The politics of branding

Before I begin, let me tell you that I am one of the least political people I know.

That said, working on the branding of a political campaign had always been one of my career ambitions. There simply didn't seem to be any marketing challenge that could beat a political campaign for its sheer immediacy and interaction. Real-time polling. Strategy, and counter-strategy. A complex and incredibly dynamic competitive landscape. And, of course, a fickle electorate to make the final decision.

That was until political campaigns became dull, conventional and, ultimately, meaningless for pretty much everyone bar the political candidate and their cronies.

But then that all changed for me with the most recent American election and the campaign run by Barack Obama. Irrespective of my own political beliefs (and limited enthusiasm, as above), he instantly struck me as a man willing to stand for something more than the hackneyed, cautiously worded policies of times past. He dealt with issues in a way that not only seemed to make sense for the people, but also – and importantly so – just felt right.

In the world of commerce, they say that "in the absence of a clear business strategy, any brand strategy will do", and the same had often struck me about politicians. So often it's more about the individual policies than their political platform or philosophy (if they're the right terms), it's all short-term tactics and the political equivalent of discount sales to score votes as the public relations people are allowed to run riot.

So it was refreshing, to say to the least, to be able to hear David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, talk about some of the strategy behind the campaign at this seminar at Cannes last week. I won't attempt to paraphrase what he says – you're better off hearing him speak for yourself – but a couple of points in particular stood out for me.

Firstly, Obama set the strategy from the top and everything filtered down from his vision. Now if only we all had a leader like that.

And secondly, everything worked in sync. Messaging, media, events, door-knocking and so on all spruiked the same content on the same day in the same state as the campaign moved around the country.

Neither of those two things are easy to achieve, but just look what happens when you get them right.