In the early hours of this morning Shanghai time – I watched as Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. I have followed his progress with keen interest over the last 18 months. Taking his dream of being the first African American President of the US, and making it a reality is nothing short of incredible. And the way he went about it is even more impressive.

He was named “Best Marketer of the Year 2008” by Advertising Age magazine. And this is what I would like to focus on today. Obama is an example for all of us in the advertising industry. You can just imagine the Brief: “Get an African American elected to the White House.” So just how did he go about it?

Firstly - his message to the people was simple and consistent – Obama is Change. This conviction was at the essence of the campaign. The campaign’s creativity lies in how he mobilized the digital world to his advantage, in a way that no one has ever done before. His message echoes the views of Marshall McLuhan, who is seen as the first prophet of the electronic age that “the medium is the message”. Obama’s campaign was all about change: change in approaching the ‘consumer’ (voter) and the ‘trade’ (campaign contributions), and also change in distribution: micro vs wholesale.

No campaign has been more aggressive in tapping into social networks – Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, you name it, Barack was there. Most importantly the campaign was flexible and constantly adapted to a world where communication channels are always in flux. This is “the Swarm theory” in action showing us how marketing can harness the power of modern human communities and the power of influence. It is people grouping together and moving together without being told what to do.

He got the people behind him from the bottom up. These “brand” advocates were an integral part in building his success. He leveraged the financial power of thousands of small donors via the internet; people could give just a few dollars, or a few thousand. He realized that donating online is cheap and quick, and far less intimidating than writing a cheque. Though the majority of contributions were made online and were for US$100 or less, adding it all up was the big difference. And most important, via this he gave people a voice and involvement, with a one-2-one feeling. This is crucial especially when you position yourself as representing ‘the voice of the people’.

Mainstream media followed this innovative path too. For example CNN teamed up with Facebook so that people could watch the inauguration live whilst interacting with their Facebook community and friends. Over 21 million people watched this way! This demonstrates brand involvement in 3 levels: Obama, CNN and Facebook – which is a win/win situation and shows category leadership.

Watching him yesterday was the embodiment of a successful campaign. Innovation and fantastic ROI are something that we try to practice everyday in our work, as well as always asking ourselves: “Why Not”?

Posted on January 22, 2009 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am embarking on a new paper that is to explore the power of language in engaging consumers with a brand. I would love any examples, information and thoughts people have on the subject. Just think of the longevity of taglines like “Just Do It” or phrases that enter our social consciousness, “Think global, act local” which then became “Glocal”. There is some controversy over who should be credited with the latter example. This is all fascinating stuff and we must never lose sight of how words and the dialogue they inform can influence and move us. Post your comments and thoughts!


Jeff Swystun, Chief Communications Officer, DDB Worldwide

Posted on January 26, 2009 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)