My name is Nathan and I’m an Obamaniac
- Sep 24, 2008
So I still haven't read Business Stripped Bare yet. We are getting some copies in next week for the team here at Virgin Mobile Canada. As the pack is addressed to me I'll make sure I grab one hot off the press or the boat or wherever it has come from. I've heard that a number of people I've had the incredible honour and pleasure of working with from Virgin are referenced in the book. That's very exciting as it's not often you get to read a book where you really know the characters.
Onto today's topic though. My name is Nathan and I'm an 'Obamaniac' - even after all this time. The people that work around me have had to live with that fact for over a year now. I got the Obama-bug when I was given his book 'Audacity of Hope' for my birthday last year. I shouldn't be so interested in US politics cause I don't live there, but it is intoxicating. If only Canadian Politics could be so intriguing.
The Obama Campaign is practically a manifesto on how to build and drive a 'today' kind of brand . Ellen McGirt wrote an article that appeared in Fast Company in March that provided some fantastically interesting points for marketers in this blog loving, file sharing, uploading, digital embracing, social networking, 2.0 age. If you don't recognise them, you could end up facing business results like those other candidates for the Democratic nomination, including those with well built brands. While Ellen quite rightly points out that we all know he took politics and turned it upside down she goes on to discuss how this must have a 'seismic shift on the business horizon as well'.
Here is my fave section though – "Politics, after all, is about marketing -- about projecting and selling an image, stoking aspirations, moving people to identify, evangelize, and consume. The promotion of the brand called Obama is a case study of where the American marketplace -- and, potentially, the global one -- is moving. His openness to the way consumers today communicate with one another, his recognition of their desire for authentic "products," and his understanding of the need for a new global image -- all are valuable signals for marketers everywhere...". I'd like to encourage you to read the article if you haven't yet: Fast Company article.
See you next time.
