Obama Marketing
I've been thinking of the Obama campaign a lot over the last few days. Here's my take on the campaign from a brand strategy stand point. I've read lots of posts on lessons learned and posts that deconstruct the campaign down to a tactical level. I'm interested in your thoughts on what you liked and what you didn't like. Bring it on.
Creativity and design matters The logo has forever changed the approach to political branding. The campaign logo can be compared to any top consumer brand. Its evocative and has built in talking points. Not only that but it is memorable and customizable to various groups without diluting the core intent.
Convergence is key
The campaign used a combination of traditional, online and mobile media such as ads on TV, print ads, ads on online vehicles like facebook, mobile/SMS advertising, opt-in SMS communications, a mobile app for iPhones, email with a variety of senders and content, online videos, infomercials/TV ads that lasted 30 minutes on major networks, phone calls, oor hangers, door-to-door visits by volunteers. The vehicles all pushed people towards the website and the online community.
Messaging matters
Consistency is key. The message was always the same - to inform you of Obama's position on a variety of issues, evoke involvement with the campaign - and in a positive manner. The objectives were awareness (getting the word out), lead generation and fulfillment (volunteers and fundraising). Not to mention Obama drawing on "great political brands of the past" (Kennedy, Clinton, MLK, and even Perot).
People need anchor points
The marketing seemed to be anchored by personalization, video messages, and of course, events. The video message ran the gamut from computer cams to music videos.
Pre and post marketing helps solidify your position
I can't help thinking of the books as great pre-marketing and the thank you emails that continued after the win (and the continued focus on the audience in the acceptance speech).
Thinking big
Who would have thought that spending time and money in Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado and New Mexico could make a difference? Goes against the grain of traditional political marketing strategy of the past. And the numbers show that outspending still helps. The Obama campaign has only been outspent in the last 9 months by AT&T.
Emotional involvement
The emotional involvement of the Obama campaign seemed to convert more evangelists for the brand.
Wikipedia describes a bellwether as any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to predict future happenings. In the United States, Missouri is often referred to as a bellwether because it has produced the same national outcome in every presidential election since 1904 - except in 1956 and our most recent 2008 election. But what about social media? Could Myspace, Facebook or Twitter become the new election bellwethers? As the graphs below will show, each of these sites displayed more supporters for Barack Obama before his win in last week's election.
I’ve compiled a list of my Top 20 social media and internet marketing tweeters. There are so many amazing people on Twitter and it was difficult to come up with such a small list , but I have found these 20 to be the most consistent in providing valuable insights into the social media sphere - not surprising since most are industry leaders. Here they are (in no particular order):
Amidst all the online buzz and opinions, the importance of strategy continues to bubble to the top of the boiling pot. While there are several business approaches - whether its B2B or B2B - the commonality in the approach is in the development of strategy that support business and marketing objectives. Awareness, lead generation and loyalty all require different sets of strategies. Certainly there are common threads, but each approach is focused on generating a unique set of behaviors.
As part of being social on election day, we've uploaded a video featuring my post-voting excitement this morning. I came to the US 20 years ago and I finally voted in my first presidential election. It's a happy day and a tremendous feeling of pride and involvement in the future of this country. The video is posted at 
Election Day has always been one of my favorite "holidays." Like a kid on Christmas Eve, I can't sleep the night before as I eagerly anticipate casting my ballot in the morning and watching the returns at night. Social media has made it easier during Election '08 to share thoughts and enthusiasm with people from across the United States and around the world. The presidential candidates have embraced it and so have the voters. Below are 4 ways you can "get social" this Election Day:
In the spirit of Halloween I thought we would celebrate some social media inspired costumes found online. All it takes is some poster board and a little creativity and you, too, can look like your favorite social media site!
The 
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