The Brand Called Obama

Check out this piece called "Brand "O" by Robert Zimmer written back in March. He references the article in the April 2008 Issue of Fast Company, "The Brand Called Obama".

Here's a clip from "Brand "O" (emphasis mine):

The Machine Behind Obama's Mystique -- Barack Obama's campaign may claim to be about a new brand of politics, but behind the scenes, the machine that has carefully controlled Brand "O" is anything but.

Next month's issue of Fast Company magazine will include an article entitled "The Brand Called Obama." It's about time.

The mystique surrounding Obama reinforces a sort of mythology that suggests to supporters that their messiah figure rides around on a magic carpet, with perhaps only a single lucky acolyte to assist, the candidate occasionally descending to deliver impromptu spirit-reviving speeches and raise the dead at town hall meetings. This mystique is not an accident. The unusual talent of this first-term Illinois senator is real, but so is a machine designed to ensure its dimensions appear transcendent and larger than life from every angle. The Obama candidacy and campaign, while undeniably substantive, are the result of a very intelligent strategy driven by old-fashioned product marketing techniques and political machinery. That the strategy has been both innovative and successful does not change the fact both components of Obama's campaign are very calculated. Contrary to the brand ID of effortless authenticity, Brand "O" has been masterminded by some very smooth operators who are among the usual suspects in political media consulting.

Check out the whole piece and the Fast Company article. The video above dovetails perfectly.