Branding 2010 - Make It Real

Well, Happy New Year everyone. For those of us who had our eyes even partially open, I think everyone can agree that in terms of branding, 2009 is a year best left alone. So much happened, and at the same time, so little.

It started off with one of the best brands of all coming alive - Barack Obama. Riding on a wave of much needed optimism, Barack led the county back into feeling good about the future. He was of course met with another brand. Perhaps not as strong, but definately one that has made itself just as memorable - Sarah Palin. Are we seeing the forces of good and evil play themselves out? Is this just some of the best staging anyone outside of Hollywood ever created? Whichever, way this goes, the Obama and Palin brands are sure to be in the forefront of our psyches for a long, long time.

After that, the brand of the United States of America was a strong contender for most notable. With it's financial markets crashing, it's real estate bottoming out, and it's moral fiber running thin, the US of A hit a low-point in terms of it's brand. Wait a minute - that might have happened in 2008. No, no, the first strike happened in 2008, but with the continued issues hitting like Katrina, Americans in all sectors realized that this was no '80s style recession, this was something far worse and far deeper. Everytime the world lost a brand like Pontiac, Kodachrome, Saturn, Max Factor, even Gourmet magazine - America took a hit. I wouln't even go into the Tiger Woods debaucle that ushered in the last month of the year, but it all showed the world just how vunerable a country and it's brand can be; if it's not protected and cared for. [Seriously, did your wife really chase you down the street swinging a gold club? Dude...]

On the bright side, 2009 brought us Twitter, a stronger Google, and a show that yes, even if our markets are bottoming out, we'll spend our children's legacy to bring them back. [really. Really? Yes, really] So I guess it does show us that if we're willing to spend enough, anything can happen. Are you listening Detroit? Oh, yes, you already did that....

So how about this? Let's just brand the old year as "2009 - Not what we anticipated..." As for the new year? As for 2010? How about this? Let's just try to protect the brands we love by making them real. If Ford wants to go green - great, we'll read it in your ads, but we'll wait for it to show up in your cars before the jump on the band wagon. If Burger King wants to go thin? Great - we'll believe you as soon as we see a burger with fewer than 1,000 calories. If Visa wants to be our partner, show us some interest rates that at least have a toe touching reality.

Let's brand 2010 with the tagline of "2010 - Make it real"

How Much Time.....

Well, now that Barack Obama has become President of these United States, how much time does he have? How much time is the American public going to give him until they start ripping him apart for not returning us to pre-depression and pre-disaster times?

At this point, he's got a great approval rating. His numbers are up, which means the Obama brand is flying strong. As of January 14th, most American's throught he was the Man. Which is good. But he hasn't done anything yet. Which means he's been able to convince most of us that he is capable of incredible feats of governance and management merely on his presence and his words.

Don't get me wrong. I love the guy. I think he's the only hope for America now, and well into the future. This is less a commentary on him and his capabilities, and more a comment on We, the people...

Does his strong brand and strong position buy him the two or more years he's going to need to turn America around and show some results? Will it buy him the 4 years that's far more likely to be needed? Or will most Americans give up after 6 months, when it's time to hit the 4th of July celebrations?

American's love two things - praising the underdog, and ripping apart the leaddog. We do it all the time. So now that Obama's not the underdog any more. Now that he's transitioning to the leaddog position, at what point will we start doubting his ability? How long until we start doubting? Will we have the presence to support him when things don't instantly come up sunny? Or will we go back to our usual and look for someone to blame?

The brand is a strong and powerful force. It's done very well for Mr. Obama and his team. But how long will the brand survive without AMPLE actions to take it, and him, to the next level?