Obama: The Consummate Marketing Man

I never thought I'd say this, but we can learn alot about marketing from a man in politics. That man is of course Obama. He is a consummate marketing man. Clear about what he stands for; consistent in his message and (so far) in his actions. He listens, encouraging dialogue in places that the voters go....shopping malls, YouTube, blogs. His message "change you can believe in" neatly repositioned McCain as a third term of Bush. Bush who went to war, who mismanaged the economy.

Obama went to the people. McCain to the corporates. Obama rode the new wave of crowdfunding and raised some $650m - a record in political donorship. Half of this came from ordinary people, people in the US like you and me, giving small amounts (less than $300). That's alot of people - more than for any presidential candidate ever. So Obama wasn't seen as a candidate who would line the pockets of corporates once in power, but would work in the interests of the people. He did what great brands do. He built a coalition of people who were prepared to part with their hard-earned cash. And he keeps doing it every day. The morning after his election, as newspapers carried the photo of his first day in office, an email went out from MoveOn asking everyone to "chip in $25" to a new cause. One that builds momentum, disarms the lobbyists and corporate politicians who plan to stop Obama in his tracks. In others words, at his moment of greatest success, work had already begun to dissipate the next expected competitive attack.