Tattoo Projects Born to Blog

October 9, 2008

Marketing, Obama-Style

A clean, simple logo, with gradients to create depth. A brief, substantive, aspirational tag line. Nike? Apple?  No, Obama.

This election, the marketing of this presidential candidate is remarkable. He’s not running a political campaign– he’s launched a branding campaign. Great branding campaigns are designed to evoke feelings that have virtually no connection to product attributes and specifications.  For example, who really knows what an Intel processor does, but they know the product is superior when there’s “Intel Inside”. Nike’s “Just Do It” doesn’t say a thing about the mechanics of an athlete shoe – instead, it leverages the deep emotional connections people have with sports and athletics. And let’s not overlook the $5 cup of coffee: who really buys Starbucks based on the way the coffee is made?

Alan M. Webber wrote in Fast Company:

The common ground among companies that have built great brands is not just performance. They recognize that consumers live in an emotional world. Emotions drive most, if not all, of our decisions. Not many people sit around and discuss the benefits of encapsulated gas in the mid-sole of a basketball shoe or the advantages of the dynamic-fit system. They will talk about Michael Jordan’s winning shot against Utah the other night — and they’ll experience the dreams and the aspirations and the awe that go with that last-second, game-winning shot.

A brand reaches out with that kind of powerful connecting experience. It’s an emotional connection point that transcends the product. And transcending the product is the brand.

Obama has launched a branding campaign of evangelism. His marketing team has clearly identified an emotional Achilles tendon in the American people, and have grabbed hold. Millions of “Hope” and “Change” placards waving in the air are evidence. (Note: the same kind of branding takes place in every church, on any given Sunday.) Beyond the strategy, the media rocks. Mobile marketing to announce the Vice-President select? That’s less White House, and more Pepsi.

Hats are off to the marketing team behind “that guy”. Who are they? Why are they not on the cover of Ad Age yet? And most importantly, why doesn’t Microsoft hire them instead of Crispin Porter?

October 7, 2008

First Reliance Bank Relies on Tattoo

Tattoo begins creative duties for First Reliance Bank today, with the first campaign slated to break at the end of October. First Reliance Bank, founded in 1999, is ranked in the top 20 banks in South Carolina based on asset size. The bank has assets of approximately $585 million, and employs over 145 associates. The bank serves the Upstate, Midlands, Piedmont, Low Country, Grand Strand, and Pee Dee regions of South Carolina. The bank has been recognized for its success including being named to the Dave Thomas Foundation’s List of “Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces” and the only company ever to be named to The Top 25 Fastest Growing Companies™ in South Carolina four times including 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006 (SC Chamber/Elliott Davis). In 2006, 2007, and 2008, the bank was also recognized as One of the Best Places to Work in South Carolina by the SC Chamber of Commerce. In June 2007, the bank was added to the Palmetto 25, a list of S.C.’s largest publicly held companies.