Al Reis coined the term 'positioning'. This week he wrote an article in Ad Age on why Obama's positioning strategy was so effective -- and McCain's and Clinton's were not. We have discussed a lot of this in class already, but thought you might enjoy hearing it from the Godfather of Positioning himself.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Al Ries On Obama's Positioning Strategy
Al Reis coined the term 'positioning'. This week he wrote an article in Ad Age on why Obama's positioning strategy was so effective -- and McCain's and Clinton's were not. We have discussed a lot of this in class already, but thought you might enjoy hearing it from the Godfather of Positioning himself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
14 comments:
Regardless if you someone supported Obama or not, they have to admit that his marketing, more importantly his positioning, was phenomenal. He identified his target market, read their needs, wants, and concerns, and have the a "product" that they could get behind. His choice of ads, message, and imagine where "on the money" with the target audience.
It is rather amazing that such a young politician was able to beat both a war hero and America's most famous female politician. His message of change was simple, consistent and relevant. I bet 90% of American knew that Obama stood for change. McCain had no such message.
Obama was definitely the "face" of the 2008 Presidential Campaign. When I think back about this election, Obama's face immediately comes to mind. He was everywhere..more so than John McCain. In addition, Obama had a clear message-he promoted change with the American people. And, he focused all of his talks on the issues around change. This excited the public, whereas McCain just talked about the issues one by one without having it link to a central focus. Lastly, Obama definitely used technology to his advantage by sending a mass text message to announce that he would be running for President. He used text messaging and other technology throughout his campaign. This created awareness, especially amongst the young, American voters.
Ries has summed up Obama's positioning strategy perfectly - simplicity, consistency, and relevance. One of the function of brand is to help consumers organize information and that is especially relevant in today's world. Information is easily accessible but hard to digest completely. It doesn't help when marketers are constantly changing their message and chasing the latest trends. What would the world like if all brands are simple, consistent, and relevant? Would the world be advanced and efficient beyond imagination?
Obama was originally running on the term "Hope", until he faced Clinton, who tried to paint herself as a pragmatist. He made inroads on her by then pre-empting her campaign with "Change," as Ries states. I disagree with Ries' concept of "big truth" because it sounds like a truth stretched into a lie. Obama created an aura of legitimacy by overachieving in practically everything he has done in life... as president of Harvard Law Review, as U of C constitutional law professor, in family life, as an author, as a community organizer, as a senator, and as a presidential candidate. The undoing of McCain was that he had to play his campaign to the GOP, which he had never really supported whole-heartedly in the past. His aura of legitimacy waned the more he claimed to be very conservative.
The Obama campaign used consumer insight, and tapped into the emotional longing of the US population. Because of his message of change, he transcended above his product attributes of policy to fulfill an emotional need of the people: hope. His message, though simple, was so profound and meaningful that it moved people to action (and repeat action) fighting for his campaign, donating, and voting for him.
President Obama... although I haven't gotten used to saying it, it sounds right. The vision, the positioning, and the execution the Obama campaign is truly impressive. Obama not only had a tagline of "Change," but changed the model of fundraising, changed the way the public politicans interact with voters and showed us the role or lack of role of race in this election. I think the consistency, or emotional consistency was one of keys to his success, as mentioned in the Ad Age article by Al Reis.
Running for an election requires the strategy used to market the launch of a new product. Al Ries accepted this challenge when he had opportunity to position Barack Obama. He used the knowledge that people wanted change, and this mantra is what Obama used from Day 1. Combined with his professional form of communication, Obama's message was even stronger. Ensuring the consistency of his message throughout his many races and campaigns, Obama made his message more powerful to all consumers, the people of this country.
I feel very fortunate to have witnessed this year's presidential election. It was certainly a rollercoaster at times, but what an amazing time in American history. From my point of view, Obama's consistency was absolutely key. And not only was he consistent, he had one word...one word that every American could relate to in their own way. That was brilliant positioning, in my opinion.
There is no question that Obama's campaign was not perfectly planned and executed. Obama saw a need by his target audience for a change because so many hard times have fallen on the economy. His ability to take understand and utilize the core issues affecting his audience to create a positioning that spoke directly to those people in a way that inspires and motivates has been unduplicated by leaders in my time. He chose a strong message that caused huge impact on his audience and delivered it with consistency and passion.
President-elect Obama had many things moving in his direction even before you consider his positioning strategy. Obama was a fresh face when old political families and faces were at their most unpopular.
Additionally, he raised an unbelievable amount of money that even the Clinton and GOP political machines could not overcome. This cash allowed him to have more people on the ground, more ad space, and ultimately more exposure.
The impressive thing to me, however, was the overall consistency in his messaging. Rarely did you see any contradicting comments come out of the Obama camp during the campaign. These positions were clearly defined, tested on voters, and ultimately executed through consistent marketing and speeches.
Ultimately, all the money and popularity in world can be easily squandered if the campaign and positioning aren't handled correctly...especially with the unbelievable amounts of negative ads that ran during the election process.
I think Obama's key phrases are what stuck with people over the course of the campaign. He used the same words over the entire campaign and those phrases and key words were what stuck with certain people going into the voting booth. Even if those individuals had no clue what either candidate stood for, Obama had greater media coverage and simple words and slogans that stuck with those individuals.
Obama's positioning was more effective than the other candidates for two reasons. For one, he took a look at the current situation in the US and settled on a theme of change that could appeal to most voters. Second, he stuck to his stance. McCain especially wavered on his position and this inconsistency cost him.
When people think of Obama, his mantra of change immediately comes to mind. The Obama campaign was centered around this idea and has created a memorable impression in the minds of Americans.
Yeap ,, Really nice !
Brand Strategy and Positioning
Post a Comment