Obama ‘brand’ stimulates big merchandise sales

WASHINGTON – A Barack Obama T-shirt sells for five dollars on K Street in Washington. An Obama bronze medallion costs 60 dollars through the official presidential inauguration committee outlet.

The US is awash in Obama merchandise, ranging from refrigerator magnets to baseball caps to Obama-style coffee (half Hawaiian, half Kenyan) capitalising on the image of the new president.
Obama coffee mugs, key chains, scarves and baseball caps are flying off the shelves. The Washington Post and The New York Times sell commemorative books and special editions of their inauguration issues.
‘People want a bit of history,’ said Jason Benson, a street vendor hawking Obama watches, cologne and T-shirts.
‘This is not only the first black president, it’s the first president in a long time that makes sense to people.’
Online retailer eBay had over 37 000 Obama items for sale on Friday, including an Obama pin and an ‘Amazing Spiderman Barack Obama’ comic. Amazon.com had several thousand, including Obama bobblehead dolls and action figures.
The New York Times estimated in November that over 200 million dollars in Obama merchandise had been sold.
But Allen Adamson of the consultancy Landor Associates and an author of a book on brand marketing said he believes the figure will be much higher.
‘His marketing has been terrific and even the images they use have been borderline artistic in the capturing of his persona,’ said Adamson.
‘His message has been simple and direct and people are hankering for a new symbol of hope.’
Some items come from the presidential inaugural committee, which operated a Washington store until Thursday and continues to sell through its website, using the proceeds to defray the costs of the inauguration events.
Brent Colburn, an inauguration committee spokesman, said the store sold some 3 000 items through January 16 and the online store another 30 000, but said revenue estimates would be made in the final report of the inauguration panel.
Sales of inauguration medallions are a tradition dating back a century but that the marketing of memorabilia has taken on a new dimension, he said.
‘We considered merchandising a piece of grassroots fundraising going back into the campaign,’ he said.
‘Everyone knows there was an incredible amount of excitement around the Obama presidency.’
While the committee is competing with street vendors and other stores selling Obama merchandise, Colburn said: ‘We wanted people to know that when they were buying something from the official store they were not only getting a keepsake but helping support one of the most open administrations in history.’
Yet virtually anyone can sell items with the presidential or inauguration seal or Obama’s image, with many calling themselves sellers of ‘official’ merchandise.
Political Americana, a store one block from the White House, has been mobbed since opening last year, said spokeswoman Mary Ellis.
The store, which sells items ranging from barbecue sauce to framed Obama prints, will remain open indefinitely, Ellis said. Shoppers can also have their picture taken with a lifesize cardboard cut-out of Obama behind a replica of the Resolute desk of the Oval Office.
‘The store has been busy ever since it opened,’ she said.
Ellis said store owner Jim Warlick has long sold political souvenirs but that with Obama’s election, ‘he recognised this one was very special.’
‘Where people always looked back and saw the historical nature of what was happening … people realised there was history in the making and wanted to be a part of it,’ she said.
‘Our new president is invigorating interest in government and the office of the presidency and politics.’
Landor’s Adamson said the interest in Obama may continue for some time.
‘It’s going to continue in the short term because he is even more in the limelight than he was three months ago,’ he said.
Adamson said Obama’s approach has struck a chord with many younger people who had been uninterested in politics.
‘The younger generation is used to wearing their brands on their shirts and their hats,’ he said. ‘Up to now their brands have been Apple and Facebook, so Obama is the first political brand of this generation.’ -Nampa-AFP