CREATING AN EFFECTIVE BRAND: HOW PRESIDENT OBAMA USED SOCIAL MEDIA TO CREATE A BRAND

I. An effective brand is created when "friends" have "conversations"
II. O.K. How is this done?
III. President Obama is a classic case study---in 2006 he had no money, no name recognition, and no chance to defeat Hilary Clinton. HIS SOLUTION:  Use Social Media to create branding and to create relationships with the American Public
IV. HIS STRATEGY

• HAVE A GOAL---His goal was to become well known and to create personal relationships with the American people. His goal was to create a BRAND.  The brand was TRUST. When you get to know someone, and become "friends" this is how TRUST IS ACHIEVED. To vote for him, people would have to trust---simply trust him. He knew that people would have to trust him more than Hilary Clinton. The only way that the American people would trust him would be if he could meet them and become thier "friend". People believe what thier friends them---this is why they are FRIENDS.
• He created the scale on his web site to be able to meet his goal
• He integrated his Web site with social media platforms so that his "friends" would tell thier "friends" about thier friend Barack.  People told thier friends about Barack through posts, videos, blogs, and pictures.  Trust was no built with the American public.
• His website and the integration with social media platforms was easy to find, fun to use and to navigate
• Barack had a "method to his madness".  He had specific tasks that he wanted his "friends" to for him.  He wanted his friends to be enthusiastic, but he controlled the enthusiasm and channeled it into deeper relationships. He wanted friends talking to oher friends about why Barack should be President.  "Friends now had "conversation" and a recommendation was made about President.  Barack created trust, through the recommendations of his "friends". This is how a brand is created. A key state was Iowa. There are few black people in that state.  Building trust through "friends" won this battleground state.
• MOBILITY;     

                            A. Barack created many "touch points" with voters.  The key to good marketing is place yourself in a postion to influence your customer just at the point that a purchase decision is made. Barack understood 90% of Americans are only 3 feet away from thier phones 24 hours a day.  He also understood that people allow thier email boxes to overflow, but that 90% of all texts are answered. He created a method by which he could keep in touch with targeted followers.  This targeted made his "get-out-the-vote" efficient and cost effective.  He had to pay only $1.56 for each vote in 2008.  Conventional "get-out-vote" cost $20-$30.
                               B. Social Media allowed him to understand the financial metrics of his campaign. He understood what people were thinking and why.  this allowed him to whether problems, such as "Jeremiah Wright".  His "friendship" with the American public allowed him to understand just where they were coming from and he was able to communicate with them on very controversial issues.
                                C. Social Media allowed Barak to explain his brand in ways that the American public could understand---because now they were "friends"