Branding In The White House

In class, we discussed what words came to mind when Barack Obama and George W. Bush were mentioned. These words are known as their brand. The terms that make up Obama’s brand are those that were used for his campaign platform. Hope and change werfe mentioned. When asked what terms made up Bush’s brand, the class had a harder time thinking of words. The words offered up were imperialist and southern. There was an easier time coming up with words that were related to Obama than there were coming up with words related to Bush. I feel that this an effect of the present day culture. Bush was elected into office over a decade ago. Since then, everything has become more public. I feel that there is more about Obama out there due to the social media culture we are in. Everything is shared. The President seems more accessible. His activities are constantly being reported on. There is more around the clock coverage than there was a decade ago. A lot of people feel Obama is more like the common man. He came from an earnest upbringing whereas Bush was born into privilege. People would be more attracted to the person who had to fight for everything they wanted to achieve rather than the one who had the means to achieve what they wanted to do. Therefore the change in culture is what has changed the perceptions of a person’s brand. If the be everywhere now culture did not exist, then we may have had a harder time coming up with words that describe Obama.