Barack Obama’s win in the U.S. Presidential election was not a surprise given the fact he had won on another ballot recently. Obama was named Advertising Age magazine’s 2008 Marketer of the Year. Obama edged brand darlings Nike and Apple, resurgent brands Coors and John McCain, and upstart online retailer Zappos. What makes Obama Marketer of the Year material? How did a brand that virtually was nonexistent two years ago eclipse brand powerhouses like Apple and Nike?
Many marketing lessons can be learned from Obama’s campaign. One, he identified a market opportunity that had gone untapped by politicians in recent years: younger voters. Two, the Obama campaign utilized new media that resonated with younger Americans: the Internet, social networks, and mobile media complemented traditional mass media advertising very effectively. Third, positioning of brand Obama was powerful. Obama’s position was based on “change.” The timing of such a point of difference was fortunate. “Change” does not work if times are good, but the prospect of change apparently sounds good to millions of Americans at this time. In contrast, John McCain positioned on “experience.” McCain’s position was not bad, it just was not as relevant to Americans as Obama’s call for change.
Link: Advertising Age – “Obama Wins! … Ad Age’s Marketer of the Year”
“Better” never works in marketing. The only thing that works in marketing is “different.” This is a statement directly from the article on Ad Age titled “What Marketers Can Learn From Obama’s Campaign”. During Obama’s campaign period, I distinctly remember thinking that this man was a marketing genius (or at least him team was). It seemed to me that everything was so well thought out, and it made a difference in the end. His campaign was steady, consistent, and so different from any other campaign that I have ever seen in my lifetime which proved effective.