You Are the Brand

Barack Obama: A Brand in Transition

Who the heck was Barack Obama? How dare he think he could be President of the United States just a couple of years out of the Illinois state legislature? He was still inexperienced, not worldly enough, and had never served in an executive capacity. He didn’t wait his turn. These were the kinds of questions and the negative perceptions that the Obama brand quickly addressed and conquered . This fascinating and complex branding story out of the 2008 presidential campaign is built on the fact that during the campaign, the Obama media marketing and branding folks knew that the biggest asset they had was the candidate himself and, oddly enough, the fact that he was new to the game. I’m writing this chapter during Obama’s second year as president, and right now the Barack Obama brand is still evolving . It clearly has problems in the wake of the BP oil disaster, an Afghanistan quagmire, and a sputtering economic crisis. The 2010 mid-term election clearly was a blow to the Obama brand. In the president’s own words, he took a “shellacking,” with so many Democrats, who were supportive of him and his policies, losing their Congressional seats. What President Obama does in response to such a public and humiliating loss will largely dictate his political fortunes and his long-term brand reputation and legacy. My focus in this chapter isn’t on the end story, however. The focus is largely on the Obama brand that reshaped our national political landscape forever. In many ways, the Obama brand could be considered the most successful branding campaign in American history, with many lessons to teach anyone trying to make a name in a competitive market filled with veteran brands. 43 Barack Obama A Brand in Transition Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:27 AM Page 43 Political Candidate as Celebrity Brand Obama is an innately charismatic guy, and his brand handlers wisely played to that strength right from the beginning of the 2008 race. He was the brand—the man himself would carry this campaign. But focusing on the man himself would not be easy initially, given that we’re talking about a guy with a really funny last name and a middle name that sounds a lot like a notorious dictator. Barack Hussein Obama? You’re kidding, right? Many Americans weren’t sure where Obama came from or what he was all about. Was he black? White? A combination of both? He was from Hawaii but learned politics in Chicago. He came out of a controversial and maligned political machine in Illinois but called himself a “reformer.” Who was this person who wanted to be the leader of the free world?The branding of this young politician would require calculated steps to create an image of unshakable presidential stature. But how? The Obama campaign handlers were well aware that successful brands are always a product of word-of-mouth advertising—nothing new there. But this campaign was the first to use the Internet and the power of social networking sites to create a groundswell of personal endorsement. In the cyberspace world of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and every other Internet-based communication tool out there, word of mouth moved a lot faster than anyone could have imagined. Once the word was out, Obama’s rallies were choreographed in a way that had never been seen in politics. Most of the thousands of people who showed up were new to the political arena. They were not on any political party’s mailing list; they had never done this before. So where did they come from? They came from savvy use of modern technology. I am sure that the growth of the Obama brand on the Internet right in the beginning of that presidential election campaign is in large part responsible for the ultimate election of the first black President of the United States. His campaign managers were the first to realize that in this age of modern technology , the race goes to the cyberspace savvy. Add luck and influential friends to a charismatic personality with Internet presence, and the brand was gaining big momentum. 44 YOU ARE THE BRAND Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:27 AM Page 44 Fellow Chicagoan Oprah Winfrey loved Obama, and she wasn’t afraid to show it. That kind of talk-show exposure by the world’s most well...