"Portraying Michelle and Barack as the beloved Brangelina of the political world" -- is working

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Mon Jul-28-08 04:31 PM
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"Portraying Michelle and Barack as the beloved Brangelina of the political world" -- is working

Advertising Age: Portraying Barack and Michelle as Brangelina Is Working
Posted by Bonnie Fuller on 07.27.08

The Obamas on the cover of People magazine.

It's official. The Obamas are just like us. With their latest PR move -- being photographed as a family for this week's People magazine cover story titled "The Obamas At Home" -- it's apparent that Team Obama has a clear and clever presidential marketing strategy: present Michelle and Barack as the beloved Brangelina of the political world.

(T)his was a carefully orchestrated, well-thought-out brand presentation. And it isn't actually the first highly personal look at the photogenic family. No, it's the culmination of a publicity campaign designed to take advantage of the couple's charisma and Hollywood-worthy good looks. Team Obama is using popular mass-media vehicles such as People, Us Weekly, "The View," "Access Hollywood" and "The Colbert Report" to familiarize the American public with the candidate and his wife, and to dispel myths about the couple, in a far more aggressive way than has ever been done before in a presidential election.

The Obama handlers clearly feel that their actions on this front are imperative. And it's essential that they carry out these maneuvers as quickly as possible. "We still have at this late date in the campaign a lot of voters who don't know a lot about Obama in terms of his values and background," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told The Wall Street Journal in a story on July 24. What he didn't say was the rumors that Obama is Muslim or refuses to salute the flag are still running wild on the internet. "And Michelle Obama has been demonized as a 'radical black bitch,'" points out Joe Dolce, partner in the media strategy of DolceGoldin, and the former editor in chief of Star magazine. Plus the same Wall Street Journal story reported on a WSJ/NBC poll in which 43% of the population feels that Obama doesn't represent their values....

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If humanizing celebrities sells magazines and movie tickets, why wouldn't some "Obamas are just like us" stories help make voters feel more familiar and comfortable with the Obamas? After all, it's widely believed that George Bush managed to beat out Al Gore in the 2000 presidential campaign because Americans thought he'd be more fun to share a beer with than with "elitist" Al....A recent Associated Press-Yahoo News poll of more than 1,700 adults reported that 52% of Americans would like to invite Barack Obama to their summer barbecue vs. the 45% who would extend the invite to John McCain. So you can argue that the PR/marketing strategy is beginning to work. You could also argue that the strategy is necessary for Obama to win the White House. The same poll reports that as of June, 40% of Americans would elect Obama vs. 39% for McCain if the election were held then....

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Obama is deftly using his People cover story to promote one of his most important messages -- that a stable family life is all-important within black communities and, indeed, all American communities. He and his wife are telegraphing in a brilliant marketing move that like Brangelina -- with their ubiquitous kids in their arms -- they are hands-on loving parents and devoted partners who live in a traditional all-American-style house, and yet are deeply concerned with the serious issues that affect you, the American voter.

Now who wouldn't vote for that!

http://adage.com/campaigntrail/post?article_id=129913