Marketing Lessons from the Obama Campaign

Today we have a new president-elect.  

What marketing lessons can we learn from Obama's victory?   One disclaimer is in order:  I consider myself politically independent.  I've voted for Democrats and Republicans, so I've go no political axe to grind.  These are simply the opinions of an interested observer who happens to know something about smart marketing.

1. Have a Purple Cow product:  Has there ever been a more unique candidate for the Presidency?  No one needed to invent or "spin" or convince anyone of Obama's uniqueness.  Some embraced it and some feared it.  But all recognized it.  He was a Purple Cow (see my earlier blog on Purple Cow thinking).
2. Identify a strong strategy and stick with it:  The Obama team had a very simple and easy to understand positioning strategy represented by one word:  CHANGE.  His campaign hammered the theme consistently and they didn't let Hillary Clinton or John McCain usurp it even though both tried.  His sub-theme "YES WE CAN"  conveyed optimism and self-confidence at a time when those qualities were exactly what the majority of Americans needed and wanted to feel.
3. Packaging is critical:  Obama always staged his major speeches and TV ads in settings that made him look "Presidential."  Regardless of whether you supported him, the staging of his Victory Speech last night was impressive.  He only won 51% of the popular vote yet it looked like he won a gigantic and overwhelming landslide.   Brilliant Packaging.
4. Re-position your competition:  Bush's current unpopularity was a huge problem for McCain.  He did all he could to distance himself from the President.  The Obama campaign  never conceded that issue and kept linking McCain to Bush, forcing McCain to be on the defensive and prove his independence.  You can't win by playing defense.  You need to score.
5. Seize opportunities quickly:  The economic crisis turned the campaign from a referendum on the War in Iraq to a Debate about Economic Recovery.  Bad luck for McCain, who had an advantage on foreign policy experience.  But the Obama campaign had the good sense to keep the debate focussed on the economy and McCain's depth of foreign policy experience became relatively unimportant.
6. Invest in marketing:  No matter how great your product is and how brilliantly it's positioned in the market, you won't succeed if you don't invest in marketing.

I hope that Obama's skills as a smart marketer foreshadow the skills he will show as our President.  If he's as good at running the country as he was at running his marketing campaign, we'll be in capable hands.  Let's all wish him well at this difficult time when our country needs exceptional leadership.