A simple marketing lesson from the campaign.

[anonymousadguy]

Quick, can you name the one word that defined the message of the Obama campaign? Of course you can-- change. No matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on, it's easy to whittle Obama's core message down to that one little word. It became the essence of his brand, and of the strategy that informed his entire campaign.

So simple.

It was telling that in last week's Adweek, several advertising pros of all political stripes were asked about what either campaign could've done better from a marketing perspective. They all focused on the McCain campaign. Because from a marketing standpoint, McCain '08 was all over the map.

A simple, relevant message, repeated often, until it becomes a part of the consumer's own psyche-- that is textbook brand marketing. In election after election, from the president right down to the most localized ballot initiative, the winner tends to be the one who does this the best.

And it's exactly the same for small business. No matter who you supported in the election, there’s much to be learned from the textbook marketing approach that the Obama campaign took.

And rule number one is this: keep it simple. Because simple really does sell.

Anonymous Ad Guy

[n/a]

wow great perspectives. Your right the Obama campaign nailed it from a marketing standpoint. Not only that but they were more effective in newer modes of ad media including online media and viral marketing. Also even the logo and campaign signs looked newer and more fresh than mccain/palin. I am not biased either as neither side was really a clear choice for me. But clearly Obama was the winner.

It does help that he has a younger fan base to work with. Not only is it cheaper to access them online but they are the grassroots movement of viral marketing.

[Fire_Tiger]

Wow. Imagine the media fawning over Obama. Never saw that before.

I would say it was good marketing. Not brilliant but good. Here's how I would put it.

BIG STATE
It is said that to have a good shot at the White House you should be from one of four states. California (this is only a positive if you're a Republican since it normally goes Democratic thus why Nixon and Reagan were majorly helped by it), New York (thus why Hillary moved there), Texas (Bushes), or Illinois (Obama). Not that you cannot be from another state and win the White House, but simply that being from one of these four gives you a big state that you can build as a base and count in your column from the start.

BIG ALLY
Oprah Winfrey. Her value wasn't money but connections. And those connections are the ones that had money and controlled the levers of power in the media. Everyone in Hollywood owes Oprah big time. She called in all those debts for Obama.

HAD BLACK VOTE AND IGNORED IT
Unlike Jesse Jackson, he got it that he didn't have to pander to the black vote. He would get it no matter what he did. So, instead, he focused on other special interest groups within the Democratic Party. Once out of the primaries, he dropped his pandering to them and pandered to the center.

COTTON CANDY
He didn't really address anything specific but kept everything light. Ask any of his supporters for Obama's position on anything but the war in Iraq and they'll usually not be able to give you a solid answer. "Hope" and "Change" was about it. He avoided being specific because he was far left and knew it. He also knew this was a year of change and so he just had to be an acceptable alternative.

CAUCUS FOCUS
This is what brought down Hillary. She took her victory in the primaries for granted. When she lost Iowa, she was shocked. When she then won New Hampshire, she believed her own hype again. Her New Hamphire victory actually was her defeat as it fed her ego and was Obama's wake-up call. Hillary thought she could win the popular vote and Obama focused on delegates (and that meant every single one ... including those you get from often-overlooked caucases that follow primaries).

RACE CARD
Any attack made against him was simply addressed as a racist attack. It worked. The media bought it. Everything was able to be swept under the rug from that point on.

MEDIA IN HIS CORNER
There is no doubt that the media helped him win the White House. A Pew study clearly shows that. It never investigated him at all. Nothing. It reported what he wanted them to report. It shamelessly attacked his opponents. The job it did on Palin was disgraceful.

DOING THE PERCENTAGES
Like with the caucuses, he focused on small gains. His wife visiting military bases wasn't to win the military vote but simply to take a bite out of it.

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
Once this happened, he won. He knew it. His advisers knew it. All he had to do was look acceptable.

***

It was actually McCain that ran a brilliant campaign. A number of times he took the lead in the polls. Everything said that such couldn't be done in this electoral environment, but he did it. And he probably would have won if the financial meltdown didn't occur. He was leading the polls before it hit. After it hit, he didn't have a chance.