Interview with Obama Logo Designer
If you liked my post about the creative nature of Obama’s campaign, be sure and check out this New York Times interview with designer responsible for the ‘O’ logo. Read it here.
The thing that struck me the most:
Q: What were you thinking when you conceived this idea?
A: When we received the assignment, we immediately read both of Senator Obama’s books. We were struck by the ideas of hope, change and a new perspective on red and blue (not red and blue states, but one country). There was also a strong sense, from the start, that his campaign represented something entirely new in American politics — “a new day,” so to speak.
Shows you how important that research step is in creating any kind of creative campaign.
The Creative Campaign of the Century
Disclaimer: I did cast my vote for Obama. However, this is not a post about politics. This is a post about the creative marketing strategies of a well-run campaign. My political opinions and beliefs are of no consequence as I discuss the logistics of Obama’s bid for president.
They are finally catching on.
Don’t get me wrong. There are still plenty of them that don’t get it. But, there’s hope.
It’s hard to break out of a cycle that’s been the norm for more than 200 years. Ever since the earliest of presidential elections, political campaigns have focused on one thing: the candidate. “Let me tell you about me. See how capable I am. Did I tell you how much better I am than my opponent?”
No wonder we can’t stand politicians.
Defying The Norms, Yet Defined By A Scream
With Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign paving the way, Obama’s team openly and vulnerably embraced the thing every presidential campaign should revolve around, and made it their one focus.
Americans. After all this is our country, and our government. The president may run it. But we own it, and that means we decide who runs it. It’s the beautiful part about this whole democracy thing.
Joe Trippi is a name familiar to those in politics. He’s worked on more than 100 political campaigns, and he was one of the very first to “get it.” In his book “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, The Internet And The Overthrow Of Everything,” Trippi discusses his stint as Campaign Manager on the Dean For America campaign.
The whole book is filled with gems of insight and inspiration from a man who helped change the face of political campaigns forever. Each story, anecdote and musing is filled with Trippi’s priceless experience and wisdom. However, there’s one passage I always return to when I pull the political memoir off my shelf.
This is the difference between the Dean for America campaign and every other presidential campaign of the past 20 years. Every other candidate has started out by saying — Look at me, aren’t I amazing?
But every time Howard Dean got up to speak, every time his campaign staff got on the web to blog, the message was Look at you, aren’t you amazing? And they were; 60,000 people committed to a new democracy.
Aiming At The Right Target
Picking up where Dean’s campaign left off, Obama redefined the meaning of a grassroots campaign.
In today’s world, we are a community of bloggers and twitterers and texters. Obama and his staff recognized that there are countless ways we take in and soak up information. Instead of forcing us to receive a campaign message on their terms, they delivered it on our terms — our thousands of unique, individual terms.
Art for the artists. Technology for the innovators. Poetic prose for the readers and writers. They adapted their message and presented it through thousands of different mediums. And, guess what….an incredible thing happened. A campaign all about hope gave people hope - hope for the future, hope for their country, but most importantly, hope and belief in themselves.
Most failed political campaigns are unsuccessful for one reason. It’s usually the reason for any failed marketing or advertising campaign. Missing your target.
The Obama campaign nailed a perfect bullseye. It’s the people, stupid.
Thinking Ahead
I’m back…and better than ever as a married woman! I missed writing on my blog, and was constantly thinking about new post ideas while I was away. So, I have some great stuff coming up. 
Winner Winner
If you haven’t heard anything about Big Jason Henderson and his Largest Blog Contest Ever, well you probably haven’t been paying close enough attention to marketing trends and happenings on the internet. AND, if you do anything remotely related to marketing for a living, well, you better catch up. I suggest subscribing sooner rather than later.
When I first perused the contest page, I drooled over his list of prizes that include quite a few consulting packages from some big wigs in the online business world.
Me: just getting started building a freelance business and a presence online
Big Wigs: have the knowledge and experience to teach anyone how succeed in their online business
= Big Wigs’ advice is a must-have for Me.
Yes, I won something! I was over the moon when Big Jason emailed me. Tomorrow morning I am happily accepting my kick-ass prize…drumroll, please…
1 hour of private consulting with Dr. Ben Mack
And, if you’re not familiar with Dr. Ben, then you SERIOUSLY need to catch up. You can do the leg work on this one. Just Google him.
