April 4, 2009

Obamamania & Successful Branding Strategies

By: Christina Smith

Effective branding is an extremely important aspect in creating a successful company. However, nowadays, branding is not only seen as a benefit to a company’s advancement, it is seen in almost everything from marketing an upcoming movie to advertising a new bank. One of the most effective branding initiatives was seen last year in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Not only was his message clear, his comprehensive use of logos, fonts and colors supported what he stood for – “Change”. There is no doubt in my mind, design played an extremely important role and greatly contributed to his win as the 44th President of the United States.

So, what exactly made Obama’s branding campaign so effective? Consistent use of colors and fonts contributed greatly to his success. The font, Gotham was seen everywhere, from his blue and white campaign signs to his website. Like Sean Blanda said, “... what regular designers can learn from Obama is not only his font selection, but the discipline to create a design and stick to it, much like good politicians stay on message.” 


Last but not least, thanks to many artists, Obamamania spread like wildfire across the country. One of the most memorable pieces was the HOPE poster, created by Shepard Fairly. The HOPE image could be seen on almost anything ranging from buttons to t-shirts. In addition, images of Obama have him looking up, away from the viewer. This led to an almost “God-like” portrayal of him. “In most of the official campaign imagery, he is seen looking upward with a heavenly glow that suggests not only will he be a good president, he may rise from the dead on the third day”, said Sean Blanda. 

A well thought branding strategy is an important aspect in creating an effective, successful image. Many companies today, such as Target and Apple have appealed to their audience and effectively delivered their message, much like President Obama did to the American people last November. Unfortunately, I think the majority of companies don’t realize that design is equally as important as hiring the most intelligent employees.  However, I am hopeful that these companies will look at these branding-success stories and see their value.