MBA Corporate Culture

Managing Corporate Culture In Nando Fast-Food Company

This post discusses corporate culture in great length. The operation of business on a global scale requires that firms should cultivate their international business by respecting the national differences in the countries where they expand to. This is what Nando had failed to observe. It has rigidly and excessively stuck to its corporate culture exhibited in South Africa. It failed to note that South African’s national culture is not the same thing as what applies in countries in European and Asian states.

Also, the Nando’s management in the South African headquarter had given no room for the management of its firms in other countries to operate freely; this has given them no room for innovative strategic marketing planning in observance to the environment in which they operate in. the national culture of South Africa has greatly influenced the corporate culture of the Nando’s organization and it thus constituted a negative impact when its adherence and transfer to other national culture that is not compatible, led to the unprofitable business operations in these countries.

The level of competition in the fast food industry in contemporary times is getting tense, with expansion in big firms and new entrants to the business. Thus for organization like Nando the need to observe people’s custom, taste, national culture in carrying out its strategic marketing this is germane for their effective and successful operations as they expand the business.

Introduction

The dynamic environment where modern businesses operate pose challenges for them to maintain effective management of innovation. These environments are also characterized by uncertainties. The managements of contemporary business and their resources are becoming ever tasking because of changes in management, which emanates from the introduction of new strategies, keen competition, and improvement in technology, inter-alia. Change is a constant phenomenon that is bound to occur, but in a situation where its vicissitudes become a frequent occurrence managers of business are put in a tight corner to adequately strategize in order to follow the trend in the industry and the environment where they operate. The external environment in which an organization operates goes a long way in influencing its strategic management. Hence, changes in these environmental segments- the demographical segment, economic segment, political/ legal segment, technological segment, socio-cultural segment, and global segment- these need to be inculcated in the organization strategic management for the organization to compete adequately with its rivals. In this view Peter (2005:7), argue, “Dynamic in nature, the strategic management process is the full set of commitments, decisions and actions required for a firm to achieve strategic competitiveness and earn above average returns”.

As an organization continues to expand in its operational base, it is a noticeable fact that these expansion tend to affect the pattern of existing corporate culture the organization had hitherto operated on. This becomes more prominent when the organization is venturing into a different environment or country with different corporate culture from the exhibited national culture.

Strategic marketing is thus, faced with high challenges in the aspect of cultural harmonization of an organization operating with several units and outlets in trans-nationals and across borders operations. In an ever increasing competitive global business arena, the need to strategies and be in tune with current trends in an industry, this is very germane to the success level the organization would attain.

This study looks at Nando a medium scale business enterprise with its problem in operations of its franchised business, as a result of the difference in environmental corporate culture where the firm plans to extend its operations.

Background of Nando

Nando is a South African fast-food firm with restaurants that operate in many outlets in the country. The restaurants have over the years operated an organizational and corporate culture that depicts the South African environment in which it operates. The local South African dishes are widely served. Nando’s corporate culture is built around preparing chicken delicacy with a corporate culture that reflects the ‘Nandocas’ (Nando’s people) attitude, values, pride, passion and their courage. Nando believes in 100 percent satisfactions of its customers. Thus, as an organization, it has embraced the phrase that “100 percent” and “GEES’ which means ‘spirit’ in Afrikaans language, to build a corporate culture in giving satisfaction to its numerous clients.

Nando started operating in South Africa since 1987, and has used its marketing strategy to effectively ensure growth for the firm, thereby making the firm to begin franchising its operation to other countries, outside South Africa.

Nando’s Corporate Culture and Failure to Franchise to International Markets

The Nando’s organization has sought for drive for its expansion into the international fast-food market. Thus, it has embraced the plan to expand its operation through franchising to other international countries. From the Rothwell’s five generations of innovation, Nando is currently applying the second-generation Innovation process (Rothwell 1994, pg 8). The firm wants to diversify its operations by making its appearance in new international market. However, it has placed more emphasize on static scale of economies by holding tight to its corporate culture. Thus, the pattern of Nando organizing new restaurants operations in the same old South African fashion and technology has made the organization fail in its franchising and plan to gain market share in international market.

The expansion of Nando organization to other countries, this has adopted strategy of management the organization in a way where it focused greatly and concentrated on its national organization’s corporate culture. The marketing strategy introduced into its operation in European and Asian countries have towed the culture in South Africa. Hence, the over concentration on the existing South African culture, with little or a little (insufficient) focus on existing cultures in countries where the Nando’s expansion operations are directed to, this has being a major reason why the attempt at the franchising the organization’s concept failed. The sticking to past way of conducting business in South Africa, is not enough to see its foreign operations to success; there is the need to carry out a thorough research and analysis on the corporate culture existing within a country where the organization intend to expand its operation to. In this view, Oden (1997:3) argues that “many of today’s most successful organizations continue to survive because many years ago they offered the right product at the right time. Most product, market and process venture decisions of the past were made without the benefit of strategic thinking or planning. However, present-day managers increasingly recognize that venture decisions must be made in the context of a venture strategy. As they find themselves in ever more complex and turbulent environments, their past internally oriented, reactive approach to decision making is giving way to an externally oriented proactive approach that requires more analysis”.

The need for Nando to analyze both its internal and external environments is a needed strategic framework for the organization to thrive in international corporate venture and strategy. Hence, this long-range strategic and proactive orientation to decision making is an important element of the innovation culture (ibid). The need for an organization to adapt to the corporate culture in the environment where it operates goes a long way to show how successful it would be. The strategy in place should take into cognizance those cultural variables that would blend with the environment and people’s life style and taste. This is where the management of Nando International has missed the mark. There is the intention to transfer the Nando’s South African corporate culture to countries that has no cultural similarities; such as Israel, England, Australia, Japan, and Canada. The reason why Zimbabwe could thrive is adduced to the fact that it shares the same cultural similarities with South Africa; Nando’s home country.

To buttress this argument Ulijn et al (2000), illustrated that, “when a multinational firm, such as Philips, operates in the United States, it is accepted almost as a U.S. firm since it is loosely related to the individualistic U.S. society where interaction is explicit, low context, and monochromic. On the other hand, to be successful in Japan, Philips should behaves as a Japanese firm, where national culture and corporate culture overlap in a tight, collectivistic society where interaction is implicit, high context, and polychromic”. The above illustration shows that every country has its own cultural characteristics and variables that would compact with the environment in which business operation is done.

Also, the head office of Nando in South Africa has no flexible guide on the operation of its international businesses outlets, setting rules and guidelines for their operations. This has prevented the management in the different international countries from considering the variables and existing corporate culture where they operate, and strategize towards this line for effective operation. These tend to constitute hindrance to a successful implementation of Nando’s franchising attempt of its concept internationally.

The Role of National Culture in Nando’s Expansion

National culture is a great reckoning force which the Nando’s organizations have greatly imbibed in. the emphasis on maintaining the South African culture, in the organization, this is shown in every aspect of the business. To make this national corporate culture to be retain every new staff are adequately orientated on the existing cultures they are recruited., and it is expected they keep to this culture. The adaptation to national culture by the Nando outlets and operation in South Africa, this can be say to be a major factor that has resulted in the success story recorded in the country. As the organization’s activities are built round the national culture, this is reflected in the management style, relationship between staff and management, selection of partners. The inherent national culture in Nando is a factor that has made its Zimbabwe operations to succeed. This is adduce to the fact that South Africa and Zimbabwe have similar national culture

Corporate identity is an important factor to enable an organization competes favorably in an industry. “Based on this notion the effective management of an organization’s identity result in the acquisition of a favorable corporate image and, over time, of a favorable corporate reputation which leads an organization’s key stakeholders and stakeholder groups to be favorably disposed towards it” (Balmer & Wilson, 1998). According to Balmer (1997), cited in Balmer & Wilson (1998), an important pre-requisite for a corporate reputation to contribute to business survival and success is that it offers a distinct advantage in relation to the organization’s external environment”. For Nando South African operations, it has greatly utilized its corporate identity and culture in building a favorable reputation for itself. And this has led to the success and expansion of the business. It can be said here that the corporate identity exhibited by the organization operations in South Africa, this is very conformable to the national culture of the country’s environment in which the organization operates. To show the level in which national culture plays in the success of Nando’s operations in South Africa, when the expansion of the organization gets to European and Asian countries, with the dogged move of the management to inculcate the same corporate culture in a different environment made the operation there unprofitable and unsuccessful.

As earlier stated corporate culture is a reflection of the national culture and the environment in which the organization operates. The national culture of a state should be adapted onto by the corporate culture for the organization to thrive in its operation.

The role of national culture in Nando’s expansion can be said to be effective and successful at the national level, i.e. in South Africa. But internationally, the excessive emphasis place on the national culture in the expansion operation in Europe and Asian countries, this is a negative aspect that has affected the successful outcome of operations in these countries. The Nando’s have concluded that the Nando’s national culture could be transferred to international operation; hence, there is the disregard for the inherent cultures existing in these international countries. Thus, this incompatible corporate culture and the existing national cultures in the international countries is a factor responsible for the unprofitable operations at this level.

Hence, as a way out of this, it becomes a difficult challenge for the Nando to blend its South African corporate-cum-national culture with what operates internationally. The advertisement of Nando’s product, services, and organization’s operations, this also goes to buttress the role of national culture on the organization’s operations; adverts done for the South African outlets cannot adequately be utilize for operations in European and Asian countries. This also goes to show that the Nando organization’s success in South Africa is greatly tied to its ability to compact with its national culture and the effective utilization of this for the organization’s advantage.

Industrial Analysis and How It Affected the Corporate Culture of Firms like Nando

The level of global competition in the fast food industry is always on the increase. This is adduced to the in flock of new entrants, the expansion of existing firms to other countries. Big name in the industry such as McDonald, which has over 23,000 restaurants in 110 countries, a close rival to MacDonald is Burger King which operates a total of 9,644 restaurants in 110 countries, followed by Wendy; second largest rival to MacDonald, with a total of 6776 restaurants in 32 countries, Hardee operates 3080 restaurants in 20 countries (McDonald. ca, 2005). With this high level of expansion of major players in the fast food industry, coupled with the springing up of new firms entering the industry, these have led to the increase in the competition level in the industry. An organization operating in this industry need to adequately strategize in its marketing activities for it to curve a niche for itself.

The high competition level in the industry can be analyzed using Porter’s five forces. The threat of new entrants in the fast food industry is significantly high, as there are new entrants springing up every moment. This is due to low capital outlay required in setting a small fast food business, also the basic skills required to run a fast food restaurant is basically not to high that would require long term training. And there are abundant of skill labour that can be recruited to man the fast food joint when created. These f actors are responsible for the ease at which new entrants flock the industry and this has helped in increasing the level of competition in the industry. According to Porter (1985), the intensity of rivalry among existing competitors depends on the balance of competitors, industry growth, the size of fixed or storage costs, the amount of differentiation or switching costs, the minimum size of investment, the types of competitors, the strategic stakes, and the size and type of exit barriers.

Another threat in the industry is the threat of substitute product or services. In recent times, most fast food restaurants have come up with innovative pattern of preparing there food and service delivery; some have developed services for a targeted group in the society such as busy workers. This innovative way of operating leaves the customers, and those who patronize fast foods, many room to choose from the available substitutes. The treat of substitute product and services tend to reduce the level of profit that is available for the organization operating in the industry. In this industry there are firms that produce similar products; this also tends to constitute a threat to the operations of firms in the industry.

The bargaining power of suppliers, who supply raw materials for processing the food in this fast food industry, is very high, since there are many firms operating in the industry they would have many buyers wanting to buy from them; thus increasing the demand level. Many big firms like McDonald, have engage on their own backward linkages programme, whereby they produce most of the food stuff and livestock use in operating their fast food restaurants. Buyers also may have high bargaining power in this industry, since there are different substitutes and operators in the industry; thus forcing the price down for buyers.

The strategic challenges thus facing firms in the industry has to do with how they ca n strategize and carry out their marketing function in a way to make them have competitive advantage in the mist of the high competition in the industry. And profit maximization tend to be low if the marketing strategy is not effective enough to increase the level of sales made available to a firm operating in this industry.

Recommended Ways Nando Could Develop Its Business Operation

As earlier stated the competitive level in fast food industry is very tense; thus, for a firm to operate adequately in this industry there is the need that an effective marketing strategy is put in place; which would be goal oriented and enthusiastically pursued. For firms like Nando that is expanding, its operation to foreign countries there is the need that the issue of environment where the expanded business is position, this is critically considered in line with the organization existing corporate culture. “…a number of theoretical perspectives related to the role of firm-specific knowledge in competitive strategy-resource-based view of the firm, dynamic capabilities knowledge-based view of the firm, organizational learning-have began contributing to our understanding of international strategic alliances” (Simonin, 1999). And it is germane that modification to existing corporate culture is made to be in tune with the features of the environment that are on g round. The importance associated with paying attention to a country’s culture and environment in the management of business operation, especially as applicable to fast food business, this is for the organization to operate effectively and adequately apply its resources in order to adapt to the environment and also to meet set objectives at the most efficient manner. “Given the global strategic perspective, the corollary that it should be accompanied by a universal standardization is difficult to sustain as such a stance is product oriented and in defiance of the marketing concept. It is also apparent that different nationalities buy similar products for different reasons and different versions of a product for reasons of values, custom and preference as well as price” (McCall & Stone, 2004:5).

From the fore going, organization such as Nando as should strategize in a way where the custom in a country, that the national culture is respected. It is not as if one is saying that they should lose their cooperate corporate culture and concepts, due to expansion, but people’s custom, taste, preferences, reasons for patronizing a firm’s product and service, all these are different. So it becomes germane that for the firm to operate adequately well in the international arena, these considerations need be put in place for proper marketing strategy.

The model below is modified to shows a full recognition to the external context environment and how it should Nando’s business units are coordinated to operate; and it identifies a two- way rather than a one – way relationship with organisational strategy. There is also important recognition of the impact of the role of the personnel function on the human resource strategy content.

Source: Original by Henry and Pettigrew, (1992:139) “Model of strategic change and human resource management” in ‘Patterns of strategic change in the development of Human Resource management’ in British Journal of Management.

The model above diagram shows the effects of Nando’s corporate culture on its outlets, in other international countries where the business is franchising. It shows that franchised business should be allowed to operate uniquely, but not totally out of the parent organization’s corporate culture. Certain environmental influences from political, economic and cultural and social segments of the environment should be recognised for the Nando’s outlet to operate adequately in the country there are established.

Suggested Innovation Approach for Nando

Scenario Building

Having looked at the failed bid of Nando to actually succeed in its expansion and franchising bids, it is recommended that the organization embrace a scenario building approach in studying the environment in which it wants to expand it business to before implementing the plans. This would enable the organization to be able to build up the right corporate culture and curtail challenges and uncertainties.

One way of managing the uncertainties associated in frequent change is through scenario planning. According to Ringland (1998), scenario planning is a tool for business to cop with the unpredictability of constant change and help them find better solutions for the future. Scenario are often thought of as a management development tool, which is use for creating shared vision, as well as better plans, in organization. Thus, it is utilized in facilitating strategic planning and helps in influencing people’s attitude towards questioning assumptions and accepting change (ibid). Scenario planning tends to be a better tool than other traditional management tools for the tackling high uncertainties and complexity in modern business management. Shoemaker (1991) defines scenario planning as a script- like characterization of a possible future presented in considerable detail, with special emphasis on causal connections, internal consistency, and concreteness. According to him, the focus is not on forecasting the future, or fully characterizing its uncertainty, but rather on bounding the uncertainty.

Thus, for Nando scenario building is a germane tool that would ensure cultural uncertainties from environments where it want to expand its fast-food operations are taken care of before the firm’s outlets are established.

Modelling as a way of improving innovation management for Nando

The above diagram shows the circular flow of innovative modelling. A model formulation is ensured through the desire to come up with a better model so as to gain more competitive advantage over rivals, and this need for improvement brings about the better allocation of resources that would result in the derivation of vital information for the effective operation of the organization. The derivation of better information would make Nando to see its previous innovative model as asymmetric and the desire to future improve this lead to another circle of innovative turn around and the engagement on new modelling session.

Two key aspects underlying this information innovation cycle are transparency and accountability. The transparency of information is in fact closely tied to accountability. Transparency can be defined as the ability of the public and of external regulatory bodies to view the actions, procedures, and outcomes of a particular business entity (or department within). Public access to information concerning the operations of a business or an entire industry facilitates independent evaluation (Ceres, 2003). Transparency translates to accountability when these independent evaluators have a significant influence over the fate of the company or industry in question. This influence might come in the form of policy making or buying power. When inferences made by the public have the ability to affect its welfare, such an entity becomes more than just morally or ethically accountable to that public. It also becomes incumbent upon that business or industry to perform in ways that are favorable and fair. Without transparency, therefore, there can be no accountability and without accountability, modelers will not have the motivation or incentive to take ownership of the models and therefore the cycle. However, with accountability and transparency working in tandem, model validation will foster an information innovation cycle, which in turn will lead to a lasting competitive advantage.

Conclusion

Corporate culture has a great effect on way an organization operates. It gives the organization its uniqueness, i.e., in other words corporate culture of an organization gives it corporate identity. The corporate culture may constitute a hindrance to the successful operation of the organization when the organization is operating a rigid corporate culture with no room for modification or change; this is more specially noticed when the organization is operating and expanding its business to different countries. As each country has its unique national culture, it then requires that when the organization is carrying out its strategic marketing planning this should be adequately taken into cognizance. Modification to existing corporate culture should be made so as to make the organization operates effectively and profitably well.

References

Balmer, J.M.T. & Wilson, Alan (1998) “Corporate Identity: There Is More To It Than Meets the Eye” in International Studies of Management & Organization. Vol.28, No 3

Ceres (2006) “Information transparency and corporate accountability” Ceres Benchmarking Electric Cost

McCall, J.B. & Stone, M.A. (2004) International Strategic Marketing: A (N) European Perspective. New York: Routledge

Oden, Howard W. (1997) Managing Corporate Culture, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Westport, CT: Quorum Books pp. 51

Porter, Michael E. (1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York

Proctor, Tony (2000) Strategic Marketing: An Introduction London: Routledge

Ringland, Gill (1998), Scenario Planning: Managing For the Future. John Wiley & Sons Limited

Rothwell, Roy (1994) “Towards the Fifth-generation Innovation Process” International Marketing Review, Vol. 11 No. 1

Shoemaker, Paul J.H. (1991) “When and How to Use Scenario Planning: A Heuristic Approach with Illustration” in Journal of Forecasting. Vol. 10

Simmonin, Bernard L. (1999) “Transfer of marketing Know-How in International Strategic Alliance: An Empirical Investigation of the Role and Antecedents of Knowledge Ambiguity” in Journal of International Business Studies Vol. 30, No 3

Ulijn, Jan et al (2000) “Innovation, Corporate Culture and Strategy. What is the Mission for International Business Communication?” in The Journal of Business Communication .Vol. 37, No 3. pp. 293

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International Relations Theory

The theories of international relations try to find out the key patterns of interaction between parties involved in international politics and provide a framework to explain the underlying structure and nature of these interactions (Nye, 2004). The theories generally state the manner in which international politics should be carried out and how the world should look like. According to Nye (2004) the theories have historically been viewed as unequal and competing with each individual theory providing its own alternative explanations to the nature of international relations. The historical evolution of the theories is that they try to critique the flaws of each other in providing an alternative explanation. The international relations field has evolved over time and has many theories which use different approaches, methodologies and explanations to explain interaction between nations (Nye, 2004). This paper tries to predict how states and other international actors would respond to an invention of reliable fusion energy technology which is cheap, abundant, safe, clean and carbon emission free by the scientists of one country’s government using neo-realism and neo-liberalism theories of international relations.

The availability of energy is critical to the running of every country. Many people therefore agree that the issue of energy security has been a very important for many countries since the energy crises that affected many countries in the 1970’s (Wenger, Robert & Jeronim, 2009). The oil consuming countries have experienced shortages in the past since they depend on oil imports from producing countries for supplies to meet their energy needs. The issue of energy security has therefore been very important in international relations debates. The energy debate has therefore been mostly shaped by the inequality between the oil producing and oil consuming countries. Oil supply has become a subject of both real and perceived susceptibility for different states (Wenger et.al. 2009). Different studies have been carried out in relations to the increased rate of energy consumption and increased dependency on energy imports by different countries. The studies have also focused on the contribution of competition for energy to different conflicts. The international relations theories can be directly applied in understanding the forms of collaboration, competition and conflicts relating to energy. This paper seeks to try and explain the underlying theoretical assumptions the neo-realism and the neo-liberalism theories provide for understanding what would happen if one country discovered a new and more efficient fusion energy technology.

Neo-Realism and Energy

Neo-realism is one of the general schools of thought within international relations and was put forward by Kenneth Waltz (Nye, 2004). The theory is a specific variant of realism. In the neo-realist theory waltz classified the actors in international relations into three levels. These levels include the individual, the state and the interstate system. According to this system the interstate system is the most important in international relations. According to this theory the interstate system comprises of states actors which compete with each other to fulfil their own self-interests (Nye, 2004).

The neo realist theory makes three important assumptions about the states and the characteristics of the international system in which they belong. First the interstate system is anarchical in nature with each state being sovereign from each other and therefore chaos is expected since no state can control the others. According to Walt (1998) “the international system consisted of great powers each seeking to survive and because the system is anarchic each state has to survive on its own”. In this system the survival of any state is not guaranteed and in order to survive each state is driven to accumulate power in order to provide for its own security. According to Wendt (1992) “Each country in this system acts in its own self interest in order to maximize its own survival and is therefore driven to accumulate as much power as possible”. Conflict may therefore arise as there is no supreme authority to prevent way between states due to a breakdown in international relations.

Another assumption of the neo-realist theory is that the functions of each state within the system are not differentiated. Each state is tasked with providing security for its citizens from external threat and ensuring there is law and order internally. The final assumption is that the distribution of resources between the similar countries determines the balance of power between these countries. This means that each country has its own resources and capabilities to counter the resources of another country. The status quo in the system is therefore that no one country can be able to dominate all the other countries and therefore each country tries to be better than the other rather than better than all of them put together.

The three assumptions about the nature of the international system lead to a number of hypothesis on how countries are likely to behave within the system. One of the most important hypotheses about the behaviour of states within such a system is that states are more likely to balance against the rising powers and growing threats rather than bandwagon with these states. The balance of power theory provides that each state is independent to choose whether to balance internally by allocating more resources to economic security and the military or to balance externally by forming alliances with states with similar interests and therefore similar enemies. The neo-realist theory is concerned more with power over morality, stability over justice and continuity over change.

Predicting what would happen if a new energy technology was invented using the neo-realist approach requires understanding how this new energy would affect the existing balance of power within the energy sector. There is a balance which exists internationally between the energy producing countries and the consumers. However this balance is threatened by the issue of energy security. After the oil shocks of the 1970’s the security of supply of oil became a matter of security concern for many developed countries. Security can be defined from an offensive or defensive point of view. According to the neo-realist security is from the defensive point of view due to the anarchy structure of the society. According to the neo-realist theory, states struggle to survive within an international system that does not have a worldwide authority to controls what happens. To maximize their chances of survival states therefore try to rise to power by accessing the required resources and therefore influence their relationship. Energy security is the only vulnerability point for many developed countries and therefore they sometime prefer to use an offensive strategy to secure the source.

According to the neo-realist theory security is not considered to be as a result of the direct threat but the political interpretation of the threat. The international relations theory considers anarchy as part of the international system which is why states are very concerned about security. In the international arena there are energy related interactions between states which involve an energy dependency between the states. In the international system the energy interaction involves export, import and transit of energy resources. Energy security between states can be measured using the strength of dependence which is determined by factors such as possibility of diversification, level of domestic resources and the energy trade balance. The dependence of a state on energy from another state is perceived as a threat. A good example is the European countries which depend on Russia for their gas supply. Russia uses manipulation of gas supply and prices as a tool for political influence. Many countries therefore realise that there can be no energy security if one of the energy supplying nations is willing and able to use energy resources as a weapon of influence.

From the above analysis and using the neo-realist theory the states and other international actors would respond in different ways to an invention by one government scientist of a new reliable energy solution. The first way in which the state actors would respond to the invention is through cooperation. The state and international actors with similar interest would form an alliance to protect their own interests. As the States and international actors which currently supply energy would try to maximize their chances of survival in the new order they would form alliances to counter the new country which is rising due to supplying alternative source of energy.

The Neo-realist theory also suggests that the new technology would provide, power, influence status, security, respectability and prestige on both the regional and international stage. The fact that one country owns the technology will increase the worries and fears of the neighbouring states. This would be construed as a threat to the states in the region which may spiral out of control in the form of a regional wide race for the new technology. The neo-realists argue that the states will try to balance internally by allocating more resources in this case to researching the new energy technology.

Neo-liberalism and international energy politics

New liberalism is another widely used theory to explain state behaviour in international relations. This theory emerged in the 1970’s and 1980’s (Baldwin,1993). The neo-liberalist theory was developed as a response to the neo-realist theory. The neo-liberalist accepted the neo-realist argument that states operate in a state of anarchy. However, the neo-liberalists argue that even in the anarchic international system made up of independent states, cooperation can be possible through building institutions, norms and regimes which will bring about positive results for everyone.

According to Peet (2003) “neo-liberals states are not supposed to attack each other but should consider each other as legal and non-threatening”. They believe that global economic ties and international organizations act to strengthen peace. The neo-liberalists believe that the rule of law and the strengthening of democracy make it easier for states to cooperate. The theory advocates that having economic interdependence helps countries meet their needs better than through war. The main tools of this theory are international institutions and free international trade which allows for free movement of goods, ideas and resources which allows people to find affordable resources and to maximize their profits. The neo-liberals also believe that the state should not control the market but let the market forces control the market. The European Union a regional institution has been a good example of how sovereign states can cooperate through economic and political interdependence making war unthinkable in the region (Pease 2012).

The neo-liberal approach can be used to explain what could happen in international energy politics if a new sustainable energy technology is developed. In order to understand what would happen if a more sustainable energy source was invented by one state from a neo-liberal perspective it is important to understand what the current situation is from a neoliberal explanation. Currently the energy market is a less liberalised and is mostly controlled by states and international actors. This allows many illiberal practices to take place in relation to international relations of the energy industry. Some of the notable illiberal practices in the energy sector are secret deals between international companies and oil producing countries which have led to underdevelopment, resource conflicts and support of authoritarian governments (Wenger et.al. 2009). A Neo-Liberal approach would aim at eliminating all the illiberal practices which occur in the market due to control by the state.

From a neo-liberal perspective state and other actors would respond in different ways to the invention of a new energy solution. First states would respond by promoting regional and worldwide energy organization and institutions. From the liberal perspective the development of a big organization with many members would allow members to cooperate and benefit from the new energy technology. A big energy organisation would ensure that the whole market is controlled by one organization which would make liberalising the market easier.

Another way that the state would respond is through greater liberalisation of the economy to eliminate the imperfections within the energy market. Allowing the market forces to determine who provides the energy solution would ensure that only the most economically efficient institution provide the energy solution eliminating the threat of war and conflicts often associated with other forms of energy. This is essential to promote healthy international relations.

Another possible response by state and international actors is international regulation which would deter illegal trade and practices which often lead to conflicts. A nice example of this is the international regulations of diamonds which were seen as the major cause of conflict in different parts of Africa. The regulations require the global diamond industry to commit them to an international process of diamond certification. A similar regulation would be made for the sector.

Another likely way the actors would respond is by promoting good governance in different states to eliminate the illegal practises such as rent seeking and distortions by the rent seeking states. The international actors are likely to demand for more transparency, fairness and accountability in order to ensure that price of the new technology is managed in a more efficient way. The states would respond by demanding more transparency to avoid secret deals which strengthen illiberal practices and undermine international relations. Openness would be one of the preconditions for the different state and international actors to cooperate.

Conclusion

International relations theories provide good models for explaining the nature of international relations in different sectors. The theories offer alternative explanations for the interactions. The neorealist theory view states as competing against each other. It can therefore be conclude that the states would respond in a way that best meets their own self interest. On the other hand the neo-liberal argue that the states will respond in such a way that the cooperation brings positive results for everyone.

References

Barkin J. Samuel, (2002) “Efficiency and ideas,” in international relations: The Key Concepts. New York: Routledge.

Baldwin, David A. 1993. Neo-realism and Neo-liberalism: The Contemporary Debate, New York: Columbia University Press.

Nye, Joseph S. 2004. Soft Power in International Relations: the means to success in world politics. New York: Public Affairs

Peet, Richard. (2003) “Neoliberalism and Nature: The Case of the WTO”. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol 590 p188–211.

Pease, Kelly-Kate, (2012) “Critical Theories and Approaches,” in International Relations and Organizations: Perspectives on Governance in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Longman.

Walt, Stephen M., (1998), “International Relations: One world, Many theories,” Foreign policy Vol 110 p29-46.

Wendt, Alexander. 1992. ‘Anarchy is what states makes of it: the social construction of power’, International Relations Organization, vol 41 (3) p50-57.

Wenger, Andreas; Robert W. Orttung, Jeronim Perovic. (2009). Energy and the Transformation of International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Media Crisis

The Media during a Crisis Situation

With the advent of television sets in our rooms, computers, smart phones and tablets the media has become omnipresent. Often termed as the fifth estate, importance of media in our lives has steadily risen. According to Internet World Stats, there are over 2 billion internet users in the world and the number with an access to a television is even higher (Miniwatts Marketing Group, 2012).

Social networking sites (referred to as Social Media) such as Facebook and Twitter had started as a mode through which individuals could communicate with each other. Today, it has evolved to a phenomenon through which important information can be communicated across millions of users in a fraction of a minute. Consequently, this new media has become a critical element in emergency and crisis response. Nielsen and NM Incite report that Social Media sites and blogs reach 80% of all active US Internet users. The figure for global users is not too different (Laad & Lewis, 2012). The role played by the media during Hurricane Katrina, Russian shootouts, earthquake in Japan, political unrest in the Middle East is proof to the fact that the media cannot be ignored today (Constitutional Rights Foundation, n.d.).

Role of Media in Disaster Management

The role of media is the dissemination of information (Excerpts from the Davide Commission Report, n.d.). Primarily the media uncovers and distributes / spread the information that is connected to a disaster. Answers to questions such as the number of causalities suffered from the earthquake or war? The number of displaced people and those that need refugee status are all answered by the media. Also, one can get an impression of the disaster magnitude, how to rise above the situation as well as information regarding the type of aid required, in so doing aiding in fundraising.

“You need to be prepared for today’s media culture, in which a tweet can become newsworthy and a news interview can become tweet-worthy” (Concina, 2013). Acknowledging the rising importance of print and digital media, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) became the first International NGO to implement humanitarian mass communication program in all of its covering areas to amass firsthand and authentic information (IOM, 2012). Furthermore, many of the disaster management organizations have formulated their own mass communication programs such as International Rescue Committee, Red Cross International, Oxfam International, US AID and UK AID.

Disadvantages of the media in a crisis

A Congressional research service report by the Federation of American Scientists illustrates that false, inaccurate or outdated information, has been circulated through social media in disasters (Lipowicz, 2011). During the Japanese tsunami, several appeals for help were repeatedly retweeted although the victims had already been rescued. An additional concern is that certain organizations or individuals may on purpose give information that is inaccurate so as to disrupt, confuse, or frustrate response efforts (Lipowicz, 2011). This can be a result of a terrorist activity or a prank. Concerns also arise on the security and privacy of personal information that is collected during a disaster response through social media (Lipowicz, 2011).

Conclusion

In conclusion, media plays a significant part in relaying information more so during moments of crisis, particularly social media with its ability to reach a mass audience within minutes. The media has a key role as well as a moral responsibility to relay information in an accurate and timely manner during a crisis.

References

Concina, F. (2013) Crisis Management – Francesca Concina | PR & Communications.

Constitutional Rights Foundation. (n.d.). The Media in Times of Crisis.

Excerpts from the Davide Commission Report. (n.d.). The role of media in crisis situations – News.

IOM. (2012) International Dialogue on Migration.

Laad, G., & Lewis, G. (2012) Role of social media in crisis communication.

Lipowicz, A. (2011) Social media: A mixed blessing for disaster response.

Miniwatts Marketing Group. (2012) Internet users in the world distribution by world regions.

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Organizational Structure

Organizational Structure and Behavior

The fundamental intention of the study is to focus on the behavior of individuals and groups and how it affects the organizations. This study helps one to survey the links and relationship between the culture and constitution of organizations and how both the factors manipulate the behavior of workforce within the organizations. The impact of culture and structure can be measure with the ways and regularities being applied in organizations. These values basically conclude the functional prototype of behavior of organizations personnel. The structure and culture which are being applied within the organization structure are important aspects which stimulate the workforce at all echelon of the organization.

Understand the relationship between organizational structure and culture

The organizations are basically developed up on the base of communication and culture of any organization is a communicatively accomplished part of the organization which saturates it. According to Anne Maydan Nicotera (2003, p.1) the “organizing is a communication process” and an organization is an entity which is basically embedded in cultures. The relationship between culture and organizational structure is a vast and comprehensive dilemma to discuss because the organizational members create and recreate the organization cultures and organizational structure entities are embedded in this cultural environment. In other words it can be said that members of an organization is a culture part of the organization and this organization is a cultural part of society.

Culture is basically the combination of disciplines, norms, values, customs, beliefs, attitudes, practices, and several other aspects. These factors are not culture itself but culture underlies them in it (Marcia J, 2003, p.2). Culture is a conferred set of communal emblematic systems those direct individuals’ behaviors and incline them to play a role as an assemblage (Chen and Starosta, 1998).

Compare and contrast different organizational structures and culture

Organizational structures

The “organizational structure identifies the responsibilities for each position and relationship among these positions”. A firm basically establishes a structure which determines the job and responsibilities of each individual within the organization under the supervision of someone above all of them who monitors and guides them to perform their job efficiently. In some organizations where the jobs and responsibilities are not supervised by some other position the workforces are not contributed to the production of organization due to not getting proper guidance about their responsibilities towards their organization. In other cases, where the positions are supervised by more than one person the chances of conflicts are much higher (Jeff Madura, 2007, pg. 277 to 278).

Types of organization and associated structures

Different organizations use different organizational structures. The organizational structure is particularly based on the nature and specification of business. Basically the following types of tools are used to build up the organizational structure.

Functional

Rob Dransfield (2004, p.74) stated that the organizations based on the functional structure basically apply the grouping of workers in order to bring the different individuals and groups of workers altogether so they can help and support each other’s in specific projects and jobs. In this structure the individuals and groups mutually share their expertise and ideas with each other so they can produce something innovative and progressive.

Product-based

The product based organizational structure is completely the customer oriented structure. This structure is being organized in product line and each line reports to the CEO or an organization. And these product lines lend themselves in centralized and decentralized decision making process (Sandra M. Reed and Anne M. Bogardus, 2012, pg.77).

Geographically based

Geographically based organizational structure is basically the country based structure in which an organization widens its scope of business at international levels. The organization establishes its business in different countries or merged with other multinational organization globally. It often gets complicated if an organization has a large number or competitors. In other cases, the geographical based structure works successful where all the organizations are organized along product lines (Sharan Jagpal and Shireen Jagpal, 2008, pg. 552).

Multi-functional and multi-divisional structures

Rob Dransfield (2004, pg. 76) demonstrated that some organizations basically use the formal organizational structure while in large firms the multidivisional and multifunctional organizational structures are being applied. To combine the different areas and expertise of organizations such types of structures are used.

Span of control

Management is responsible for the organizational structure span of control. In span of control some individuals are being supervised by any individual manager. In large firms one manager supervise several employees while in small scale organizations, the numbers of employees are less. These spans are also called as narrow span of control and wide span of control (Jeff Madura, 2007, pg. 278).

Hierarchal levels

The organizational division is also an important factor of organizational structure. The organizations which apply the wide span of control use the flat organizational structure because it doesn’t have several layers to determine the workforce and its responsibilities while the other organizations which use narrow span of control have to adopt the tall organizational structures and cultures consisted of many layers (Mason Carpenter, Talya Bauer and Berrin Erdogan, v. 1.0).

Organizational charts

Sakthivel Murugan (2007) defines, “The organizational charts are the useful mean of providing the information about the organizational relationship”. Theses charts are also used as the tools of management controls. They graphically represent the managerial positions and interpretation between them. The charts are the blue print of organizational structure of an organization. There are several kinds of organizational charts, the vertical charts, horizontal chats, circular charts,

Matrix organization

Jeff Madura (2007, pg. 293) stated that organizations are often tackled with some specific conditions which demand some inputs from employees. In matrix organization structure, several parts of the organization interact on specific projects. These projects normally based on the short span of time so these individuals can perform their normal routine work under the supervision of same boss. The matrix organization is combination of product based and traditional functional structure (Carpenter et al, 2012).

Centralization and de-centralization

The centralization is an organizational structure which refers to the organization which is held under the authority of high leveled managers. The middle managers and supervisors monitor and control the day to day task of the organization and then reporting to the top managers. In this type of organizational structure, the middle managers are not liable and allowed to take decisions (Jeff Madura, 2007, pg. 288).

While in decentralization structure, the organizational structure functions are ruled under the supervision of several managerial and supervisions divisions. The self-government organization is the basic illustration of decentralization structure in which the managers and supervisors are responsible to make decisions where necessary (Dave Needham, 1999, pg. 232).

Internal and external network structures

The internal network structure consists of the information which is organized, processed, analyzed and reported to all levels of managerial position within an enterprise. Whilst the external organizational structure encompasses at international level as well as with the parent departments of an organization (F. L. Harrison and Dennis Lock, 2004, pg. 70).

Flexible working

The flexible working organizational structure allows workforce and managerial positions to work in flexible and relaxant working environment within the organization. It helps to adopt and deal with the modern economical and financial business pressures. Every firm basically needs the functional, financial and numerical flexibility working structure (Rob Dransfield, 2004, p.85).

Organizational cultures

Culture is the way of life for individuals or particular group of society. It is consisted of norms, beliefs, customs and values for those specific social groups. People learn values from the environment where they live or work and this culture determines the way of life for these people. The behaviors and responses are being adopted by the environment. In an organization the culture is a personality of an organization. The way of working, rules, norms and values upon which the organization based and workforce is pressurized to act upon is the culture of an organization (Rob Dransfield, 2004, p.87).

Classification of organizational culture

The organizational culture is further divided into different classes according to the culture and social styles. Following are the four main classifications of organizational culture.

Power culture

Power cultures can be illustrated as the spider web, which has a main central power point from which it influences and controls the workforce in outward direction from its center of power.

Role culture

Role culture is most identical culture class, which easily can be determined by the specific role or job rather than the performance of specific individuals or groups.

Task culture

In task culture, the management is basically responsible for all the problems and the solutions of an organization. The main concern is the job or project, not the individual because it is team working culture.

Personal culture

It is purely based on the individual’s performance and job. The talent, education, expertise and skills of an individual for his organization matter here.

Explain how the relationship between an organization’s structure and culture can impact on the performance of the business

Cultural norms and symbols

The cultural norms, beliefs and values are the ways and standards the organizational management or HRM settled up for all the levels of workforce. These values and norms basically motivate the workforce to perform best for their organization in order to make it well developed and progressed. The cultural norms are structured in decision making process according to internal, external behaviors and situations the organization has to deal with.

Development of organizational culture diagnosing behavioral problems

Psychology is the study of human behaviors and organizations take deep interest in studying the psychology because it helps them in seeking about the behaviors of their workforce and managerial positions. The main two concern often make organization complex in knowing ne is why people behave as they do and how can organization tend their workforce to behave as they want them to. The psychology basically helps organizations in behavioral problems and provides deep insight into different strategies such as absenteeism, group interaction, intelligence, stress management, resistance to change and levels of motivations.

Concepts, Principles, Perspectives and Methodology

Cognitive, behaviorist and psychoanalytical are three main approaches of psychology. These approaches assume different methods of researches according to the area of study for an organization. The qualitative, quantitative and action researches, survey and experimental design, psychological assessment, diaries, of an organization are some essential strategies of these concepts and approaches.

Perception

Perception is most identical organizational behavior because it is based on the judgments or decision making according to the given or immediate situations of an organization. The decisions are taken on these perceptions and misperception often leads towards the wrong and inappropriate decision making. Three main elements of a perception process are the perceived, the perceiver and the circumstances or situations. The understanding of individual’s perception of an organization is an essential part for the management. It helps in understanding that the perceptions of individuals are differ from each other so overcoming procedure must be vary from a person to person or specific groups.

Conflict

Organizational structure conflicts cause several internal and external issues for organizations and also for individuals of that organization. Wrong assumptions, perceptions, negative attitudes, opinions, rumors, and several other reasons cause conflicts in an organization. The conflicts are not always negative; they might of productive or destructive nature. They often rise on introducing new working protocols and environments, repositioning of goals, and developing new organizational structure and strategies.

Discuss the factors which influence individual behavior at work

Individual behavior at work

Personality of a worker of an organization is the main factor of determining the individual behavior at work. A worker have two types of personality aspects, one is stable characteristic, while other is distinctive characteristic. The stable characteristic of an individuals’ personality always remains same all time while the distinctive characteristics make him identical among crowds. The traits and types of the worker’s personality depend on the current situations and circumstances in an organization. An individual’s behavior at work is purely based on his traits and types of personality.

Intelligence Significance and nature of individual differences

The intelligence is an entity which is still not defined in any universal term because of its unique diversity. Few groups suppose it as an intellectual power while others takes it as the sense of understanding the environment. However, intelligence plays a vital role in understanding and responding towards the society, people and work. While the personality of an individual worker predicts the success of that person and how he will be working with other workers in an organization. It is a combination of behaviors and mental characteristics of a person which depict the person’s altitude and aptitude. It also has an important impact on how people behave at work.

Attitudes

Attitudes are the likes and dislikes of an individual, we all have some specific attitudes towards our environment and society. Attitudes are basically developed according to the personal experiences and environmental or social effects. When a person get anything positive and good in an organizational environment, it seems he must have a positive attitude towards is work or organization while the person who always make issues and stay annoyed have a negative attitude towards his work and place.

Aptitude or ability

The aptitude or ability is the individual capability of a person to learn something positive from his surroundings. In an organization the employers take much interest in the aptitude or ability of worker rather than his attitude.

Understand different approaches to management and leadership

Different approaches to management and leadership

Michael Armstrong and Tina Stephens (2005, pg. 4) stated that the main purpose of the management and the leadership in an organization is to provide direction, arrange changes and attain results through the accurate, proper and responsible use of resources. The management process is divided into the different methods which are used in achieving the organizational structure objectives. The main processes of the management and leadership approaches are planning, motivating, organizing and controlling.

“Mangers are always leaders, while leaders are not always managers” (Michael Armstrong and Tina Stephens, 2005, pg. 5). But there is a clear distinction between the management and leadership processes. Management basically concerned about the achievement of organizational objectives by using all the available resources, while leadership focus on one an ultimate resource which is the “people”. It is essential for the managers to be a good leader as well.

Compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organizations

Talha Iqbal (2011) stated in his book “The impact of leadership styles on organizational effectiveness” that leadership is an important part of any organization, but often leaders get confused on initial stages about how to do leadership. However, leadership is itself a quite comprehensive approach which has divertive aspects according to all field of life. The leadership styles basically portray the impact and application of leadership process and its effects on an organizational structure. The main three styles of leadership are autocratic, participative, and free rein. In autocratic style of leadership, all the decisions are taken only by leaders while in participative style the leader makes decisions with team involvement. The free rein leadership style is completely different because in this style leader leave all the decision making processes on the team.

Explain how organizational structure theory underpins the practice of management

Development of management thought

Rob Dransfield (2004, pg. 174) stated that the main concern of the managers is to secure maximum profitability and prosperity of the organization and providing the job satisfaction to the employees. The empowerment of employees by giving them responsibility to manage them is being developed to lower down the organizational and managerial responsibility. This hierarchal top down management trend was used in twentieth century for scientific managers.

The scientific management and the classical administration are the hierarchal structure of an organization. Managerial positions are responsible in this organizational structure for specific group of employees while the bureaucracy is a hierarchical authority and goal oriented system of an organization.

Evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organizations

Human relations, systems and contingency approach

The human relation approach is however necessary to get positive and expected outcomes form workforces of an organization rather than just pressurizing them to produce. It is necessary to respect the human forces of an organization by giving them incentive to motivate them for their organizational progress. The system approach refers to the organizational structure systems which are specifically introduced for the wellness and betterment of workforce so they can return the positive production.

Andrew J. DuBrin (2011, pg. 27) demonstrated that the contingency approach basically attained when not any other approach or structure is being applied. In an organization, sometimes such situation occurs when HRM have to decide something on immediate basis according to the current circumstances, so the contingency approach thus applies.

Understand ways of using motivational theories in organizations

Motivation is basically related with the most important question, why people do what they do. Motivation is a key to understand the various types of organizational behaviors. What factors and strategies motivate the employees are some basic considerations an organization supposes first. The organizations with clear motivational protocols always generate the positive outcomes (Steve M. Jex, 2002, pg. 209).

Discuss the impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation in organizations in periods of change

John Darling and Anita Leffel (2010) stated that different leadership styles influences the organizational structure functions in various ways. The team leader affects the other team members through this decisions and practices to motivate and facilitate the competence in organization. The leadership styles adopted by the team members are based on the behaviors, thoughts, communication, and interaction of team members. Organizations get benefited from the well-established leadership styled system among team members and the leader. It inspires the collective and entrepreneurial spirit to the organizational team.

Compare the application of different motivational theories within the workplace

Motivation is a process to stimulate a person to perform his action or role in achieving the goal. Motivation has several kinds, thus the motivational theories are also diverse in numbers. The motivation is becoming more important in present era of competition at work place. The organizational management implies several motivation theories to stimulate themselves as well as to its employees. The scientific management was fir introduced by Fredrick W Taylor and known as the most important motivational theory for organizational structure development. He also introduced the Piece Rate motivational theory through which the employee gets salary according to the production average. This theory better stimulate the workforce to struggle more to increase the organizational productivity so they can get more salary (Friederike Hertel, 2003, pg. 3).

Evaluate the usefulness of a motivation theory for managers

(Dave Needham, 1999, pg. 263) As it is mentioned before that the managers are only concerned about the productivity and profitability of the organization by applying all the resources available, while leaders are responsible for the people of his team members not about the resources. The leadership is an important motivational theory for the managers to make them able to stimulate themselves for their organization. For progressed organization, the manager must be a good leader also. The scientific management is ne mot highlighted motivational theory which better stimulate the managers to boost up themselves and their personnel to struggle more for the profitability of an organization.

Understand mechanisms for developing effective teamwork in organizations

The system of developing the effective teamwork in an organization develops the respect, trust, and support to the leadership environment and thus improves the individually as well as collectively performance and attitudes for the organizational structure achievements by motivating the team members to perform at high levels.

References

Nicotera, A. M., (2003) Understanding organization through culture and structure: Relational and other lessons from the African American organization. Routledge.

Marcia J. (2003) E‐learning: emerging uses, empirical results and future directions. International Journal of Training and Development, 7(4), 245-258.

Chen, G. M., & Starosta, W. J. (1998) Foundations of intercultural communication. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Madura, J. (2007) Impact of the QQQ on liquidity and risk of the underlying stocks. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 47(3), 411-421.

Dransfield, R., (2004) Leeds United scores own goal. Teaching Business and Economics, 8, 20-22.

Reed, S. M., & Bogardus, A. M. (2012) PHR/SPHR: Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide. John Wiley & Sons.

Carpenter, M. A., Li, M., & Jiang, H. (2012) Social Network Research in Organizational Structure Contexts A Systematic Review of Methodological Issues and Choices. Journal of Management, 38(4), 1328-1361.

Carpenter, M. A., Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2009) Principles of management. Flat World Knowledge.

Needham, D. (1999) An Innovative Method for Evaluating Strategic Goals in a Public Agency Conservation Leadership in the US Forest Service. Evaluation Review, 23(1), 77-100.

Jagpal, S. (2008) Fusion for Profit: How Marketing and Finance Can Work Together to Create Value. OUP Catalogue.

Murugan, M. S. (2007) Management principles and practices. New Age International.

Harrison, F. L., & Lock, D. (2004) Advanced project management: a structured approach. Gower Publishing, Ltd.

Armstrong, M., & Stephens, T. (2005) A handbook of employee reward management and practice. Kogan Page Publishers.

DuBrin, A. J. (2011) Impression management in the workplace: Research, theory and practice. Routledge.

Jex, S. M. (2002) Organizational structure psychology: A scientist-practitioner approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Hertel, F. (2003) Motivation in the Workplace.

Darling, J., & Leffel, A. (2010) Developing the leadership team in an entrepreneurial venture: a case focusing on the importance of styles. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 23(3), 355-371.

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Branding Political Campaigns

How Effective Are Branding Approaches For Electoral Campaigning?

A review of branding approaches in the context of Obama’s electoral campaigns of 2008 and 2012

Change – as soon as the word flashes across television screens or on placards, the average American thinks of President Barrack Obama (Keller 2009). Getting people to attribute the value of change to Obama’s persona has been a deliberative and purposeful branding strategy, and this paper looks at how ‘Brand Obama’ has been established.

Brand Obama signifies transformational change that transcends racial boundaries, where Brand Obama itself is a symbol of the rise of an oppressed minority to the rank of a leader. Barrack Obama made history by becoming the first African-American President of the USA, and challenged the status quo through his candidature. This challenge to the status quo, and the change that he promised was translated by him and his team into a single, focused underlying motto that has shaped Brand Obama’s persona. Even though Barrack Obama had everything that a candidate on merit would have, the spread of his credibility and vision was something that would be vital in Obama winning the elections. This spread of a leaders’ promise could be accomplished only through purposeful and strategic marketing.

This paper is founded on the notion that branding strategies were an important element in the success of Brand Obama and that they bore down heavily on election results (McDonald and Chermetony 2006). The topic of this paper has been chosen so that the impact of branding in the political arena can be better understood to provide a wider base of knowledge in applications of branding theories.

A sound branding campaign can create affinity between the brand and the consumers and can become a part of the consumer lifestyle much the same way as a family member. In a similar manner, President Obama has been marketed as a premium up-market brand and his campaign appears to be engaging in political branding. A surprising fact however that is the components of Obama’s campaign and presentation were quite similar to Hillary Clinton (Adolphsen, 2009).

Barrack Obama’s campaign was instrumental in changing the way election campaigns are run. His campaign benefitted from the fact that he is the first African-American to fight for presidential status in the country. That is the reason why there was a revolutionary tinge to the campaign designed to benefit from this facet. The campaign focused on the youth segment of the American population through the use of ICT (Information Communication Technologies) and social media sites. In this respect the campaign was effective in targeting the idealistic sentiments of the youth, and urged the new voters to participate in a process that promised them change (Keller, et al. 2011; Takaragawa & Carty 2012). However there have been concerns that the branding campaign was a lot of rhetoric aimed only at helping Obama win the elections of 2008, but the efficacy of these short term strategies in making a long term impact is yet uncertain.

According to Takaragawa & Carty (2012) “Throughout the election cycle Obama talked about changing politics in Washington, ushering in a new era, and how his experience as a community organizer provided him with unique skills to listen to and work with the grassroots. This resonated deeply with those disillusioned with politics as usual, especially with young voters. Yet, these changes have not manifested themselves. This begs the question, was the goal of the Obama team to merely get him elected without pursuing a progressive agenda as promised?” (Takaragawa & Carty, 2012).

President Obama’s campaign was a hallmark for short-term branding success because it had the mix of appeal and practical elements that convinced the youth and people looking for a transformation in the status quo. The message that the campaign held was that America had finally made it so far that it was ready to have a President from a previously oppressed race and that people who voted for him would finally be part of this change and progress. The campaign had a message for the rightly targeted audience which worked very well as a brand-building strategy (Bearden & Etzel 1982; Keller, et al. 2011)

This paper addresses the topic of using branding in election campaigns, particularly the 2008 campaign of President Obama due to the fact that Obama’s campaign were different from any of those in the history of American politics. The initial campaign functioned as a social movement, inspired people and encouraged voter turnout. According to many experts the secret of his success lay in the integrated and sound marketing strategies that the Obama camp employed (Cornelissen 2001; Ewing 2009). That was the reason why Obama was successful in the 2008 elections, and this paper seeks to examine how branding was part of the reason for his successful elections.

The 2012 elections scenario; however, was markedly different, while the 2008 campaign promised change, the performance of Obama in the four years after was not as many had expected it to be. According to USA Today reporter Susan Page, (Page, 2011) Brand Obama was established on Hope and change in 2008, but 2012 dynamics were different as the economic indicators – most important for the American public, were not up to their standard.

There has been a lot of interest shown in the academic world with regards to this aspect of branding given that political figures are always in the limelight; however, this paper is different with regards to the answers it aims to achieve. This paper, unlike others already available, seeks to establish the link between branding activities and success of those activities in retrospect, providing readers with anecdotal as well as statistical evidence based on an analysis of the material and content already available.

Research Problem

The main research problem that is being addressed here is as follows: ‘How have branding theories been useful in making the campaigns of president Obama successful in 2008 and in 2012?’ This research problem is quite broad and attempting to answer it holistically requires that the problem be broken down into its component objectives which are mentioned in the section below.

Research Objectives

Analyse and evaluate branding theories and frameworks suitable for political campaigning.
Select a model that is ideal fit for political campaigning and compare that with ground realities of the policies implemented in the presidential campaign of Obama.
What has been the role of branding and implementation of branding theories in making Obama win the elections in comparison to his rivals
How did his campaign team respond to the changed contexts in 2012?

The research objectives have provided a structured process of answering the research problem and each objective serves a unique purpose. The first objective aims to analyse existing branding theories in order to evaluate which seems to be most suitable for election campaigns. Some of the theories in branding that have been considered here include ‘customer value proposition’, ‘value-based marketing’, and ‘integrated marketing communications’ (Finne & Gronroos 2009; Hartley & Pickton 1999).

The second objective is to identify one particular strategy from among those discussed as answers to the first objective. This strategy is a mix of several strategies discussed and the selection has been based on observation of the marketing campaign of Obama, and how the marketing team built the brand of Obama for the American public.

The third objective is to identify how these strategies were effective, and whether or not they had any role to play in the success of Obama’s campaign.

This paper therefore is analytical in nature and considers the Obama campaign in retrospect as it is easier to link actions to results and evaluate them in detail in order to find consistencies that enable a better understanding of the causal relationships, if they exist, between the actions taken and the results achieved.

Research Methodology

This research is aimed at a retrospective analysis of the election campaigns of President Obama in a bid to understand the key success factors of the campaign. Therefore, the main crux of the research has been focused on secondary research in which available literature and information has been analysed and evaluated in order to better understand how the campaign worked. However, there are two different aspects of the research and secondary research has been used to address both these elements.

The first aspect is the review of material based on the marketing and branding theoretical models, which includes detailed discussions on all the contemporary marketing and branding theories. Journal articles from peer reviewed and established sources have been used here for topics related to branding in mass consumer markets. B2B market articles are not relevant here as the election campaign was intended to appeal to masses, in a similar manner to that of mass-consumers’ products and services.

The second aspect studied published work that is available on the presidential campaigns and analysed the published material on rivals as well as Obama. Election campaigns in America receive world-wide coverage from authentic as well an unauthentic sources, which means that while there is a lot of information available regarding it, not all of it can be relied upon in a research such as this. For this reason authentic and creditable sources have been used, in a bid to have original and verifiable information that has validated the conclusions drawn from this paper.

As a part of the literature review: journals, articles, opinion pieces from periodicals have been reviewed which have particular reference to papers addressing topics such as branding political campaigns. The key topics that were given special consideration were top of mind recall, brand-building, social movement and marketing, and a positive brand image. In order to analyse the information collected, content analysis has been carried out of the relevant material available so that justifiable conclusions can be drawn.

Literature Review

This literature review focuses on publications that cover all the aspects of the topic that the paper aims to cover. Starting from branding, which is a marketing concept referring to the psychological and physical advantages associated with a product or service, to how branding has been used in politics, the review aims to cover what experts have said about the issue.

Branding

As a concept, branding refers to the psychological representation of a product or service (Scammell 2007). Branding therefore involves not only the product that offers core features but also refers to the emotional and psychological advantages that ownership offers. Politicians have long used the concept of branding in their campaigns, and lately so, in Obama’s campaigns of 2008 and 2012, it could be seen that branding in politics has really become a necessity – a must for success.

Woods (2004) cites a model of branding which states that at the outset, a brand has boundaries which are the functional and economic advantages that a consumer derives from or perceives in a brand. This is the tangible benefit that the product confers. This is followed by an inner boundary, which can also be called the brand differentiator or the emotional elements of the product that the consumers associate with it. This emotional association can be of three different types. The first is the psychological differentiator which includes everything that appeals to the consumers’ cognition and subconscious. Another type of differentiator is a social one, in which consumers relate some social advantages. These could be associations of social status in owning a brand, for example owning a particular brand of a car might be associated by a society as a success symbol, and it is this symbolism that works as a social benefit for the consumer.

Branding as a projection of the products’ perceived benefits and values resides in the minds of the consumers, and marketers can change this projection by attributing value to the brand that the consumers prefer. Keeping the fact that the image can be enhanced or distorted, marketers strive to send out messages that enhance the image of the brand in the direction that they would like. This is what makes branding an ideal tool for political campaigning.

The aim of political campaigns is to garner votes by convincing people of the suitability of a candidate to be a leader for the country for the next four years. By using branding, as part of political campaigning effectively a leader such as Tony Blair and Bill Clinton got into office, but this was not long-lasting as both the leaders became unpopular due to their actions in office. Bill Clinton and his Scandalous affair alongside his inability to take a strong stand on political and economic matters made him loose credibility. The same was the case with Tony Blair, leading to the conclusion that branding and marketing is effective in helping candidates win elections, the same way in which advertising and marketing are able to convince people to buy the brand at least once. However, unlike branding in products and service where these don’t impact lives in a long term and profound manner, political campaigning enables political leaders to win the elections and obtain the office. Once in office, the next term is dictated mainly by the past performance of the candidate (Rutledge, 2013).

Moreover, political campaigning in the United States has been used more frequently and as compared to any other country in the world. Millions of dollars are spent by candidates vying for congressional slots, while a president’s campaign can run into hundreds of millions of dollars, to be specific President Bush’s campaign was worth $600 million only in terms of television advertising in 2004 (Kaid & Holtz-Bacha 2006).

Given this rising awareness of what branding and purposeful marketing can achieve, election campaigns are increasingly becoming innovative in their approaches. A book on the people’s choice was published as early as 1948 and focused on the two-step communication flow, and the techniques behind conveying information to voters. The book was a classic, and works on political campaigning in subsequent years used the book as a guide in order to develop the theory of branding and marketing political campaigns in the same way that marketers execute product marketing campaigns (Lazarsfeld 1948).

Lazarfield stated that the power of the two step model was not in the mass media, but that it lay in an individual interaction of candidates with opinion leaders. Opinion leaders are individuals who have influence in their groups and communities, which meant that convincing opinion leaders would lead to a spill-over effect, where once opinion leaders are convinced; they would be able to convince others in their groups of their ideas as well. The advent of social media in recent years has made developing connections with individuals easier, and as people are able to share information speedily in communities, conveying marketing messages too has become easier.

Elements of Successful Branding

Branding theory has several models, all of which have defined certain elements that make a branding exercise successful. Some models will be discussed here in order to evaluate the presence of these elements in Obama’s campaigns, and how this presence resulted in success for the first African-American president of the USA.

Needham (Needham 2005) uses a framework which defines six main elements of success in branding which include simplicity, uniqueness, reassurance, aspirational, value-based, and credibility (Duckworth 1991). This implies that the branding exercise should not be complex so as not to confuse the consumer, should be brief and focused. The campaign should also be such that brands and brand personas cannot be copied, and at the same time is should reassurance consumers and evoke aspirational values that not only adhere to personal benefits, but also adhere to the value systems of the consumers. Credibility, the last element implies that a brand’s promises are to be trusted and that the company and the brand will not let the consumers’ expectations down. (Needham 2005)

Value-Based Marketing

Value-based marketing suggests that brands should be socially responsible and should espouse values that can create goodwill in the minds of the consumers. (Doyle 2000) Peter Doyle, in his book about value-based marketing presents a framework through which the mind, heart and the spirit of consumers can be touched so that the brand remains firmly entrenched as a part of their lives. Marketing 3.0 as it has been labelled by a renowned marketing expert, Philip Kotler has been presented in a matrix framework below.

Marketing 3.0 Matrix Framework (Philip Kotler)

According to the principles of value based marketing, the mind, heart, and spirit of consumers interact with three aspects of a company, which are mission, vision and value. The mission answers why the company exists, the vision answers what the company aims to achieve, while the value answer how the company aims to achieve its goals.

Kotler’s strategy can be helpful in analysing Obama’s strategy where the success purely in marketing terms can be measured by how Obama’s campaign was able to touch the mind, heart and spirit of the voters (Kotler, et al. 2010).

Integrated Marketing Communications

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is a model framework that has been in existence for a few decades, and is now considered a must in branding campaigns. This model holds that all types of marketing communications should have a consistent message that would help build a vivid and distinctive image of the brand in the consumers’ minds.

Companies’ that use this model effectively know that using brand colours and emblems are only one part of the IMC philosophy. IMC entails that the consistent message that is sent across should establish a clear image of the brand among consumers so that they are able to associate a single, lasting and distinctive attribute to it. Consistency of marketing messages is vital in brand-building as it reinforces the values that the brand stands for, and at the same time enables the consumers to recognize it immediately from competing products.

Engaging the Voter

Obama’s campaign was not only emotive, it was also practical. According to Chris Gallery, brands not only need to evoke emotion they also need to get people into action. And Obama’s campaign did precisely this. It channelled people’s feelings into actions by providing voters with the tools to help out in the campaign. Obama’s own team was marketing the brand Obama, but using portals such as myobama.com, and other blogging sites, voters sitting in the comfort of their own homes were also encouraged to spread the word about their favourite candidate against a payment for their services. (Gallery 2009)

According to Denise Shiffman, in her article in Advertising age: Political commentators believe Barack Obama is more popular with web surfers because his followers are younger, and young people are more likely to use blogs, social networks and other new media. That may be true, but it’s far from the only reason he’s faring well. Obama’s campaign is immersed in his audience’s experience (Shiffman 2008).

The excerpt suggests that while Obama might be considered to be popular because of tech savvy youngsters who use social media, it has to be noted that Obama’s campaign has been a success because he has allowed these youngsters and other voters to take part in the campaign personally. General election campaigns talk about the suitability of the candidate, and do not make an effort to engage voters in dialogue. However, Brand Obama broke these perceptions, and was able to interact with voters, and was able to convince them to be a part of his team of brand ambassadors, spreading the message of change alongside the rest of his team (Shiffman 2008).

Use of Social Media in Branding Political Campaigns

Barrack Obama’s campaign is a case in point as an effective use of innovative marketing tools such as social media. Even though the readers of today would not think in wonder about the impact of social media on communities, having been witness to evolutions such as the Arab Spring in 2011, use of social media in the 2008 elections was awe-inspiring and risky. The reason for this is the fact that in 2008 smartphones were not widely used, and social media was in its infancy. Twitter had just started operations, and personal interactions of brands and companies, nevertheless leaders was unheard of. Obama’s team realized the potential of social media, and became a pioneer in using social media extensively for branding and relationship building purposes.

Obama’s opponent in the 2008 elections was Mr McCain, who did not consider the use of social media at all, and this led Obama to be able to target opinion leaders who used social media more effectively and without any contention from opposite quarters. It has to be noted here that Obama truly understood the power of Social Media as a tool to brand himself, and as a tool to reach out to people in an individual manner. Moreover, through extensive use and monitoring of the media, the campaign was able to get real time feedback which was useful for understanding the psychology of voters (Rutledge 2013), which is akin to what author Lazarsfeld noted. He said that communication with voters is effective only when it comes from a trusted source, word-of-mouth messages from a reliable source can be trusted more, and this is the factor that Obama and his team understood well (Lazarsfeld 1948).

Obama’s team considered social media’s power to yield impact as vital, and their spending on this media reflected the importance that they placed on it. While in 2012, Obama’s social media campaign was $47 million, Mitt Romney spent only $4.7 million (Rutledge 2013).The team was able to mine data and use it to arrange voters according to how easy it would be to persuade them. Obama’s team invested heavily in collecting online data, and used it also to predict donor behaviour as well as to determine what factors influenced people’s decisions in going out to vote (Rutledge 2013).

Obama understood that the real drivers of an effective social media campaign are based on the psychology of social behaviours and are not based on knowledge about current technology, and Obama and his team understood this aspect really well. Therefore, the easier and the more interesting it was to spread content from one campaign, the more popular that campaign would be. Considering that in 2012, Obama’s messages and content had twice as many likes as compared to Romney and Obama’s tweets were twenty times more likely to be re-tweeted. This meant that Obama’s messages were motivational, inspirational and appealed to users in a way that they wanted to share these with their friends, family and colleagues (Rutledge 2013).

Appearances and Success in Election Campaigns

A study shows that when there is a match between the personality traits of the candidate, based solely on his or her appearance, and between the party’s mottos and traits, there is a higher likelihood of success. (Hoegg & Lewis 2011) In fact according to the paper, results show that the competence and intelligence of candidates is decided through the match between the candidate’s looks and the party’s stance. The paper concluded that Democrats gain when they look or appear intelligent, while Republicans gain success when they look competent. The subliminal messages that appearances have on voter trust is indicative of the fact that consumers do get influenced by marketing activities and branding initiatives.

Moreover, when looking at how negative advertising impacts the trustworthiness of a candidate, it has been observed that candidates who look like they are a good fit with the party agenda are less susceptible to damage from it. (Hoegg & Lewis 2011)

Discussion

Secondary literature analysis has yielded several interesting results. The results were analysed separately in terms of the different election campaigns in 2008 and 2012. This distinction between the two years is necessary as there were differences in the social, economic as well as political contexts in the two years. While during the 2008 campaign all the campaign team needed to do was to attract voters with the appeal of a Black President and a promise of change, voters in the 2012 campaign had lived the dream of this promise.

Adam Curtis in the ‘Century of the Self’ links Freudian psychoanalysis to political campaigning, indicating that politics today is more about people’s desires and wants rather than about rational political thought.

Edward Bernays the pioneer of the field of PR was Freud’s nephew, and he was the first one to manipulate the masses in terms of their unconscious needs. He linked the needs of the masses to their desires and made them want things that were irrational, and in some ways defeated logical thought. This concept has been used repeatedly in US election campaigns to manoeuvre the masses into thinking that they desire a certain candidate for certain aspects, which might not make sense rationally (Happiness Machines, 2002).

The branding aspect of the electoral campaigns of Obama, just as the ones of his contemporaries as well as those before him are based on Freud’s psychoanalysis theories in which candidates try to appeal to the masses by making the individuals in the masses feel that each and every one of them is cared about. But the appeal of the subconscious can wear off when the promise is not delivered upon consistently, and four years of a leader’s term are enough to judge a candidate by.

While Obama’s polling show that he fell out of favour from majority vote, the polls show that his re-election was helped not only through branding techniques and clever use of psychoanalysis in which people were guided to be aspired by Obama and his wife’s highly credible and sound academic backgrounds. Moreover, the campaigners made Obama and his wife ideals of success by making them sound aspirational through narrations of their personal success despite belonging to a racially oppressed class (Happiness Machines, 2002).

Therefore the framework that has been chosen here to analyse the campaigns are different based on the distinction between the 2008 and 2012 campaigns. The 2008 campaign is analysed using the model by Needham that has the elements of simplicity, uniqueness, reassurance, aspirational, value-based, and credibility (Duckworth 1991). This model is being used here, because it encompasses all the necessary elements of successful branding and at the same time can be used to apply various schools of thought in the field and this will make the analysis more comprehensive. (Takaragawa & Carty 2012)

Obama’s 2008 Campaign

Obama’s 2008 campaign was lauded the world over for the intensity of emotions that they created, for the inspiration they provided, and for the change that they promised. According to (Gallery 2009) Obama’s campaign was emotive, and inspiring, and that is what appealed to voters who were tired of the status quo in 2008. Moreover, Obama’s campaign allowed for voter engagement, and also allowed voters to use their own versions of promoting him.

Brand Obama, was a well strategized and a far-reaching brand that has attracted voters to a new candidate with nothing but the promise of a changes and brighter future in 2008. When Obama promised change in his campaign, which was the single, underlying message of all his communications, he demonstrated it by having an election campaign that had never been there before (Gallery 2009). When voters were encouraged to spread their own versions of the messages of Obama, brand Obama took a risk, and by adhering to the single message of ‘change’ that was conveyed, changed how presidential candidates and individuals interacted (Gallery 2009).

The 2008 campaign, the message that Obama sent out was “change we can believe in”, which was the party slogan. The simplicity of the statement and the inspiration that it provided to Americans, who were correctly identified as being tired of the status quo, was one of the major drivers of the campaign. Moreover, the slogan was also followed by a chant of ‘yes we can’ which brought around everyone in the crowd to participate.

The slogan and the chant were both giving the population of America a sense of being part of an ideal society, which had reached the milestone of equality for all ethnicities. The chant was a wise branding strategy by the campaign managers, and the simple slogan and chant, which were understood easily by voters made the impact on everyone’s mind-sets very substantial. (Hartley & Pickton 1999)

According to a piece which analysed Obama’s campaign only in terms of the branding, PR and marketing activities experts have suggested that Brand Obama was one of the most well executed political campaigns of its times in 2008. Marketing expert, Allen Adamson, states that while the strategy to market Brand Obama was simple, the execution was relentless, and in this execution, Obama was helped by the army of people siding with him (Sullivan 2009).

Expert Scott Shamberg, the vice president at a renowned marketing agency claims that Obama understood the marketing process and the psychology of his consumers very well, and this is the reason why he was able to use marketing channels in an effective manner to convert people into Brand Obama voters (Sullivan 2009).

Branding is concerned with creating a positive image of the product or service in the minds of the consumer, and this is what the simple slogan and the chant brought about. Under the slogan and by chanting together with millions of other voters, each individual felt that he or she was contributing to changing the society for the better (Takaragawa & Carty 2012).The element of simplicity was present in the communications, where there was no better representative of change in the society than the 44^th president of the country being from a historically oppressed race.

In terms of uniqueness Obama’s campaign was distinctive as it also allowed the people to participate in a way that they deemed fit. Consider the case of the Hope poster that was designed by Shepard Fairey. This was a stencil sketch of Obama, and was distributed independently by people favouring Obama. Later on, it was recognized by the campaign managers, endorsed, and distributed widely, becoming one of the well-recognized symbols of the campaign. (Needham 2005)

Uniqueness therefore emanated from the fact that the branding strategy of Obama was not planned strictly, but was in such a way that it allowed for flexibility and modifications that could help the campaign along. The additional advantage was that voters could feel engaged in the brand, and would feel that they were also contributors to the success.

The Obama brand reassured its voters of the change that they would bring by talking about policies that were consistent with his slogan. Some of the policies included Obama’s take on the illegal population, which he thought should be given an opportunity to get citizenship. In addition to that, there was an immigration rally in 2006 in which Obama walked as a part of it, and claimed that he had not run away from any issue. This was a factor that made him a credible candidate, as his claims were widely marketed as part of building integrity and trust among voters (Cornelissen 2001).

Many marketers in an effort to define branding state that brands are a promise, consumers come to know a brand because of the trust they place in it to be able to deliver the values that are associated with it. In a similar manner, the Obama’s campaign also offered the promise of delivering on ‘change’ and reassured people by pointing towards his last performance as a senator in the 2008 campaign (Shiffman 2008).

Aspirational slogans have been the hallmark of both of Obama’s campaigns, and these have been touted to be the key in bringing voters out of their homes to poll. George Bush’s Presidential years brought a low to public sentiments where he was considered to be an elitist president, favouring those near to him, and being very confrontational, as well high on war rhetoric. The world-wide goodwill and reputation of the USA also went down in that period. Obama saw this as a gap and pursued this as an opportunity to take advantage of the general public sentiment at the time (Doyle 2000).

However, according to a political science paper, it was noted that people who are more likley to vote are those who are not impacted by negative advertising, and even though a bulk of advertising by both camps was negative, persistent or engaged voters were not offended by the dirty politics being played out on media (Hunt, 2012).

George Bush was seen as a traditional, conservative president, who was alienated from the idealistic youth that form part of any society. This too was a gap that was unnoticed by everyone but the Obama camp, which then concentrated a lot of its efforts on the youth. Obama talked about change, and the youth, who tend to be less cynical of promises and political talk as compared to adults, were driven by this motto. The youth was swayed by the promises of a highly-educated African American young man who inspired them with his talk on the inevitable utopia that society would become under his leadership.

Obama’s 2008 campaign was value-based. The values that the campaign was propagating were that the youth were capable and that with hard work, sound education and merit there was nothing that could stop them from being successful. Obama was the shining example of this doctrine of equality and meritocracy that America’s foundation was based on (Kotler, et al. 2010).

According to Philip Kotler’s marketing 3.0 theories, branding and marketing has to touch three elements in a consumer. The first element is the mind, where the appeal of the brand should be rational and logical so that there is no disputing the benefit that the brand will provide to the consumer. The next aspect is the heart, where the emotions of the consumers have to be touched in order for them to be able to relate to the consumers on a more profound level. The third element is the spirit of the consumer, which has to be satisfied with the brand. By the spirit it means that the consumption of the brand, the consumer should not be causing any harm to the society. Companies do this by aligning themselves to an initiative that is beneficial to the community as well as the consumers, or is one which tries to minimize the harmful impact its products might have on the environment, for example green initiatives (Takaragawa & Carty 2012).

It has to be noted in case of election campaigns that the individual in question is there to improve the conditions of the society. By appealing to segmented groups and by addressing their group concerns in a targeted and focused manner, Obama appealed to the heart as well as the spirit of the people. Such targeting can only come about as a result of through study of the data obtained and a sound data mining program that the campaign of Obama had.

The campaign was made credible as it was perfectly aligned with the kind of personality Obama depicted. As was mentioned in the literature review that the appearance of the leader has to be a match to the values he portrays, Obama was a perfect match for the slogan of ‘change we can believe in’ as he himself was the story of success in America (Gallery 2009).

Obama was born to a Muslim father, which made him a subject of much debate. This however was cleverly played to Obama’s advantage through the use of psychoanalysis to sway the masses. This fact was presented to the public to show that Obama was a candidate despite all odds.

Obama Campaign in 2012

The 2012 campaign, on the other hand had forward as a slogan, which simply stated that the progress towards change was going forward. The slogan added an element of continuity to the last campaign, and promised that the change that had been carried out so far would be going on further ahead. The idea was easily communicable to the masses and was self-explanatory which made its impact even stronger (Bearden & Etzel 1982).

However, he was unable to deliver as effectively as promised, which was a let-down for the public. According to a news report citing what to expect in 2012 elections, a journalist noted that (Page, 2011): “Obama’s initial presidential job-approval rating in January 2009 was 64%, the highest of any new president in more than a quarter-century. In the daily Gallup survey, his approval rating was a middling 46% just before the bin Laden raid, then rose to 52% within a few days.” (Page, 2011)

This goes to show that while branding enabled Obama to get the office in 2008, a lot was relying on his actions as a leader in the 2012 elections, as people saw a weaker leader in him than was expected. In some ways then, a strong initial election campaign in 2008 was a double-edged sword. While Obama was able to win the 2008 election comfortably based on the high and mighty claims, once, when Obama failed to live up to the larger-than-life expectations of change, 2012 proved to be a difficult year as he had failed to live up to voters’ ideals. Therefore even if his performance was mediocre, high expectations subdued these acheivements.

The 2012 campaign of Obama was decidedly different. According to a news report nearly 80 per cent of the advertising messages sent out by the Obama camp were negative, while 84 per cent of his opponents’ were negative (Hunt, 2012). The two campaign differed in their approach and while the 2008 campaign relied more on promises, the 2012 campaign was based on mitigating the effects of Obama not fulfilling expectations attached to him in 2008. The results are proof of this lack of trust in Obama, which branding was able to marginally address. Moreover, eexperts have felt that Obama seems to have lost control of his brand positioning, and that Obama has to come back on track with policies that should be centred on his message of change (Sullivan 2009).

There were some positive aspects in the 2012 campaign for instance when Obama tried to bring in the factor of uniqueness by announcing that he was in support of same sex marriage. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) society of the USA had been a major contributor to Obama’s campaign, and after the announcement, the LGBT community become the largest contributor to the campaign. This was a purposeful strategy through which Obama identified a target segment which was in his favour, and could be easily converted into campaign money and votes (Hartley & Pickton 1999).

Another factor that rendered the 2012 campaign unique was the team’s approach towards building Obama’s brand. The campaign headquarters was Chicago, Obama’s hometown, rather than Washington DC. This fact lent to the uniqueness of the campaign as they were able to communicate with voter groups in a targeted manner. If Obama’s campaign would have been based in Washington, the uniqueness would have been played down as voters would have perceived him as a politician behind the elitist bars. However, by operating from Chicago, Obama was perceived as being someone who was accessible to the masses, and as someone who was not elitist, but someone who knew his roots and held secure to his values.

Additionally, in 2012, the expenditure on social media by Barrack Obama was very high at $47 million; his competitors’ was much smaller at $4.7 million (Finne & Gronroos 2009).Therefore, Obama recognized the importance of the youth as social media users, and the importance of social media as an effective tool to communicate and change the opinions of the masses in his favour. In turn the social media wave was focused on aspiring the youth towards change, and towards voting for a president that was promising them an ideal society with values that would help America redeem its reputation in the world (West 2014.)

Conclusion

The paper is based on a secondary research of the campaigns of Obama in 2008 and 2012. What this study aimed to do was to find out the root causes of the branding aspect of the election campaigns and how they lent to the success of Obama in both.

The changing dynamics of the world owe their progress to technology which has made information processing and sharing easy, cheap and convenient. Facts, figures, knowledge and opinions can be shared with worldwide audiences at the click of a button or a tap of the finger. Mobile cameras make it easy to capture images, and internet connectivity costs nothing to share. As more and more information is available publicly it becomes difficult for political leaders to remain in the shadows, forcing transparency to take the lead. (Hoegg & Lewis 2011)

Obama’s 2008 campaign was relatively better in comparison to his candidate solely because the campaign managers knew how the social media worked, and more importantly how the minds of the people on social media worked. Even though in 2008 twitter and Facebook were new, and there was no iPhone, Obama’s campaign was clairvoyant in recognizing the dynamics of voters and the importance that would be placed on social media.

That is the reason why Obama’s campaign spread like wildfire on the internet, which was further abetted by the fact that Obama’s managers knew that once the information was shared and once it spread, it would be difficult to control it. And acting out of a clear sense of purpose, the campaign managers realized that rather than controlling information, they had to guide the information sharing process in such a way that it would lead to success. That is the reason why, when people made additions to the campaign contributing, for example, as Shepard Fairey did by distributing the sketches, the campaign managers officially endorsed it and made Shepard and all other followers an active part of their campaign. In this way, it was not only the official employees who were campaigning; it was also the individuals who took a liking to Obama to be part of the campaign. This helped in not only churning out votes, but also helped in in terms of contributions made online (Finne & Gronroos 2009).

However, as compared to the 2008 campaign where all there was to Obama’s campaign was promise of a better future 2012 was about his accountability in being able to deliver on his promises. Given the fact that the economy was still bleak and the unemployment rate was at 9 per cent along with there being no real progress on his rhetoric on healthcare, the 2012 votes were more than those of his competitor, but less in comparison to 2008. According to a Washington Post report: “President Obama carried fewer states in 2012 than he did four years ago. He won a second term by dominating the nation’s large urban areas — although mostly by smaller margins compared to his 2008 vote totals” (The Washington Post, 2012).

The research problem that this paper set out to address was: ‘How have branding theories been useful in making the campaigns of president Obama successful in 2008 and in 2012?’

The answer to this problem is that the knowledge of consumer dynamics is more important as compared to the knowledge of technology in making branding strategies a success, and Obama’s campaign struck the right cord when it identified the groups, their needs, and how they could be reached. The voter lists to be contacted were arranged in terms of their likelihood of voting in favour of Obama, and this implies that trends among various groups were studied, and the each group’s psychodynamics were evaluated in order to bring the ideal lists into conception. These lists were then used as the basis of further campaigning and communications with target groups in accordance to their aspirations and desires.

The research problem was further divided into research objectives in order to comprehensively address the problem. The first objective of the paper was to analyse various branding theories that exist, and the models that were analysed include staid frameworks that have been tried and tested. Some of the theories discussed in the paper are integrated marketing communications, value-based marketing and the elements of branding success. A psychoanalysis theory that was suggested by Adam Curtis’s Century of the self has also been proposed here (Happiness Machines, 2002). In accordance with the second objective, a model was selected to analyse the branding campaign, and this was the framework that was used by Needham in his paper.

While integrated marketing communications and value based marketing have their advantages, an all-encompassing framework was needed in order to evaluate Obama’s campaign thoroughly. Integrated marketing communication figures into the framework under the category of uniqueness and reassurance, where integrated marketing communications focus on developing a consistent image.

Value-based marketing comes under the brand being aspirational and value-based; therefore the framework selected by Needham was considered sufficient for Obama’s election campaign evaluation in 2008, while in 2012 the election campaign was better analysed in context of the psychoanalysis theory as well as in light of realities as compared to perceptions.

The next objective was to evaluate how these branding strategies were useful in making Obama’s campaign a success. As it was discovered in the final section of discussion, the election campaigns used all six elements of the model and termed the campaign of Obama as resounding success in all elements of reaching out to voters. The role of branding was very important in creating Brand Obama in 2008, in comparison to rivals -in fact the campaign of Obama was so successful that it enabled the name of Obama to be recognized the entire world over as a household name. (Bearden & Etzel 1982) In 2012, however, the story was different as the context differed

The final objective asked about how his campaign team respond to the changed contexts in 2012. Obama’s branding strategy was similar, only it attacked the opponents claims more, and was more on the defensive side, as his actions were accounted for and asked about. The economy, which the 2008 campaign promised to change was more or less the same, and while Obama persisted by saying that his actions would have long term impact, the lower margin of win in 2012 as compared to 2008 clearly indicates that he lost votes and that branding was successful only to a limited degree (The Washington Post, 2012).

Obama’s election campaign can be considered as a model also for services and product branding as the campaign worked from scratch to bring in a previously unknown brand into public cognition. Obama’s brand image was built in a purposeful manner with target audience psychosis considered and segmented in a manner that was strategic as it was well-thought.

Multinational brands can also learn from Obama’s example and target their market in a segmented way which makes the communication effective and impactful. However, as compared to product branding, political branding is best when coupled with affirmative action following the promises and rhetoric in order to build a lasting brand.

To conclude, it can be said that branding can be an important element for political leaders not only in the USA, but all across the globe in order to gain a following, and while it can be used to create leaders, sustaining them is a matter of real actions and measurable economic results- at least as far as the Americans and their obsession with the economy goes. The paper can therefore be looked at in terms of a starting point, from which more empirical and scholastic studies can surface, and which would probably be more profound if public opinion through primary research methods filtered out. (Cornelissen 2001) Primary research is an element that can be added to this paper in order to enhance the conclusions and to provide a more profound perspective on the topic.

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