President Obama understands what needs to happen after the sale. He’s already elected. Yet he is using social media in order to continue the brand experience.

Look at two recent emails that his transition team used to generate conversation and commitment on the part of his “customers” – We The People. The approach of the first email is to ask the receiver to Take A Look. The language is specific and pushes the known hot buttons important to maintaining his brand.

“to execute the most efficient, organized, and transparent transfer of power in American history. As a co-Chair for the Transition, I want to tell you about a few steps we’ve already taken to achieve this goal.”

Transparency is crucial to his success. Americans are starving for a credible leader to trust and transparency is the key element. You can make mistakes, but you can’t cover them up. If you want to continue to strengthen the relationship, your customer must believe that you know who they are, what they want and that you won’t pull any punches.

“that begins with shifting influence away from special interests and restoring it to the everyday Americans who are passionate about fixing the problems facing our country.”

Aren’t we all passionate about fixing the problems facing our country? Even if we aren’t, don’t we want to be? We want to belong. We want to be part of the tribe on the inside. Nobody wants to be outside with their nose pressed against the window. So, of course you are going to want to identify yourself as a passionate American.

“Opening up the Transition means listening to your ideas and stories and providing a window into how the process works.”

Taking control of the process lets the user participate in an empowered way. It allows the Warrior in us all to champion the cause. We can take action on our own behalf with the blessing of Obama the Ruler. The Warrior and the Ruler are classic archetypes that hold a heartfelt place in our psyche. We can identify with them, act on our role immediately and thus carry forth the brand that we voted for: change.

That change is facilitated by his use of social interaction on the web in his website http://change.gov. Obama knows that social media alone won’t build his brand. But, so far, as he takes his first steps since being elected – he shows us that he knows the value of social media marketing to dominate Internet Branding. Copyright 2008 Leili McKinley