they will tell you immediately: change. Great brands find one message and keep to it incessantly. Right from the start, Obama propagated change as his mantra and came to be identified by it. The McCain camp, on the other hand, could never decide on one single campaign strategy. All I remember are the air quotes?
- Trust and Credibility:
True credibility takes time to build and it is sustainable. Barack Obama demonstrated this admirably in the last year. There were opportunities to get nasty and dirty in the campaign that he never took on. In fact, he very consciously refrained from reciprocating in the under-handed way that McCain-Palin did. This distanced him fairly quickly from ?gutter-politics? and established him as an honorable, no-nonsense candidate. - Endorsements and Referrals:
Barack Obama was endorsed by some highly respected and well accomplished individuals. Two of them are worth mentioning: ?Both Colin Powell and Eric Schmidt have shaped?America?s landscape in their own respective fields. They both come with rich experience and high credentials. In short, when they talk or offer an opinion, people listen.?But here?s the catch: it also takes a good product like Barack Obama to deserve an endorsement. If the offering is solid, likable, and reliable, endorsements are likely to follow. - Leveraging the Internet:
Barack Obama was totally on top of the technology game. Great move, given that a large chunk his target audience was internet-savvy. Their social media marketing campaign was enviable, as it leveraged every relevant online tool to reach American voters.Website:Mybarackobama.com was a one-stop source of information for new bees as well as returnees.
- Follow-up:
Respected brands don?t strut their stuff and slink away after the party?s over. In Barack Obama?s case, the party was Election Day, where he won with a resounding majority. The very next day, change.gov was available for any and everyone who wanted to keep track of post-election happenings. The site is updated regularly, has an open and transparent communication policy and once again, re-iterates all that Barack Obama stands for.
Social Media: Barack Obama had a blog, a Facebook page, a twitter account, youtube videos, Podcasts. Jeez he was everywhere. This is called brand recall. Whenever people accessed a certain ? ? ? media, Barack Obama was there.
Email Campaign: Barack Obama’s email marketing campaign won him not just supporters, but donations from ordinary folks.
At the end of the day, great brands bring something different to the table. They infuse a breath of fresh air with their values and ideology. They inspire and touch people beyond logic and reasoning.
To quote the lolcats, Barack Obama haz it.
Related posts:
