Obama is the first president to harness digital media, partly because he can as it is now there to be used, and partly because he needed to. So online has been a major part of the Obama brand as it appeals to a new generation of political followers and patriotic enthusiasts. But beyond these, he has tapped into every goofy, geeky seemingly insignificant kid in their bedroom… and given them a voice. A voice that has been identified as having potentially huge ramifications in the virtual world 2.0 – so it may as well be utilized for the good of the whole.

Democracy and freedom of speech, these concepts are intrinsic about people having a voice and fundamental to the American way. Living in UK, we have our heritage in our royalty, passed down generations by blood lines. In the US, it is the brands who are the royalty, who are elected by the people, and proven in the fact they are the first target in any backlash – globally. We expect them to have a moral consciousness, to have a finger on the pulse of modern society thinking, to take a global perspective but be culturally significant at a local level. This is why I think brands and Obama are actually bouncing off one another right now.

Take Pepsi – a global all-American brand. A red-and-white patriotic symbol of ‘times of refreshing’ and very much a part of this royal heritage of all that is American. An American-Global brand utilizing an American-Global icon. And within a global society that is slowly being squeezed towards economic collapse, they know that change is necessary and people need a positive lift, they need refreshing. In fact let’s “Refresh Everything“. Pepsi have tapped into this change and just pressed the cold, hard reset button on brand-building across modern media. People, Obama and Pepsi have just rebooted the entire system, mark my words.

Pepsi’s recent campaign has made consumers part of the conversation: Gone are the days of consumers sitting back and listening to the leader of the country. Now, it’s about engagement at various points of media from social media like Facebook to blogs and tweets, and to in-banner video messages.

So, in celebration of the Presidential Inauguration, Pepsi launched a major web 2.0 event that empowered Americans to speak to the President directly through Pepsi’s video banner ad, predominantly through a YouTube channel and complemented by a destination site entitled “Refresh Everything“. The concept of “Dear Mr. President” ad campaign created by R/GA was promoted by celebrities voicing their well wishes and encouraging you, from your office or home, to do the same.

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It allowed everyone with a webcam or messaging platform to feedback their thoughts and wishes, on what should (and shouldn’t) be changed about the country, by sending a text or uploading a video to the dedicated YouTube channel, and facilitated around key media placements though a fully interactive web banner and served through Eyeblaster’s breakthrough technology. So in using online and social media channels to connect with consumers, Pepsi leveraged the common American theme, ‘freedom of speech’ to ignite this event – utilizing online media as open forum for consumers to communicate with Obama, yet all the while staying engaged with Pepsi’s brand.

The shifting digital media landscape has created a cultural shift in the way that consumers and audiences engage – whether brands, movements or politics. Pepsi’s banner ad represents the more innovative use of online media; it empowers the end user to interact, form an opinion and speak directly to the American leader – something that truly is groundbreaking and in doing so, speaks to a new generation of consumers. And the evidence speaks for itself, 14% of consumers who uploaded a video to YouTube did so through the banner. Today’s online consumers are lot more willing than we give them credit for.

It is imaginative conceptually as well as demonstration of modern advertising technology, wrapped up in an advert that doesn’t look like an advert. Pepsi is just enabling people to do what they really want to do, and becomes a facilitator of this inevitable change that is happening around the world. It has nothing to do with Pepsi tastes nice or any product push; it is a brand backing a brand in its pursuit of a change for the better. And I believe it has executed this beautifully and left a very sweet after-taste in the mouth of many a consumer or media disciplinarian who long for its success in order to demonstrate to more cautious brands that they can follow suit.

Obama the messiah of Madison Avenue as appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle

Tags: Barack Obama, Pepsi