Nobel Peace Prize for Brand Obama
The past decade of global politics have been characterized by conflict, mistrust and grown incidents of all manner of racial profiling, especially in the aftermath of the September 11th,2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre Towers in New York City, USA. Traveling through domestic and international airports became a nightmare for many people of non-Caucasian hues, especially Muslim looking types. Hatred for America and Americans grew in many parts of the world. Then emerged Barack Obama; a relatively unknown American Senator immediately from Illinois but, significantly, from Hawaii with more recent African-American origins. His story is unlike those of many African-Americans whose lineage dates back from the times of slavery. The racial and ethnic composition of Obama’s immediate and extended family would make it hard for anyone to convincingly pin him down to one racial allegiance, if such existed. This is also the mystery that makes Brand Obama so fascinating in a world that is obsessive with issues of racial identity
What makes the Nelson Mandela Brand so enduring?
All successful brands are managed. Some are difficult to manage, others not. People brands are particularly hard to manage because they are like moving targets. The difficulty of managing them comes from the behaviour – public and private – of the people concerned which, either way, often ends up in the eye of the public. Young celebrity brands are particularly hard to manage because they are still making it in life and have plenty of mistakes to make. Amy Winehouse is a good – perhaps extreme – example in this regard. They have the uncontrollable attention of the opposite sex to deal with, peer pressure on the use of substances, sudden wealth and fame, all resulting in heightened media and, by extension, public attention. Everything that they do and say makes it into all forms of media before they can even say “who, me?” The immediacy of social media makes the task of managing people brands even harder.
- A noter - La traite négrière divise les intellectuels africains | Slate Afrique http://t.co/VJY1Q29j via @slateafrique
- @miriammannak - you sleep tight too; Miriam! Sometimes clarity has to be extracted out of people!
- @miriammannak - Hmmm, Miriam...