Obama, Clinton, McCain, and marketing!

[Dien Rice]

When you watch or read the news nowadays, it's impossible to avoid the latest news on Obama vs. Clinton vs. McCain...

It's everywhere!

Anyway, what I wanted to get at is that you can learn a lot about marketing by watching the political process - no matter which candidate you support (or if you support none at all)...

Think of each candidate as a "product", and watch how they "position" themselves in the marketplace... Think - what is their "USP" ("Unique Selling Proposition")?

One thing I've noticed is with Obama... How can someone with relatively little political experience (compared to almost everyone else in the Democratic or Republican primaries) do so well?

I'm sure there are many reasons... But one reason, I think, is that he presents himself as something NEW...

His "message" is that he isn't "politics as usual" ... and that message sounds New...

And he backs it up with reality too. I think most of his funding comes from individuals (through the internet), rather than via lobbyists - and that's something "new". And of course, he never stops reminding people he wants "change" - i.e. to stop the "old" ways, and bring in the "new"...

Everyone loves "new" things (hence the word "news")... Our curious human brains are "wired" to love anything "new"... But sometimes not TOO "new" (since many people are afraid of things that are too "new")...

One political commentator and strategist I read from time to time (Dick Morris) says that Clinton's positioning herself early on as a kind of "return" to the Bill Clinton presidency was a mistake - since it positions her as "old". It makes Obama's contrast as "new" even sharper...

Anyway, just an observation on the election. I think it will become even more interesting once the general election really gets under way (whoever the Democratic nominee is - assuming their campaigns don't murder each other first!)

- Dien