politics

by: Joel Makower

by: David Armano

If you paid a visit to Barack Obama's Twitter page—you would see a moment frozen in time. The last message sent out was on November 5th, which on Twitter is a life time. It reads

"We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks."

by: Jonathan Salem Baskin

If branding is a tool for winning elections, it's probably the bane of governing.

I think it’s due to the difference between image and reality. People vote because of what they think, but they’re governed by actions, mostly. Sure, their thoughts interpret and sometimes override them, but promises and declarations can’t take the place of behaviors.

by: Jonathan Salem Baskin

On the eve of tonight's last Presidential debate, I though it might be interesting to muse a bit about brands and politics...and how the two influence one another.

I know a lot has been said about the amount of rancor evident at Republican rallies, which seems to have surprised even John McCain. He has found himself contending with supporters he desperately needs...emoting angry nonsense he can't tolerate.

by: Roger Dooley

There’s little doubt that some macro political factors were decisive in driving Barack Obama’s presidential victory over John McCain. Notably, just as the divisive Iraq war seemed to have turned the corner and started to work to McCain’s advantage instead of Obama’s, the economic crisis gave Obama a whole new issue to blame on the Bush administration and, by inference, on McCain.

by: Jonathan Salem Baskin

If there's a single lesson we brand marketers can learn from the world of politics, it might be that people make choices less because they like something, and more so because they dislike something else.

by: Jonathan Salem Baskin

(note: this is part 1 in this week's 5-part series on the brandification of our lives. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a political Independent).

The Republican Party is going to try to "rebrand" itself this year.

by: Matt Rhodes

There was an interesting piece in the FT this weekend, discussing how the UK’s political parties could learn from their US counterparts. It is party conference season in the UK at the moment - members of each of the main political parties will be meeting at various seaside resorts around the country to discuss policy and process.

by: Ilya Vedrashko

Below are the four nomination acceptance speeches made by the ticket candidates at DNC and RNC over the past two weeks: Biden, Obama, Palin, and McCain. I ran these speeches through Wordle. Can you match the wordled speeches with the right speaker? Leave your guesses in comments and click letters for the answer.

A:

by: George Silverman

The New Hampshire Primary is a cautionary marketing tale.

The polls missed the Clinton victory by a mile yesterday, yet they were right on target with the McCain victory. Why?

No one knows exactly what happened for sure yet, but several possibilities illustrate some of the pitfalls in marketing research.