Lisa Merriam

Candidate Brands: Comparing Obama vs. McCain

Political pundits are tossing around opinions about Obama’s brand and McCain’s brand, but what do people like Morton Kondracke know about branding? We went to the proverbial Madison Avenue to talk to real brand experts to talk about the candidate brands.

Part One: Comparing the Candidate Brand Strategies of Obama and McCain

Barry Silverman has worked for agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, and Grey, for brands such as Hitachi, Asahi Glass, and Toyota. Denis Riney is a brand advisor to senior management at corporations such as Dell, Hilton Hotels and GE. They explain how product brands compare to candidate brands–and assess the success of each brand strategy.

Part Two: Assessing the Effectiveness of Presidential Candidate Brand Design

Too many candidates don’t pay enough attention to appearances–but design is a critical part of communicating a message and influencing voters. Brand pundits compare the brand designs of Barack Obama and John McCain.