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Barack, Inc.: Winning Business Lessons of the Obama Campaign
In 'Barack, Inc.', Barry Libert and Rick Faulk present the Obama campaign as a business, identifying lessons any business leader can use to maximise performance.
179 pages, Hardcover
First published December 23, 2008
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40 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 20, 2014
Marketing a Presidential Campaign
"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." - President Thomas Jefferson. The truth in this statement is realized every four years when we know who won the presidential race. The victory of Obama clearly proves that in the absence of a strong and effective opposition almost anyone can win the presidential elections. He was elected not because he was the best but because the opposition was awfully weak. No one can win with Sarah Palin as the running mate. The so called conservative base of the Republican Party does not like an unmarried girl having sex let alone having a baby, and McCain - Palin ticket was seeking the support of these people. This ought to be a joke and it certainly did not require high priced marketing experts to pen down the Obama winning strategy. The Bush legacy did not help McCain and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan took a toll on the republican candidate, and divisive social issues during global recession and high unemployment did considerable damage. It is no secret that we learn after every election the president goes on back on his campaign promises about foreign and fiscal policies. They are generally not truthful about tax issues. Bush's errors about the war in Iraq, the death toll, and irresponsible fiscal policies helped Obama significantly. President Jefferson's words fits extremely well for the Republicans where 51% of social conservatives take away the rights of 49% fiscal conservatives by mob rule. So all Obama had to do was play his cool and run with the flow: This is precisely what he did.
This book is described in four chapters and there is nothing new from what you already know from Sunday talk shows and newspaper editorials and the broadcasts from major networks. To be fair to President Obama few things played well for him. Initially being black was negative but later on in the campaign it became positive. He played cool and learnt how to deal with media as the campaign progressed. He Used technology; blogs, discussion boards, texting, email campaigns, and cell phones networks. By encouraging new voter registration, seeking; donors for his campaign, community activists, volunteers, and disheartened independents and moderate Republicans, he mobilized towns and cities that turned out to be the biggest campaigns of 21 century. Obama is here to stay for four years. Massive bailouts, trade protectionism, and increased government regulations of private business and major corporations are certainly harmful to capitalist America. This is a useful book for both marketing and political science class discussions.
"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." - President Thomas Jefferson. The truth in this statement is realized every four years when we know who won the presidential race. The victory of Obama clearly proves that in the absence of a strong and effective opposition almost anyone can win the presidential elections. He was elected not because he was the best but because the opposition was awfully weak. No one can win with Sarah Palin as the running mate. The so called conservative base of the Republican Party does not like an unmarried girl having sex let alone having a baby, and McCain - Palin ticket was seeking the support of these people. This ought to be a joke and it certainly did not require high priced marketing experts to pen down the Obama winning strategy. The Bush legacy did not help McCain and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan took a toll on the republican candidate, and divisive social issues during global recession and high unemployment did considerable damage. It is no secret that we learn after every election the president goes on back on his campaign promises about foreign and fiscal policies. They are generally not truthful about tax issues. Bush's errors about the war in Iraq, the death toll, and irresponsible fiscal policies helped Obama significantly. President Jefferson's words fits extremely well for the Republicans where 51% of social conservatives take away the rights of 49% fiscal conservatives by mob rule. So all Obama had to do was play his cool and run with the flow: This is precisely what he did.
This book is described in four chapters and there is nothing new from what you already know from Sunday talk shows and newspaper editorials and the broadcasts from major networks. To be fair to President Obama few things played well for him. Initially being black was negative but later on in the campaign it became positive. He played cool and learnt how to deal with media as the campaign progressed. He Used technology; blogs, discussion boards, texting, email campaigns, and cell phones networks. By encouraging new voter registration, seeking; donors for his campaign, community activists, volunteers, and disheartened independents and moderate Republicans, he mobilized towns and cities that turned out to be the biggest campaigns of 21 century. Obama is here to stay for four years. Massive bailouts, trade protectionism, and increased government regulations of private business and major corporations are certainly harmful to capitalist America. This is a useful book for both marketing and political science class discussions.
February 17, 2016
In "Barack, Inc.", Barry Libert and Rick Faulk focus on the strategies that worked so well during the presidential campaign, and that can be applied to the business world in general. Topics discussed are the use of social technologies, Obama's calm and collected leadership style, the overall concept of change, and so on.
"Barack, Inc." is an easy and fast read - a book that you can finish in one afternoon. I think the concepts and lessons described in the book are definitely useful, and important for anyone wishing to be a business leader. I also see this book being used in business schools in the future. However, the information is redundant and unless you haven't watched any TV, listened to the radio or browsed the internet in the last 2 years, you already know everything the authors write about. I am a big supporter of Obama, but this book feels like an attempt by the authors to cash in on his victory.
"Barack, Inc." is an easy and fast read - a book that you can finish in one afternoon. I think the concepts and lessons described in the book are definitely useful, and important for anyone wishing to be a business leader. I also see this book being used in business schools in the future. However, the information is redundant and unless you haven't watched any TV, listened to the radio or browsed the internet in the last 2 years, you already know everything the authors write about. I am a big supporter of Obama, but this book feels like an attempt by the authors to cash in on his victory.
February 28, 2009
This is a very simplistic business related book. It tries to combine what Barack Obama did for politics for what you could do with your business. Problem is that it leaves a lot up to you. It's only about 148 pages and the margins are extremely wide with bigger print. I don't think it's worth full price. The "ideas" it comes up with have been written about over and over by the media. Most of the stories like Rev. Wright and race have been hashed over numerous times about how President Obama stayed cool and above the fray. The stories are really just rewrites of everything in the media like his use of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. It's well put together and is in a good solid hardback but that's about it. I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than a skim read.
February 7, 2009
One third of this already short book was made up of notes. The authors did not include anything that someone who read the newspapers or just generally followed the Obama campaign wouldn't already know. If you had not paid attention at all or don't know ANYTHING about social media, it might be worth checking out. Otherwise, it's a very, very short read with not much useful information.
August 4, 2014
Desde Leader Summaries recomendamos la lectura del libro Barack, Inc., de Barry Libert.
Las personas interesadas en las siguientes temáticas lo encontrarán práctico y útil: management, análisis de empresas y líderes de éxito, internet y nuevas tecnologías.
En el siguiente enlace tienes el resumen del libro Barack, Inc., Lecciones para los negocios de la campaña presidencial de Obama: Barack, Inc.
Las personas interesadas en las siguientes temáticas lo encontrarán práctico y útil: management, análisis de empresas y líderes de éxito, internet y nuevas tecnologías.
En el siguiente enlace tienes el resumen del libro Barack, Inc., Lecciones para los negocios de la campaña presidencial de Obama: Barack, Inc.
March 3, 2010
Seems pretty good, with a focus on Obama's use of online social networking. It makes me feel like I know more about online social networking strategy than I think I do. Also, EVERYONE fetishizes the Obama campaign, so it'd be good to see what's up with it...
December 5, 2009
It's better just to read his own books.
April 18, 2020
No me encantó, los aprendizajes me parecieron bastante blandos y genéricos.
April 7, 2017
I just put this book now and have very few words; but if you are a political junkie who happens to have any amount of control over a business (or aspires to such) you should read this book and will love it. It may be a few years old, but the points are all still valid.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews