Barack Obama | Photo by Marc Nozell used under a Creative Commons license
Photo by Steve Jurvetson
Michel is an Obama supporter. "The success of his candidacy indicates that we have moved a bit beyond our tortured past as it relates to race," she says. "If he's credentialed enough and experienced enough to be elected by all the people, it will make a difference to how everyone views America and Americans."
The fact that a black man may soon be a major-party nominee, or even sit in the Oval Office, has far-reaching implications for a business community that's still overwhelmingly white at the top. As of 2005, one third of the Fortune 500 had no African-American directors; of 5,572 available seats, 449 were held by 245 black board members. Of course, executive ranks are also overwhelmingly male -- 85% of Fortune 500 boards -- making Clinton's rise, too, a challenge to the business status quo.
Ariel's Mellody Hobson personifies both of those constituencies. At 38, she is the president of the firm and one of the few women of color in a C-suite. She sits on the board of public companies including Starbucks, Estée Lauder, and DreamWorks Animation, as well as private organizations such as the Sundance Institute, the Chicago Public Library, and the Chicago Public Education Fund. She is a trustee of Princeton University. She is self-made, smart, and outspoken. It's hard not to be impressed, and a little intimidated, by all she has achieved. And yet, she says, "I still feel the bias." Biases are baked into the human condition -- "we all have them," she says -- but they don't have to be baked into the structure of American business. "We haven't come nearly far enough." Would a black president make a difference? "Yes," she replies without hesitation. "It would send a message. But there is so much more work to do."
Her boss, John Rogers -- who played hoops with Obama on Super Tuesday -- has been leading some of that work. Rogers cofounded an informal group of black directors of major publicly traded companies in 2002. At that first meeting, about 30 people showed up. "My concern was that African Americans on corporate boards were uncomfortable addressing civil rights issues, and worried about being typecast as a minority member and wouldn't speak up," says Rogers, who sits on the boards of McDonald's and Aon Corp. "If not us, then who will?"
The meeting, which has become the annual Black Corporate Directors Conference, now attracts more than 100 business bigwigs and last year featured Time Warner's Dick Parsons and Wal-Mart's Lee Scott, along with CNN's Soledad O'Brien as moderator. The group spends a good deal of time talking about the distinction between being a black board member and a board member who happens to be black. Rogers explains: When you are in the room, do you shortchange your fiduciary duties by advocating for diversity? "Diversity benefits the bottom line substantially, for all sorts of reasons," he says. "But it also takes years to establish a culture, with all the benefits that come with that. If there is only an immediate business imperative, then you might end up creating expectations that might not be met."
Tory Clarke, who is British, and Larry Griffin, an African American, have heard these debates for years. As the founders of Bridge Partners, a boutique executive-search firm that specializes in placing minority candidates at senior levels, "we've seen the shift from a quota mind-set to a business case mind-set," says Clarke. "Now we hear very specific requests -- we want a Latino male or an African-American female -- specifically so our clients can better approach a particular market, or solve a problem with a particular community." They cite the recent election of Avon CEO Andrea Jung to the Apple board -- its sole Asian and only its second woman. Business acumen aside, Jung offers a direct conduit to millions of female customers, a segment that Apple would dearly love to exploit. She also speaks fluent Mandarin, a plus for a company that has just invested $40 million in its first store in Beijing.
Both Griffin and Clarke acknowledge that minority representation at the upper echelons of business remains "abysmal." As a result, Griffin explains, the closer minority hires get to the corner office or the boardroom, the more they become symbols. Even people recruited for their legal or financial expertise may be pressed to become what Griffin calls "internal brands." "They may be asked to show up at campus recruiting events, or take a more public-facing role than they are prepared for," he says.
While some observers hoped the Sarbanes-Oxley provision calling on companies to seek out new independent board members would bring about more change, progress has been slow. But with census data projecting that 40% of Americans will be nonwhite by 2010, business leaders who are charged with inspiring and attracting the best talent and satisfying an increasingly diverse pool of shareholders may soon find that diversity is a business imperative.
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Recent Comments | 34 Total
March 20, 2008 at 8:58pm by Richard Lipscombe
Obama is not a brand!
Brands are dead and Obama is proof positive of that fact... Obama is a new type of entity in politics that works equally well in business - he is relevant and remarkable. He has become relevant and remarkable because he has put himself outside the Brand, Value Add, Strategy, etc paradigms.
What Obama brings, like him or not, is not as simplistic as a new Brand or a new Spin on politics - he brings something much more complex and interesting. He brings a presence that appeals to youth and cynical people alike - interestingly most of these people do not yet really know why he appeals so much to them...
What is Obama's appeal across race, gender, age, and wealth?
Obama has a relevant and a remarkable message - 'Change we can believe in'......
Obama has found the key to new age politics - it is about ideas not experience.
Obama raises his funds online from the masses not from the usual players in politics - it is about inclusion not exclusion.
Obama is a preacher not a doer - it is about inspiration not perspiration.
Obama has a message based on faith in a world of doom and gloom - it is about what you think can be done not what is currently being done.
Obama talks about his faults and weaknesses because he knows himself well - it is about transparency in thought and action not image.
Obama has tapped into the aspirational conversations of his electorate - it is about what people aspire to be not what they are told they are.
Obama offers his electors a new sense of hope - it is a time for new beginnings not a time to refine old continuities.
March 21, 2008 at 8:35am by john weller
Obama is not a brand or maybe he is.
March 21, 2008 at 8:43am by john weller
Obama may be like a brand. He has a nice shiny label ( passionate speeches and a smile ) that definitely draws attention. However under neath that label is an educated, narrow minded, elitist , who has got breaks and exploited them wonderfully. But he is not even close to being presidential material. In the analogy of a brand he could be compared to Zune by Microsoft. Zune is brand within Microsoft that was put on a MP3 player to compete with the Ipod. Zune obviously has the correct heritage but in no way is it close to being an Ipod.
Nice Idea for an article but the Obama brand is a short lived one, I would not want to put on any product I was marketing.
March 21, 2008 at 9:07am by Mark Zorro
I do not understand the historic human fascination with exalting politicians especially if we personally do not know who our own neighbours are, or the value of an ordinary person who lives in our own vicinity that we have not spent even 1% of the focus that we expend or apply on celebrity or hero worship. We live in a global world where the primal leadership isn't an electable one, but the responsibility ew have to cultivate within our own selves. If we need a leader or entity outside of us to give us hope then we are acknowledging that we continue to live in the dark ages and if we are living in the dark ages then we are truly helpless and therefore do need hope. Brand is an image and image is not a relationship. Our neighbours offer me something that no great politician of our an any time that has gone before can offer me, which is an opportunity to have a face to face relationship. If that relationship then is governed by my own brand or a movement then I might as well follow the crowd and exalt the past. If I am to embrace the present, I must flee the rhetoric of the masses and discover the meaning of locality, while not being ignorant of political globality - for it is the former that I am in touch with, and it is the latter which is the domain of people like Obama......M.
March 22, 2008 at 11:14am by Tim Leberecht
Henry Jenkins argued in his keynote at SXSW Interactive two weeks ago that accusing Obama of plagiarism (as the Clinton camp did when it brought forward that Obama had borrowed words from past speeches of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick) misses the point: It’s a remix culture, stupid!
The Obama brand is all software and only a little hardware, and it comes with an open SDK (software developer kit) — a dynamic, modular platform that both individual campaigners and institutional networks can plug into. Obama’s entire campaign is based on the principle of “picture-in-picture web,” as Steve Rubel coins it. Or, to borrow another one of Rubel’s lines: Obama is a web service, not a web site. He is the “blue ocean” and not the (little) rock. He is a franchise brand that anyone can hijack, re-shape, and remix a la carte. That makes him vulnerable and volatile but at the same time powerful and unstoppable. When your greatest weakness is your biggest strength, you are very hard to beat.
http://www.frogdesign.com/frogblog/a-new-obama-brand-of-politics-yes-we-...
March 22, 2008 at 1:13pm by tfmarlow
Brand? Let's just hope that our intellectual friends in the democratic party are not simply repackaging and re-branding the old hammer and sickle. Communism, Socialism and Keynesian philosophy's proved to be wrong for large populations ending in the late-70's/early-80's. Now we seem to be calling for a return to those failed policies of the past as "change." We'll if that is what this Brand represents, hang-on as history repeats itself and double-digit inflation and unemployment returns to the US and reminds us what a bad economy really feels like.
March 23, 2008 at 7:55pm by Jym Allen
Obama is wisdom in search of solutions rather than answers in search of justifications.
Obama is meritocracy rather than oligarchy.
Obama is the 21st Century litmus test for bigotry. To listen to the ideas and reject the messenger is a measure of your own bias, bigotry, and rationalizations approaching stupidity.
March 24, 2008 at 7:55pm by Leighton Haynes
An insightful explortation of one of our most provocative personal/political brands.
There's sure to be disagreement about Obama's ideas, strategy and poltical credentials. However, as your article convincingly articulates -- the power of Obama's appeal to emerging domestic and global audiences, his adaptive leadership style and audacious message are generating a healthy dose of engagement and excitement in our all-too-often stale & predictable political mix. That can only be a good thing!
And your assessment of the business implications of his ascendency as it relates to leadership and diversity in the global economy are right on target. Well done!!!
March 30, 2008 at 2:32pm by James Belle
great analysis, I think even Hillary Clinton agree's; she recently acknowledged being struck his unwavering appeal!
March 31, 2008 at 5:22am by Lalita Amos
I had a recent opportunity to hear Senator Obama speak here in Indianapolis. I'd been an early supporter of Senator Clinton and had felt some ambivalence about her candidacy, so I relished the opportunity to see what his candidacy was all about --from about 30 feet away.
Amidst his discussion of his platform (which was much more clear than I'd thought it would be given the assertions that he was an empty suit with a nice speaking voice), he said something that left me walking out with a bit of a headache...and a new appreciation of his leadership. He told those of us gathered that we had a part to play other than simply voting--that the days of waiting for the government to "do us" are over and that if we saw something missing, it was up to us to put it in (and to ask for assistance when we ran into trouble).
OK.
So, on the way out of the gathering, I talked with two of Senator Obama's campaign staff. I'd been asked to pass along a request from a gentleman who wanted to start a Republicans for Obama group in Indiana and another request from the Indiana political bloggers who needed to know if Senator Obama might be interested in an online meeting.
In both cases, those staffers mirrored Senator Obama's sentiment: "If you think it needs to be done, go ahead and do it and lets us know how we can support you."
Both endeavors are now underway.
His candidacy is breaking new ground in terms of leadership in another way than just those the article mentioned: He's infused leadership with community activism. It left me wondering what it would look like in organizations if leaders supported their staff to be in action, providing them with coaching, resources, championing and support rather than the usual topdownocracy we're become so very accustomed to.
I've been a proponent of open book management in my consultancy for years. Now, I can see the shift in culture that needs to be generated that needs to be generated from the top for it to really flourish.
April 2, 2008 at 2:18am by david grandison
Excellent, article!
A truly insightful explanation of branding 2.0 and the power of social networking and "on message" communication to bring about change as well as to politically mobilize the masses.
He must be doing something right because he has incited the "hammer and sickle" references and "red scare" tactics that are usually employed by imperialist to stop the development of embryonic democracies in 3rd world countries. Is this what America has degenerated to under the current regime?
Hang on if you are still living with a MacCarthy Era mindset the world has changed...we hope.
Win or loose--this movement is an example of democratizing ability of the web.
Keep up the good work--I'm going to subscribe!
April 2, 2008 at 9:57pm by Stor Brod
It is out of question for Ellen McGirt that Obama is an indecent individual.
In my humble opinion, he is calculating manipulator, and not comparable favorably to an honorable guy like McCain.
Unfortunately, Hillary is also a damaged character, and represent no contrast to Obama.
So all blind Obama supporters can do themselves and us one favor, end your dreams, and wake up.
Obama is a very negative asset to the American politics.
I have had hopes that Howard Dean and John Edwards could make it, but the Kerrys and Obamas ended their chances.
April 6, 2008 at 1:12am by halisi vinson
StorBrod you make statements with NO FACTS. I'm assuming you're a troll. But just in case, here are some facts about your war hero John McCain. In an interview back in the 80s in defense of him voting against MLK day he said: "They never gave us any meaningful news," McCain said. "They told us the day that Martin Luther King was shot, they told us the day that Bobby Kennedy was shot, but they never bothered to tell us about the moon shot. So it was certainly selected news." I guess by this we are to infer that the assassination of MLK, JFK and BK are not "meaningful". 2. He was part of the Keating 5 involved in the S&L scandals of the 90s that brought Colorado to its economic knees. 3. McCain is now buddy buddy with swift-boater Karl Rove, who called McCains adopted daughter his "illegitimate black child". He has sold HIS soul and his daughter. He has buddied up to people he used to think were immoral. He has backtracked on tax cuts for the rich which he opposed before; all to get elected. I'm not going to even mention his wife. However, I could go on and on and on. But you need to do your own homework.
April 8, 2008 at 1:03am by Nathan Bagby
Obama is definitely running an extremely successful grassroots, "bottom-up" campaign. hmm sounds a lot like democracy...
May 20, 2008 at 3:03pm by Toni White
If you liked this article you will enjoy this one too!
I knew Jack Kennedy and You’re No Brand !
Leslie Singer
President and CCO G2 Branding and Design NY
Voter’s ears are replete with news reports betraying the media’s desire to attach brand equity to our current slate of 3 presidential candidates. Well, I have some bad news for you, the current slate of candidates have yet to promulgate any distinctive branding, not in the way say a Jack Kennedy or Ronald Reagan projects brand equity.
Brands are iconic, they are far more than ethereal fads or trends. Jack Kennedy was the scion of a family brand, the surname was rich with iconography. Icons are about rituals, legacies, and a voice that keeps resonating long after they pass. Kennedy is about Hyannisport touch football games, hair blowing on a sailboat, PT-105, a rocking chair in the oval office, a handsome face that informs a sense of aesthetics to sensory branding. A well known womanizer, even Kennedy’s dalliances were part of the brand fabric. Kennedy’s memorable Cold War “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech is legendary, not just for the fact that his snowclone was a misstatement and actually meant ”I am a jelly donut.” Kennedy lives on as an icon in our cultural fabric – and he has been dead since 1963.
Reagan had brand equity through and through. A Hollywood “B” movie star, he was a hero in the movies and would become a hero on the world stage. Reagan’s lifelong nickname The Gipper came from his film role as George Gipp in Knute Rockne, All American. When Reagan stood up to the Soviet Union, he certainly won one for the Gipper. Without flinching, the Russians blinked, and the rest is history as the walls came tumbling down in the break up which followed. The label ‘Reaganomics’ has worked itself into our vernacular and the words ‘tear down that wall’ will live in infamy.
And like Kennedy, Reagan had an aura of the virile American who looked good on a horse and comfortable with a gun – and unlike Kennedy even looked good on the big screen. He resonated a masculine power in his blue jeans and flannel with the love of his life on his arm. This is the stuff that icons are made of and create brands that are true.
Today’s slate of candidates have yet to develop a brand conscience in the minds of voters. McCain certainly owns his space representing the heroism of the Viet Nam era – albeit he is not a brand. Hillary seems to permeate with a More of The Same message when compared with Obama. But neither of them are a brand. If anything, time will tell if there will be a ‘brand Clinton’. If there is, it will be in tribute to Bill - Hillary will get the residue of the label. For his part, Obama may be closer to resonating with the voters as Brand Hope. His unflinching message of Change is idealistic in a way that is fresh and new. If he stays on target and goes head to head with McCain, the articulation of Brand Hope may galvanize the American voters to land him the White House. But to call any of them a ‘brand’ is mistaking the word ‘brand’. They are ‘candidates’ – a mere moment in time on the radar screen of our political arm wrestling. They could become a brand when they accomplish things that resonate for the long term. When long past their tenure their names are used to drive home a point, or are used as a noun or stand for something that becomes culturally significant.
If Hillary doesn’t win, her relevance will be diminished – ergo she can’t be a brand -- Same for Obama and John McCain. They are all just players as George McGovern, Ross Perot, John Kerry, John Edwards, Guliani, Biden, Romney, Dodd and hundreds of others have been. Just because you are in the news, doesn’t make you a brand. When you start changing the news you are on your way – when you fulfill a promise that change lives and impacts our culture in a way that resonates in the history books – then you are a brand. Anything less, you are a just a moment in time.
www.g2.com
May 25, 2008 at 11:14pm by Jason Hoyt
Halisi,...well, all of you, actually,...
I can't believe that in a business magazine, that promotes capitalism and free markets, and individual responsibility and the power of consumers to think for themselves and make their own choices of what to do with their money, where to invest, spend and save,....that anyone here is actually promoting someone like Barack Obama,...as the way to promote a brand?
Okay,...swell,...he's a great public speaker and has a positive message of "hope" and "change",...but my goodness, has anyone been paying attention to what he says when he rarely provides us a glimpse into his actual views? He's ignorant on the economy, believes in raising taxes because of "fairness" (from an interview on CNBC with Maria Bartiromo), bragged because he travelled to 57 U.S. states (during a campaign stop in Oregon) and also in Oregon, said that “We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say 'OK.'"
He is one of the most liberal U.S Senators out there, and the results of his policies would be catastrophic to this country. He survives and thrives on the ignorance of the electorate who want "a change", without actually examining the consequences.
A great brand? I don't think so. He's more of a marketing gimmick and ploy to swindle us out of our hard earned money.
May 28, 2008 at 4:59pm by Samuel Campbell II
It is sad that your supposedly educated/integent readership completly misses the point made by this article. I believe that it is abundantly clear that the author sought to give businesses a proven strategy for winning in this new media world. Whether it was Obama or some other person is really not the issue. The method employed by his team are worthy of emulation if you want to reach the media savvy masses in this day and age.
Those who have commented are obviously blinding by their party preference and can't see the simple wisdom and it will indeed be there loss. To quote the author, "A business that ignores this message does so at its own peril."
October 21, 2008 at 8:45pm by Iris Turner
The poor choices available to Republicans (a cheerleader and a flipflopper that is out of touch with the economy and Americans), that ignore the sufferings of Americans who have lost jobs, health insurance, their homes, is amazing. The economy is at present in its healthiest state thanks to the greed of banks, wall street, insurance companies, and mortgage lenders according to Republicans. Ideology that is out of touch with the suffering of the masses has put into motion a clear choice, and that is why people intuitively know that they have already chosen Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States, and will vote Democratic in November. Accountability over the government and financial institutions that prevents another bout of the worst financial disaster since the great depression is what people want, not more suicides and bankruptcies.
November 5, 2008 at 3:07am by lily tendai hute
he said"Relax, I've got game. I've got plenty of game."and for he has. i think if we start taking things from general to specific the world would be a better place. today it shows that his statement really is true hes got game and if can go back to the hoops right now then he will just hit the three pointer
July 14, 2009 at 9:07am by Dubai Property
Still, business has traditionally preferred Republicans in the White House. In its most recent Senate tally, the Chamber of Commerce gave likely GOP nominee McCain an 80% favorable rating, compared with Clinton at 67% and Obama at 55%. Even worse for the two main Democrats, the National Association of Manufacturers rated both a zero, while McCain garnered 100%.
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Dubai Real Estate -
July 14, 2009 at 9:10am by Dubai Property
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, top contributors to Obama in 2007 included donors from law firms, investment houses, and real estate companies. In total, the center's analysis shows that Clinton is somewhat more favored by business contributors than is Obama: Eighty-five percent of her donations came from donors affiliated with business, while only 80% of Obama's did.
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Dubai Property
August 3, 2009 at 1:47pm by jake hibore
Yeah tell this to all the seniors out there and their healthcare issues.
Jake Hibore -Bachelors Degrees Online
August 3, 2009 at 1:49pm by jake hibore
Yeah tell this to all the seniors out there and their healthcare issues.
Jake Hibore -Bachelors Degrees Online
August 10, 2009 at 2:07pm by joe johnson
i am so glad obama is the man that he is. He is definitely a great president that is doing great work. The one problem he has now is the health reform problem. Alot of peeople are not happy with this.
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August 18, 2009 at 10:02pm by frank pipolo
We shall see how Obama handles the healthcare issues then I will call him president.
Frank Pipolo
SEO Consultant|Online Reputation Management| Inbound Link Building Tactics
August 20, 2009 at 6:07am by Jo Nikky
We all were expecting a lot from Ubama but but he is also governing under bush policies ....
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August 23, 2009 at 10:00am by Greg Murphey
Obama is great at what he is doing. Lets hove that what he is doing is what people need.
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September 4, 2009 at 1:42pm by T Sweets
Why don't you'll point your fingers at the person who have this country in a downfall state. I know Obama is going to do a way better job than former President Bush who pushes a C average in school. Obama RULES!!
October 9, 2009 at 9:15am by Kandy White
Really? When is this President going to stop being a celebrity and when will the American people stop praising this President for doing nothing in the White House. Corrupt - the media, this Nobel Peace Prize-what a joke-based on bringing Muslim's together with the United States? Muslim's hate the Western way and want us dead. America is in trouble!
October 13, 2009 at 11:17am by Michael Jameiosn
It's been a while since I read something that ignorant.
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November 4, 2009 at 4:17pm by elly hutt
I have a lot of respect for Obama especially now with the new making home affordable act which he has put into power.
November 10, 2009 at 7:36am by John McCain
History has been made when Obama got elected as US president. And yes he is no Brand.
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November 10, 2009 at 7:43am by John McCain
History has been made when Obama got elected as US president. And yes he is no Brand.
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November 22, 2009 at 2:53am by kin kin
Brands are dead and Obama is proof positive of that fact... Obama is a new type of entity in politics that works equally well in business - he is relevant and remarkable. He has become relevant and remarkable because he has put himself outside the Brand, Value Add, Strategy, etc paradigms.
What Obama brings, like him or not, is not as simplistic as a new Brand or a new Spin on politics - he brings something much more complex and interesting. He brings a presence that appeals to youth and cynical people alike - interestingly most of these people do not yet really know why he appeals so much to them...
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