The marketing of a president

Marketing Obama

Though it is without question a cynical way of viewing the current President's winning election campaign, it is no less accurate to see the campaign as a masterstroke of marketing. As this case study reports, Obama's natural charisma and empathy made him an especially effective speaker and figure, and this play prominently in his campaign's strategy. The use of marketing media, especially video ads both online and on television, remained strictly on narrowly defined messages while at the same time reaching out to a broad base of non-traditional voters (Quelch, 2008). His tone was consistently upbeat, reflecting the hope and change that his campaign -- and his slogans -- were built on. The single-mindedness of his campaign's marketing materials was a large part of the efficiency and success of this campaign.

Other factors that contributed to the effectiveness of the campaign's marketing strategy are noted by Quelch. Among these are Obama's ability to remain unruffled under pressure by giving clear and honest answers that do not require backtracking, and by pre-empting negative attacks by making admissions of past indiscretions in his autobiography and other statements (Quelch, 2008). Many of the elements of the campaign that Quelch attributes to its ultimate success, in fact, can be boiled down to won word -- transparency. In most of the marketing materials that his campaign used, honesty and openness -- as well as clear dialogue and answers rather than empty rhetoric and circular accusations -- were the hallmarks by which the ads operated. Especially as the national and global economic situation began to deteriorate, this transparent approach to government was especially appealing to many voters, and greatly increased the efficacy of his ads. In addition, Obama's ability to manipulate various media, especially the Internet, greatly improved the spread of his campaign message.

In one such ad, that appeared both on television and online, Obama's consistent stance against the Iraq war is touted as evidence of his ability to handle pressure, and the even tone of his decisions. Without needing to over-emotionalize the message or resort to the overt instigation of fear in the ad's viewers, the message of Obama's supremacy in regards to dealing with foreign conflicts through diplomacy rather than militancy hits home much more easily and rationally than many other political ads (Obama Response, 2008). The same attitude is shown even more clearly in his ad concerning healthcare, in which the candidate himself appears on the screen and mentions first his mother's fatal battle with cancer before using it as a launching pad for a quick and to-the-point discussion of healthcare (Obama Mother, 2007). Again, though there is necessarily an emotional appeal in the ad, the tone of the ad is one of rationality and straight talk, not empty passionate rhetoric without any real reflection on policy. This is seen yet again in his ad regarding social security, in which the candidate is shown speaking to a small group of baby boomers in the same measured and rational tone (Obama Wind, 2007). The transparency of the Obama campaign, and the determination of the candidate to speak to the American public with respect and rationality, were the major differences of his campaign.