IMC in the (White) House

Last week AIGA Chicago hosted “Designing Obama” where Sol Sender and Scott Thomas (SimpleScott) discussed the creation and evolution of the Obama logo and Web sites.

The break from traditional design and tactics used in political marketing truly set the campaign apart from competitors and predecessors. While the logo development process was interesting, the most fascinating aspect was the successful use of IMC principles.

A strong focus on the consumers (supporters) led to the “we” instead of “he” philosophy and drove marketing tactics.

The logo was a tangible way for supporters to connect with the campaign. Everyone became manipulators of the logo. It was easily recreated, transferred, and transformed allowing consumers to express their individuality as well as their support for Obama—and supporters took full advantage of it. The campaign Web site even provided the logo and downloads for assisting with creating items such as t-shirts and promotional materials.

The campaign effectively used the Web and social media to not only connect with supporters, but to empower supporters and connect them to each other. The BarakObama.com Web site provided value added content for supporters including educational materials and tools for becoming involved. My.BarakObama.com was a social network site where supporters created profiles, accessed resources, create personalized fundraising pages and blogs, and utilized simple tools for connecting with other supporters. Other social media tools such as Myspace, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter were also utilized.

Additionally, analytics were used to track performance and refine the Web sites. This data uncovered design preferences and usability issues and were used to enhance the sites. Analytics are key to the success of any IMC campaign and the Obama team clearly illustrated that.

For those of you that missed the presentation and are lucky enough to be at SXSW, SimpleScott will be on the panel “Designing Change in America” on March 17.

--Marina Molenda