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admin TV Appearances Barack Obama, Obamamania

Over the past few months, a new phenomenon has been happening with marketers and Barack Obama. Never before has a sitting (or even former) President become the image of a brand or his campaign phrases or book titles become a slogan for a product. Some politicians however, like Bob Dole and Ed Koch, have pitched a product in a commercial, but it was after they had retired.

For example, Ben & Jerry has unveiled a new ice cream flavor called “Yes, Pecan” with the President’s image on the container. Hence, the President joins such flavors (based upon real people) as Ethan Almond, Cherry Garcia and Wavy Gravy. A detergent company is now using the slogan “The Audacity of Soap”, based upon the title of the President’s second book. Ikea furniture has begun to use the phrase “Embrace Change” and Southwest Airlines is now using “Yes You Can”, both expressions were used by repeatedly by Barack Obama throughout his campaign. Pepsi Cola’s new logo is conspicuously similar to the emblem Obama used in his campaign. The new logo, however, is similar to their previous logo.

No sitting President has been so popular with marketers that they have taken the unprecedented step of attaching onto his image and words to help sell their products. Attorneys have been working to develop guidelines to protect the President and the office of the Presidency, but there is little they can do to prevent advertisers from using the image or the words of the President.

The branding even extends to the President’s family. The Ty Inc. company created two new beanie babies, Marvellous Malia and Sweet Sasha, after the names of the President’s two daughters. The White House claimed the company was exploiting private citizens for marketing gains. Ty has retired the two dolls, which purposely had little resemblance to the “first daughters”. The First Lady Michelle Obama has quickly become a fashion icon. Fashion designers (many up and coming) of her outfits have clearly benefited from the free press. Even J. Crew has profited, after Michelle Obama mentioned she was wearing a J. Crew outfit on a Tonight Show appearance. When the two daughters wore J. Crew for the inaugural, the company’s website crashed from too many users. Even the President has been a fashion icon. In Rome, at a recent fashion show there was an outfit that featured the image of Obama with “Change” written on underneath it.

Similar to previous inaugurals, there were T-shirts, key chains, buttons and coffee mugs with the President’s image that sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. Barack Obama however, is also an ideal image for a brand; he is trustworthy, recognizable, and without a hint of scandal. Obama is also ideal because he is young, charismatic and is a devoted family man. As an icon he is also very affordable (unlike Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan) and his image and words can represent stability in uncertain economic times, similar to using a company’s CEO as spokesperson. Since these are many of the attributes that marketers are looking for when using a celebrity spokesperson, it is not surprising that Obama’s have been used by a company.

The phrases and images used by marketers are based upon an extraordinary marketing strategy Obama used that combined traditional media such as radio, direct mail and television with e-mail, social networks and search. Another factor was that his main message of “change” never varied throughout the campaign. These strategies elevated Obama from a relatively obscure freshman Illinois Senator to a global icon in just two years. Hence, by using Obama’s well-known and successful campaign phrases it helps a brand rise above the noise level with an already familiar slogan with consumers.

There is a downside, though. A primary reason why marketers do not use politicians for ads is politicians have opponents and can have lots of them. Despite the euphoria expressed by millions at his inaugural, Obama received “only” 53% of the total votes cast and 58 million had voted for Senator McCain. The approval rating of Presidents can also fluctuate. While Obama’s is currently in the mid-60’s it is sure to change. For example, the approval rating of President Bush swung by nearly 70%. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 the approval rating of President Bush approached 90%. By the time President Bush left office it had dipped to nearly 20%.

The usage of Obama by marketers coincides with the honeymoon period or “100 Days” that all incoming Presidents have with the public. As time goes by and the newness wears-off, marketers are likely to drop the image and words of the President and move on to another promotion and ad campaign. It is doubtful that these companies will use Obama’s image or words by this summer.

badgate Marketing Barack Obama, Obamamania