As the carnival of the US Presidential election races towards November, I think one thing is becoming clear – a lot of people are realising how much they will miss Obama.
From healthcare reform, the Paris accords on climate change or the worldview that has taken shape during his leadership, Americans largely believe that their country is in a better place as a result of his government’s leadership.
Obama isn’t just a President, he’s a global brand. And the Obama brand has got stuff done.
I’m a native of Sydney and returned to Australia recently after living in New York and Los Angeles for the past six years. The US Presidential campaigns were underway when I left, and there is a unique brand of energy around politics in America that you don’t see in other countries - if people are into it, they’re really into it.
People support their party like their football team, often with more flags and face paint. But the reason there is such passion for politics is pretty simple – people believe in it. Good or bad, there is a belief in government and political leaders to affect change and ultimately make the country better.
Belief in political leadership was one of the strongest cultural differences I felt between the USA and Australia. In contrast to the US, there seems to be a general perception amongst Australians in recent years that government is largely ineffectual. It begs the question, where do Australians see necessary cultural and political changes coming from?
At M&C Saatchi we recently conducted a cultural study around Australia’s national identity. We looked into how people feel society has changed and what they want to see change. Not surprisingly, there was a general feeling that government does not create the action people want to see. But what was particularly interesting was that many people actually believe more in the potential of brands and organisations to affect change.
This is an amazing opportunity for brands – I love the idea of people looking to brands as forces for social good and ways to create change or new ways of doing things. Today people are already beginning to choose brands that have a genuine human purpose at their heart, beyond just the product or service they are selling. It’s a new economy driven by purpose – people aren’t just buying a brand, they are buying into a brands greater mission or action it champions.
An inspiring example of a brand with a genuine human purpose is Patagonia, which puts its values ahead of profit alone. The company has launched leading sustainability practices such as the ‘Worn Wear’ initiative, a large scale garment repair program that equips people to repair their Patagonia gear before buying new stuff.
People love Patagonia for its purpose as a brand, which of course translates into commercial success too. But is this all just ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’? Brands have been involved with important CSR initiatives for a long time, but I think this new era of purpose driven marketing has taken an exciting turn. What we’re seeing are brands embracing purpose as a core pillar of their marketing, more than a CSR initiative that is often detached from the central mission of the brand.
Beyond a higher order purpose, brands are also tackling specific problems they care about, that in turn build on their core strength. An example of this I find inspiring is a platform from Google called ‘Made with Code’. Gender diversity is an issue in many creative industries today, and has been in Silicon Valley for some time. Google launched the ‘Made with Code’ platform to take some action on the issue by inspiring young girls in the USA to learn how to code with a real world application.
The launch project invited girls into a program where they could code the Christmas lights at the White House, culminating in a ceremony with President Obama, and ultimately a way to inspire young girls to see their own potential in the industry. I like how this idea went to the heart of how to solve the problem and look to future generations coming into the tech industry, while at the same time being well aligned with the Google brand.
Having a genuine human purpose isn’t to say that all brands need to suddenly take on social good initiatives, but whatever their category, it’s undeniable that brands living a greater mission beyond just promoting their product or service are growing more and more relevant in culture.
I think it’s what is separating truly influential brands today and who knows, maybe the line between a brand like Obama and a commercial brand will continue to blur. After all, people seem to like brands that get stuff done.
By M&C Saatchi executive creative director, Michael Canning