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by Antony Gowthorp

on Jan 19

What Obama teaches brands about emotional intelligence

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ABT CEO Antony Gowthorp says 'Brand Obama' shows how emotional intelligence can help organisations handle tough economic times.

When Barack Obama's election campaign encountered potentially image-denting, bad news threats – in the shape of outbursts from Obama's former religious mentor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright – Barack the brand demonstrated the versatile value of emotional intelligence.

The, then President-elect didn't shy away from the issue - he addressed it head on with a response replete with authority, reason and purpose. And when Obama received news of a family death while on the campaign trail, he gently expressed his grief in an appropriate yet heartfelt manner.

The lesson for brands under pressure is that emotional intelligence can be as much about being assertive as it can be about being 'soft'.

When times are tough, how many brands communicate with comparable amounts of emotive savvy?

Typically, most hunker down without really relating to their key audiences. But to stay silent to the difficulties you and your stakeholders may be experiencing, is to pass up an opportunity to develop stronger emotional ties between brand and audience.

Many Australian brands – corporate, governmental or political – may be the bearers of bad news in coming months; budgets slashed, orders cancelled, spending cutbacks and job losses, not exactly brand enhancing events.

Yet studying Barack Obama's branding campaign gives clues for successfully navigating harsh operating environments:

  • Unified purpose – the brand vision stayed on message and was regularly communicated to key audiences
  • Storytelling – the campaign leveraged the power of leadership oratory
  • Walking the floor – from backstreets to boardrooms, brand 'big dog' Obama regularly 'fronted up' and personalised the brand experience
  • Resource allocation – the campaign kept communicating, even when times (and questions) got tough
  • Audience centric – while his brand mission remained constant, Obama tweaked the ways he expressed the messages to different stakeholders
  • Celebrating success – especially in tough times any 'wins' were acknowledged and used to fuel campaign motivation.

The other hallmark of Obama's brand behaviour was the personalised nature of the communications activities.

Extensive use of newer and more direct social media – from blogs to Facebook and even YouTube – added informality and impetus to fundraising, communication, voter data, voter profiling and viral campaign activity. As a result, the overall brand experience was a much more personal and personable one than those mustered by other political players, present or past.

Quite simply, Obama showed that winning brands are as much about empathy and emotion as they are about money and might. In today’s new media environment, clients must acknowledge the context they're communicating within, and the attitudes and demands of the people they deal with.

As Barack Obama clearly understands, good branding isn't just about outputs and targets; more simply, it's about talking to and connecting with people.

That's what separates emotionally intelligent brands from the rest.

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3 Comments

FiBendall
  • Wrote on 19 Jan, at 06:05PM
Anthony, great article - there is more behavioural science required in marketing and engagement and psycho-emotional profiling is increasingly important as brands relationships with consumers has completely changed as a result of new channels such as social nets.
Jeanette Harris
  • Wrote on 23 Jan, at 02:46PM
Great article. Obama has demonstrated what it means to be an honest, caring and consistent brand, and that your consumers (in this case, his supporters) opinions are not only worthy of being heard - but listened and responded to. He is also in the business of long term, solid planning - not short term tactical "sales". There is of course a role for tactical offers, but not at the expense of long term strategy. Go Obama! A role model for every brand, business and manager.
Jeanette Harris, Marketing & Strategy Director, Strategic Minds Communications
Editor | Kate
  • Wrote on 23 Jan, at 03:58PM
Great post Jeanette! It's amazing how basically all business and marketing really boils down to relationships and integrity. I hate to be all 'Life 101' but it's as simple as treat others how you would like to be treated. Obama simply respects his 'customers'. And with the recent onslaught of fake virals, it's evident that not enough marketers are understanding this construct.

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