The lessons of the "rags to riches" Obama campaign continue to inspire marketers of all disciplines, even those involved in corporate rebranding and launch events. This article applies the Obama playbook to the launch of a new corporate brand and is based on interviews conducted with communications leaders at major corporations, including Xerox, ArcelorMittal, Grant Thornton, and Thomson Reuters, among others.
Stand for something
Obama combined a simple, rational message -- Change -- with an emotional and empowering call-to-action: Yes we can. Competing candidates quickly adopted the change mantra, but Obama's status as an outsider, and the fact that he was there first, rendered his positioning unassailable.
Allen Adamson, managing director of Landor Associates writes, "The most successful brands today are based on ideas that are not just different and relevant, but simple." Johnson Controls, in its 2007 rebranding, adopted a simple tagline, "Ingenuity Welcome" -- a signal to customers, prospects, current, and future employees. And they followed this up with an annual Ingenuity Day devoted to new product brainstorming by all employees. Smith & Nephew, the British medical products conglomerate, restructured and identified its mission as "helping people regain their lives by repairing and healing the human body." And when Canadian-based Thomson acquired U.K.-based Reuters, it identified the simple and clear goal of becoming "One Company in one Year."
Capture and empower your fan base
Obama broke new ground for a political candidate by his use of the web to build a database of supporters and to engage them in a conversation, ultimately using his disciples to spread his message. In a similar vein, Deloitte Touche recently encouraged employees worldwide to create short videos on what Deloitte means to them. The Deloitte Film Festival resulted in 370 videos, created by employees at all levels of the firm, engaging more than 1,200 participants. This initiative substantially strengthened the firm's global community. Released on YouTube, the films introduce the firm to potential young employees in a uniquely relevant way.
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