Obama’s Dog

James Thellusson — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:11:48 +0000

In recessions, the pressure on leaders and corporations to differentiate grows as the competition for scarce ’dollars’ increases. Markets and people seek reassurance. But how do you stand out as a leader? How can you refashion yourself and your corporate marketing for an ’age of prudence’?

According to friend and management facilitation guru David Butter, in the FT, it’s best done by having a dog.

It isn’t clear yet if the ‘get a dog’ is a sustainable leadership strategy. Or even if it is risk free. I guess sub editors across the world have a bank of ‘dog’ headlines in their ‘cupboard’s’ already and there may come a time when with his power waning, the world begins to look at him and think, like King Lear, ‘a dog’s obeyed in office’.

Thankfully, David’s other recommendations will be more palatable to most leaders.

As for the ‘dog’ strategy….it all seems like good short term PR: it makes him more human, friendly etc and it is extending the brand Obama on-line. In Google, Obama generates 360m search results. Obama’s dog generates 179m. Does this tells us anything material? Probably not, Google ‘results numbers’ are that indicative per se….but it does show that showing you have an affinity with animals is still alive and kicking as a political strategy. For more fun with Obama’s Dog go here:

Glasshouse Partnership » David Butter

Obama’s Dog