Branding Lessons From The Political Front

Today's the day. Finally. As of Wednesday, no campaign ads, emails, mobile texts.

So what are some lessons healthcare and healthy lifestyle brands can take away from the battle of the last two political brands standing?

Ride the wave. Obama was handed on a silver platter an obvious case for change. At the same time, many deemed the competitive Republican brand to be lagging behind the times. Obama's team did a tremendous job of staying on point and seizing the moment.

Own a word (as Al Reis pointed out years ago, it's a powerful strategy). Obama scripted "Change" into his vocabulary from day one. It was his brand theme. And it was ubiquitous. McCain began as the "Experience" candidate. He then co-opted "Change" and tried to make it his own. Before he became the "Maverick." Witness the results.

Keep it simple. Like "America is ready for Change." Doesn't get much better than this.

It's rarely about "functional" features and benefits. Evidence the talk about wardrobe spend, multiple (but too numerous to remember) homes, the demeanor of a presidential-looking candidate, and the demeanor of someone who is not. It's rarely about rational arguments, but rather how we make people feel while they're in our presence.

Execute Brilliantly. One candidate never waivered. Was consistent in his style and tone. Brilliant in his execution from start to finish. The other was not.

Relevance alone doesn't win the day. But "different" and relevant will. Both candidates were relevant. But one was also different. Only one provoked a response of "that's what I'm hungry for."

Build A Community of Evangelists. Witness the thousands of people attending Obama rally's. The thousands of first-time volunteers. The tremendous use of social media to generate conversations, collaboration and community. Beyond their war chest of funds, Obama's team was so much more in tune with their consumers motivations, expectations and practices.

Healthcare and Healthy Lifestyle Brands, Keep it Real. Simple. Branding

In a world filled with too much of everything (and just as much similarity), the ongoing process of building clear, valued and sustained differentiation through branding is a crucial step to forging relationships and growing business.

So how can your healthcare or healthy lifestyle brand stand out and stand apart? By aligning your organization/services or product around the promise of your brand. Ensuring that all you do from selling your brand's story inside, to building your product, service, market, channel, pricing, customer service and communications strategies reinforce why you're the best choice for consumers. And this is about REAL. SIMPLE. BRANDING:

REAL.
I remember calling AOL. I was told via IVR that "we've doubled our number of customer service representatives to deliver a higher standard of customer service. Please hold and the next representative will be with you shortly. Your waiting time is approximately nine minutes." That's not real.

SIMPLE.
Stand for something. One thing. Be the best at safety, performance, whitening, speed, durability, magic, luxury. Put a stake in the ground and declare your one thing to the world. Remember Billy Crystal's line in City Slickers. He tells his riding mates that life's about one thing. Well, the same holds true for branding.

BRANDING.
Like any verb, connotes action. Practicing the REAL and SIMPLE of above. Managing the multiple (off line and on line) interactions that people have with your brand each day; and that either enhance or detract from your desired perceptions. Remember that whether you're driving or not, your indelible mark is being stamped into consumers minds! It's an imprint that's hard to erase, so create it on your terms.

Imagine what good health+ healthy lifestyle brand marketers could do with $300MM

Microsoft just broke their new three hundred million ad campaign -- designed (I presume at some point) to sell more PC's by creating a more favorable impression of Microsoft's Windows operating system. Well, I don't get it. The spots are humorous. It's fun to see Jerry and Bill side by side. But they're actually kind of boring (reinforcing the image Microsoft is trying to dispel). And don't get how it's going to move the sales needle when Microsoft equals Vista – the enemy of all who work on the PC.

Imagine what  good health+ healthy lifestyle brand marketers could do with $300MM. 

Imagine you did. What BHAG's (big hairy audacious goals) would you set out to achieve. Now open your eyes, but don't let reality set in. How could you achieve these same goals with available resources. How can you be more insightful about your audiences (and your audience segmentation), more creative about what you provide that others don't, and more imaginative about your tactics? Just a thought.