The Election in a Word

This year’s presidential race has now come down to ten days and two people.

But like many exercises in persuading, influencing, and otherwise moving others, it has also come down to two words – one for President Barack Obama, another for Governor Mitt Romney.

Which word prevails may determine which man takes the oath of office three months from now – and therein lies a lesson for your own work.

A few years ago, British advertising pioneer Maurice Saatchi conceived the idea of “one-word equity.” His notion was that today -- when all of us feel blasted by a daily fire hose of text, images, and ideas from our computers, phones, and social networks -- the only way to be heard is to push succinctness to it limit.

“What I am describing here is a new business model for marketing, appropriate to the digital age,” Saatchi wrote. “In this model, companies compete for global ownership of one word in the public mind.”

And what goes for companies goes equally for political candidates.

After three debates, hundreds of speeches, and tens of thousands of ads, Obama and Romney are each vying to chisel a single word in voters’ minds.

For Obama, that word is Forward.  Look at any photograph of any campaign event and you’ll likely see the F-word flopping in the breeze or fixed to a wall. 

Forward.

Things aren’t great, this word suggests, but they’re better they were and they’re moving in the right direction. And packed into the juncture of the two syllables is an implicit slam on other side, which now represents Backward.

Since he took office in 2009, Obama has struggled to encapsulate the point of his presidency. (“Winning the Future” and “Built to Last” have thankfully been composted into Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden.) But Obama understood one-word equity last time around – he was the brand called Hope – and he’s deploying it reasonably well in this race.

But Romney? I’m not so sure. His slogan, “Believe in America,” is just as lame and meaningless as Obama’s early tries. But his one-word alternative isn’t clear.

It could be Enough – as in enough of the deficits, unemployment, and broken dreams.

It could be Competence – as in I’ve got it and Obama doesn’t.

Or it could be Better – as in America ought to be doing far better that it has been can’t settle for second best.

If I were advising the Governor, I’d push for Better.  Like Forward, it packs bright optimism with brutal critique in way that appeals to American sensibilities. But the fact that Romney’s one-word equity remains uncertain at this late stage ought to alarm his supporters. It just might mean the difference between joy and despair on election night.

Whatever happens, the lesson to you is clear: If you’re not sure of your own one-word equity – for your company, your career, or your movement – you might end up confronting two words none of us ever wants to hear: It’s over.

- Daniel H. Pink is the author of four best-selling books about the changing world of work. His new book, To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others, will be published in December. 

Photo credit: BarackObama/Flickr (Obama), GageSkidmore/Flickr (Romney).