Politically Correct

This is not a political post, but…

New York City has elected a new mayor in Zohran Mamdani and I have been struck by one part of his campaign in particular: his branding.

It is bold, confident, human, fun and totally at odds with what you’d expect to see in the political sphere. There’s a bit of a throwback in terms of the use of typography and colour which is so cool and so refreshing to see. It’s also VERY New York which always helps. This clean and simple approach seems to have carried across to how he delivers messaging through video content as well. Ideas articulated in bite-sized, 'what-I’ll-do-for-you' chunks. Even the lifestyle vibe of his photography feels brilliantly different.

Whatever your political position and however his tenure turns out, I think it’s a great example of how to effectively campaign to the masses in this day and age. It’s also such a relief to see someone using branding and messaging to do things differently in political communications - a space where these creative elements have often had the appearance of being watered-down through decision by committee and/or by fear of base rather than confidence in your purpose.

It’s comms with the volume turned up and a branding bravo from me.