The Marketing of a President

If you look at the just completed presidential race in terms of successful or failed marketing campaigns, there is a lot to learn about what sells in modern America.

Harvard Business School professor John Quelch marvels at the marketing acumen displayed by Barack Obama's campaign.

"For an inexperienced single term African-American senator tagged with the most liberal voting record to defeat the heir apparent in his own party and then go on to hold off the much-vaunted Republican machine is a truly remarkable achievement. Much of it has to do with Obama's instinct for marketing."

• Empathy: Through compelling speeches, debate performances, and autobiographies, the president-elect created considerable empathy among voters. More importantly, he convinced voters to act on that empathy.
• Empowerment: He appealed to all segments of the electorate -- including what HBS professor Clay Christensen might term the under served market of young voters and non-voters. Many were were inspired to show up at the polls for the first time.
• Media: The campaign understood how media works, and turned the Internet into a powerful weapon to create support and raise funds. "From the imaginative campaign logo to the thirty minute infomercial, Obama's communications were professional without being slick, attention-getting without being in-your-face," according to Quelch.
• Tone: The Obama messaging was upbeat, but buttressed by concrete policy initiatives. Negative advertising was left largely to opponents.
• Strategy: Like master chess players, Obama strategists seemed to outmaneuver opponents at every turn, even the battle hardened Clinton campaign.

Marketing McCain
What are the marketing lessons we can take away from John McCain's run?

How did the McCain camp do in selling its candidate to the electorate? What could they have done better? Was McCain an effective "front man" for his own candidacy? Was there brand conflict between McCain and Sarah Palin?