How Obama Did It: The new rules of great (and green) marketing.

Irv and I travel around the country speaking to business groups on how to green-up their marketing and communications.  One of the talks we give is called, “The Ten Commandments of Green Marketing”.  Commandment #7 is “Thou shalt make every employee an advocate.”  Think of it as in-the-trenches viral marketing.  Their voice times twenty (leads, friends, suppliers, you name it).  A little goes a long way.

In the next few weeks, we will examine how Obama took this commandment, and a couple of others I’ll share, and turbo charged it by turning ordinary American’s into advocates.  His primary tools: Inspiration and the Internet.

This week, we begin with one of the most basic rules of marketing, and one that is broken over and over by some of the biggest marketers on Madison Avenue.  But not Obama.    

It’s all about them, not you.

Never before has a candidate molded his message around the people, and not just the politician.  ”Yes, We Can!” became the mantra and millions joined him in the chant.  What he did was ignite the personal power of Americans by making his mantra our own.  A story where we could fill in the blanks.

Take Barack’s “This Is Your Victory” speech:

“This is our moment.  This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth:  That out of the many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope; and where we are met with cynicism and doubt and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes we can.” 

Inspiration squared.  Now times that by a million American’s making it their own in hometowns across our land and you have an election won by the people and for the people.  Brilliant! 

Next week: How Obama used the internet to drive his message home. – and you can too.               

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