Well the results are in. I have to say that Obama’s acceptance speech was very inspiring. He went well beyond “good positioning”, and while listening I felt humbled about my posts earlier that dared to critique his positioning.
Here’s why:
Part 1: Inspiration. So often as a marketer, product manager, consultant, or worker of any sort, it feels as though we’re putting the best lipstick we can on the product we’re working on. But how inspiring are we? How inspired are we? What is the last product you worked on that actually inspired you?
What Obama did on Tuesday night was to inspire people; it was almost non-partisan. I heard so many people saying that they woke up the next day feeling brighter, more optimistic. Of course reality will be interesting to track, and the road ahead is not an easy one, but I got the feeling that this guy has what it takes to really lead.
Part 2: The “new rules”: Good positioning is, of course, extremely important. Without your positioning straight, it’s hard to do anything well. But Obama’s campaign went well beyond good positioning, and leveraged some very powerful marketing tools. Seth Godin’s blog article on election day was the best explanation I’ve read.
My original post referred mostly to the debates, which I still believe were poorly executed on both sides. Obama’s oratory, though, is second to none.
Let’s hope his leadership can measure up!