McCain takes a licking, but built Ford tough

According to a Washington Post story printed in today's Journal Gazette, Barack Obama's not the only presidental candidate with a differentiated brand:

A pair of market research firms in South Carolina polled voters there in April and September and concluded that if [John] McCain’s brand were a product, it would be part Ford pickup, part Wrangler jeans and part Timex watch.

“His brand strengths were identified as: trustworthiness, looks presidential, prepared for the job, has relevant experience,” said Mark Newsome, a senior vice president at Chernoff Newman, which conducted the surveys with MarketSearch. “He’s really resting his laurels on his own brand.”

But the firms also concluded that McCain’s brand has weaknesses: a striking lack of warmth and personal charm. And Democrats insist that there are opportunities to attack the building blocks of the McCain brand, especially his assertion that he is a moderate.

So, what about Obama and Hillary Clinton? What do you see as their primary brand strengths and weaknesses? And if their brands were products, which products would they be?

Fast Company on the Obama brand

On Friday, after Barack Obama's visit to the Fort, I posted about "The Obama Brand"--the marketing behind the campaign. That very topic is also this month's Fast Company cover story. A sample:

The fact that Obama has taken what we thought we knew about politics and turned it into a different game for a different generation is no longer news. What has hardly been examined is the degree to which his success indicates a seismic shift on the business horizon as well. 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.

The Obama brand

A friend pointed me to a Brian Collins interview in Wednesday's New York Times that praised "Barack Obama’s sophisticated typographical design scheme." In Collins' words:

[T]he Obama campaign really stands out. From the bold “change” signs to their engaging Web site to their recognizable lapel pins, they’ve used a single-minded visual strategy to deliver their campaign’s message with greater consistency and, as a result, greater collective impact.

The NYT piece follows a March 30 Los Angeles Times story that says each campaign has done well, stating that "Clinton's friendly serif, McCain's classic Optima and Obama's newcomer Gotham are [all] on message." But according to Collins, Obama is the hands-down choice--not just from a typography standpoint, but when it comes to his campaign's overall brand:

Barack Obama is running the first real transmedia campaign of the 21st century. His people not only understand how media has splintered, but how audiences have splintered, too. Cell phones, mobile devices, Web sites, e-mail, social networks, iPods, laptops, billboards, print ads and campaign events are now just as important as television. The senator’s design strategy has given these diverse platforms (and their different audiences) a coherence that makes them all work together. I’ve worked with giant, global corporations who don’t do it this well.

This integration gives Obama a significant edge, but his campaign enjoys some other benefits from a branding perspective. First, he's doing well with young voters, over whom branding has the greatest influence. What they lack in money they make up for in incredibly large, viral social networks, and they have the most diverse media consumption habits as well. They also know technology, and use it well in communicating messages that they believe in. That makes Obama seem omnipresent, at least among voters under 40.

Another thing about those young voters--they generally like great design. And when your brand has a strong visual message, your audience is much more likely to share it, wear it, and display it. One example: I was walking down Wayne St. today, and there was a large, Shepard Fairey-designed "Hope" banner on the east side of one of the buildings. And my first thought--the same thought I have every time I see it--is how striking it is. Now I think the comparisons to Soviet-style icongraphy are accurate, which makes it a risk, but the fact that first-run "Hope" posters are selling for $1,500 on eBay indicates that it's hitting a nerve.

Sure, fonts by themselves don't win elections, and neither does great design. But strong branding can impact a political campaign in the same way it impacts consumer preference. JFK understood this. Reagan got it, too. We can debate whether or not that's a good thing, but it sure isn't going to change anytime soon.

Be unique, but don't be sloppy

Great Seth Godin posts today: "Little scraps" and "Would we miss you?" Here's my summary of the two: today, people have too many alternatives, so you can't afford to be sloppy or incomplete. And because people have so many alternatives, you have to stand out by offering something irreplaceable. It's good advice, both for organizations and individuals. So, what are you doing to give people no other alternative when they're trying decide who to call?

West wing and a prayer

Maybe I'm just old. But does anyone other than Kanye West think it's a good idea for Kanye West to start an online travel website? From today's adage.com:

The Grammy-award-winning performer is extending his brand with a travel website this week, KanyeTravel.com, that aims to offer quality low airfares, hotels and rental cars without service or membership fees. The site is hyperlinked to Mr. West's fan site, kanyeuniversecity.com, and future phases call for travel packages with tickets to his concerts and concert merchandise.

My prediction is that this implodes within six months, and that the last five and half months are just to make it look like it wasn't a total disaster. Your predictions are welcome in the comments.