Nancy Pekala is the AMA's Director of Online Content and Editor of Marketing Matters.
Fresh off the campaign trail, Larry Grisolano, Senior Communications Strategist for the Obama Presidential Campaign, told a packed audience of marketing executives at the AMA’s Mplanet 2009 Conference that there is much to be learned from Marketing, the Obama Way.
He urged marketers to address people’s basic need for consistent communication and for leaders that are real, responsible and committed to the greater good.
In what could be arguably considered the marketing story of the year, Grisolano suggested that one of the great strengths of the Obama marketing campaign was the ability to successfully create a “sense of national community” out of a deeply cynical American public.
“President Obama gave people the permission to come together again,” he said. “People want to embrace things they identify with and that have a positive change on the country.” 
Grisolano suggested that marketers would do well to create campaigns that take advantage of consumers’ need for straight talk and a sense of community. However, he added that marketers need to be aware that doing so might provoke additional scrutiny. “When you’re holding yourself to a higher standard, you have to pitch a perfect game,” he cautioned.
He also acknowledged that the Obama campaign introduced a new sense of authenticity and transparency, two characteristics which could be valuable to marketers when crafting campaigns. Grisolano elaborated on his remarks, saying that consumers “want to see things that are genuine and real. They say, `Tell me the facts and exactly what you are going to do and how you are going to do it.’ They are dismissive of more entertaining appeals.”
The former Obama strategist also noted the importance of entrusting supporters with the authority to drive and shape the brand’s message. Whether social media or grass roots activism, American consumers desire genuine engagement with a credible organization that allows them to own part of the brand experience.
“This is a huge movement,” Grisolano said. “Embracing that will enhance the images of companies and products.”
Marketers must grow, identify and empower their customers to shape and elevate the brand. Grisolano offered the Mplanet audience the following advice for navigating the current marketsphere in these challenging times culled from feedback from Obama campaign focus groups:
●Respect your audience. Consumers want to be talked to as adults. Don’t pander to your audience; treat them with the respect they deserve.
●Be transparent. Consumers want to know what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. Be transparent and back it up through action.
●Be real. Authenticity counts. Present a genuine message.
●Take Responsibility. Walk the talk, in other words. People are obsessed with accountability and responsibility.
●Think big picture. Do what’s best for the country and help create a sense of national community. Marketers have the opportunity to give people something to come together around. American consumers today want genuine engagement and credible messages that allow them to own part of the brand experience.
●Identify your challenges. Through both formal research and conversation, marketers must clearly identify what challenges their brand. Obama was challenged not by other leading candidates but by a cynical attitude among the electorate.
●Focus on a clear brand identity. Understand that brands cannot be all things to all people. Instead, establish a single brand identity and create clear messaging around it. At one point in Obama’s campaign, a lot of attention was paid to the issue of experience vs. change. It was difficult to be both so the Obama strategy team attempted to dilute the message of opponent Senator Hilary Clinton that combined her experience with her desire to change Washington politics.