Branding, Politics and PR - We're Learning All the Time As the U.S. Presidential Primary contest winds down, PR professionals and observers are witnessing firsthand, and in real time, the importance to American consumers of developing and reinforcing a brand. Lessons learned apply directly to consumer and business brands, and candidates are teaching us all a lot, especially as it relates to Wed 2.0 applications. Political branding is necessary to consistently and clearly express differences among candidates.  We've never seen this more clearly than with the campaigns of Senators Clinton and Obama.  Consumers can just as easily connect "Just Do It" with Nike as voters can link Barak Obama to "change" and Hillary Clinton to "experience." Importantly, the integration of social media into a political candidate's branding strategy is evolving as rapidly as Web 2.0 applications for PR professionals.  Clinton announced her candidacy online.  According to PRSA's  "Bonus Tactics article: What PR professionals can learn from political branding," Obama has grabbed 60-percent of the Democratic Party's FaceTime - a metric of total online time with the public. PR Pros - Pay Close Attention The Democratic contest is coming to a close.  Political branding efforts will continue throughout the race for the Presidency.  Good PR professionals will pay close attention. Realizing the importance of brand awareness and loyalty, and learning from the strategic and tactical efforts of candidates for public office, can help to make us better PR professionals for our direct-to-consumer and business-to-business clients. This edition of March Forth provides links (on left) to some excellent online sources regarding the relevance of branding on many different levels.  Below, we also share some interesting and recent online and offline discussions about this important topic. Please visit our Web site to learn more about Vehr Communications.  Contact us if we can help to strengthen awareness of and loyalty to your brand with your most important audiences. New Face at Vehr Communications Laura Randall, a veteran of Cincinnati television media, marketing and PR has joined Vehr Communications as a Counselor.  A former TV reporter, anchor and producer, and former owner of her own PR firm, Laura will provide high level strategic counsel and client team leadership to Vehr Communications' growing base of clients.  Learn more about Laura and feel free to send a note of welcome ( contact Laura). Good Reads about PR and Brand Awareness   PR Week: Corporate communicators can find inspiration in political arena  The Public Relations Strategist: Packaging the Presidency - Online  PR Tactics and The Strategist Online: What PR professionals can learn from political branding PR News, PR Insights Connect (on the left) to a number of PR and Branding online resources, blogs and discussions.  These are some of the ones we particularly favor. As practitioners, we use communications to manage reputations, build relationships and deliver results.  The Internet is changing how we do it, but how we have always done it is just as important. We hope the connections we provide here, and the various additional news outlets and blogs we connect to on the Vehr Communications' Web site, help you to understand this rapidly changing industry as much as they help us.