Chameleon PR

The US awakes today with a big hangover from last night’s celebrations following the first black president, Barack Obama’s, inauguration. Earlier this week, Manchester City fans woke with a hangover but from drowning their sorrows after the deal to capture Kaka, now valued as the world’s most expensive midfield footballer, unsurprisingly fell through.

Much has been made of Barack Obama’s campaign and its use of online media. Yesterday Twitter, the microblogging service, stuttered as many of its 6 million users posted comments live as the inauguration happened, many watching the ceremony live online. From posts berating the religious overtones of the event and mocking the music choice to quoting favourites snippets of Obama’s speech and praising how cool and calm he was, with the weight of history bearing down on him. Posts were tagged #inaug09 so Twitterers could easily search out conversations around Obama.

And that’s the point, talk around a person, product or company online is what matters now. The more people talk, the easier people will be able to find information on the brand online and so the greater your brand awareness and value.

It doesn’t matter that the Man City deal for Kaka fell through. What matters for the club/company/brand is the conversation around the story. It would be great to know the £value of all the online coverage that the draft deal created for City. As a football fan whether you like or hate the club’s “statement of intent”, like Obama’s, it certainly got everyone talking.

Daniel

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