• Fast Company , Wednesday, November 5, 2008 10:46 AM

"Barack Obama is three things you want in a brand," Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide, told Ellen McGirt, in a piece published earlier this year. "New, different, and attractive. That's as good as it gets."

This story also delves into Obama's appeal to millennials of diverse backgrounds who, it points out, "will outnumber the baby boomers by 2010." But why was Obama so successful in reaching them online? Because, according to two professors who have been studying Web sites and social media in campaigns, his campaign featured constant updates, videos, photos, ringtones, widgets, and events to give supporters a reason to come back.

Plus, it successfully tapped into other online communities and came across as authentic. "There is a new, authoritative consumer empowered by the Web," says Karen Scholl, a creative director at the digital-advertising agency Resource Interactive. "And they can smell a fake."

"There is no question that the brand of Obama -- what he represents to the next generation of Americans -- is important," McGirt concludes. "A business that ignores this message does so at its own peril."

The comments to the piece are themselves a fascinating read, by the way, and I intend to return to them as soon as I finish writing.

Read the whole story at Fast Company »