This one took me by surprise, though it shouldn’t have. Yes, Barak Obama was voted Ad Age’s Marketer of the Year. Before you hit the link to the article, try to guess what brands made the top five this year.
Oh, and make sure you read the comments, too.
Let me know what you think of the choices.
And finally, let me know what you think of the comment made by John Fine, marketing and media columnist for Business Week.
In the next post, I’ll share my experience with a company whose products I love, but has no idea how to sell on the Net.
5 responses so far ↓
D.W. // October 21, 2008 at 12:38 pm |
I would be interested to see a vote of Joe-six-packs, aka the common person, on what/who they think the marketer of the year is.
These are all industry insiders, so they’re fairly aware.
But I’d be curious to see what the actual audience of all this stuff thinks.
Andrew Careaga // October 21, 2008 at 12:51 pm |
It’d be interesting to see a vote of Joe the Plumbers, too — and to contrast those votes with the Joe Six-Packs’ picks.
Heather Teague // October 21, 2008 at 3:16 pm |
I live in Orlando, and Obama was here yesterday giving a speech with Hillary Clinton. I was watching the speech live with my husband, and I said to him “Obama has transformed himself into an amazing brand.” As a branding and marketing professional, my comment was specifically related to his story-telling abilities, his ability to engage and hold attention, and the fact that people LOVE him . . .just like the world’s most popular brands. As for John’s comment, I agree with the social media channels as a major contributor, but YIKES!
alison // October 21, 2008 at 4:25 pm |
A lot of the comments mentioned they didn’t like the win because politician’s campaigns aren’t honest. What about Nike’s ad campaigns? They don’t show third world kids working in sweatshops to put together the shoes, do they? Pretty far from honest if you ask me!
Dennis Miller // October 21, 2008 at 4:56 pm |
I think one of the outcomes of this election is that a whole generation of new moms will not name their new baby “Joe.” They might tuck it in as a middle name.
And, sad as it is, the term “maverick” will never be the same. It has been murdered. I’m sad about that. I loved what maverick used to mean.
Heather, I think you’re right on about Obama transforming himself literally before our eyes.
Alison, great point about honesty! Interesting, too, that for all the complaining the public does, various companies continue using third world sweat shops. And, sadly, we continue buying the products. . . .