Influx

Many writers are speculating that brands can learn a lot from Obama’s victory and that it was a triumph of branding, messaging and media understanding. Obviously tactics appear on the service to be easily repeatable, but without the context it’s  meaningless.

Despite the grandiose plans brands have for themselves and their desire to create culture, they can never and will never single-handedly have the power to incite true social movements.

Brands however much they would like to be, aren’t human beings, they are products that try very hard to relate and understand us. They cater to our needs and wants, but are by their nature abstract and not made of flesh and blood. The credo of C21st marketers might be to become more human, but it’s a stretch and the entity of the corporation is always a more desirable, more defensible, more convenient and a safer place to be.

Obama succeeded because of the power of his human journey, his humanity, his chance to make history and his ability to connect. People aspired to the hope and change he stood for and trusted him to deliver it. They were voting for a person who provided them with the hope they wanted at the time; a promise that things could be better.

Timing is everything and Obama only needed to do this once and seize the moment. He had to find a way to position himself on November 4th, 2008 as the change that people were looking for. Brands unfortunately don’t have the luxury of the short window of time, they don’t have just one zeitgeist moment to seize, but a multitude, because they have to sell 24/7/365.

The best brands are undeniable in their power to help define us, but they are transient, disposable and easily replaced. They are things, not people and there are limits to the impact they have on the breadth of our lives and our futures.

However, once every four years two people contest for the right to become the most powerful person in the world. These candidates have the news media of the world reporting on them every second of the day, which means they dominate mind share. No brand could ever come close to this level of dominance.

When it comes to voting, we chose the human being that best represents the way we feel. Sometimes this feeling is one of ambivalence, because our lives are under control, but there are rare occasions, and this year was one, when we seek a leader who we want to lead us to better, brighter, future.  

Obama made history, he was the man chosen for the moment and lessons from his success are virtually impossible for brands to replicate.

Posted by Ed Cotton