LEVERAGING OBAMA-MANIA

13 Dec LEVERAGING OBAMA-MANIA

By Jenny Fujita and Joy Miura Koerte, Fujita & Miura Public Relations
Only 21 days after Barack Obama won the presidential election, the Hawai`i Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) launched a new micro-website at www.gohawaii.com/Obama. The site, entitled “Barack Obama’s Hawai`i,” highlights Hawai`i activities President-elect Obama and his family have participated in, sites they’ve visited, and the local food and eateries they enjoy. The site also provides a mini-biography of our President-elect and explains succinctly how his time in Hawai`i has shaped him.

Over the course of the last year, President-elect Obama has received worldwide attention bordering on adulation, millions of votes, and over $500 million in political donations. This has resulted in the term “Obama-mania,” which the HVCB has smartly leveraged in its new website to market Hawai`i to the world.

Are there positive trends or hot issues related to your business that you can leverage? If so, plan the right way and the right time to utilize them to your advantage. If you’re dealing with an individual, as in the case of the HVCB with President-elect Obama, be sure you are respectful of the individual and get their permission for mentioning them in relation to your products and services.