Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Branding Your Campaign. More than a Name.

Today, it's all about branding your campaign. You need your name, yes, but what else to make it sizzle? We all know the iconic Betty Crocker (who we also all know was not a real person, just an all-American housewifely type, created to push cake mixes and the like. Soon a household word in the 50's). Since this is the Campaign Cookbook, we'll start with her for an example of a logo that lasts:
Single names are good. Like this one. Who still remembers the whackado healer type who invented corn flakes for their cardboard-like consistency, because food should not be fun? (Or anything else for that matter). All we know is this means cereal:
So now we are in the Presidential season, yes, 17 months out and counting. And there are 20 Republican candidates and counting. So, one of the frontrunners, brother of a certain other president, has come out with his own one name logo (noticeably omitting the last famous family name), and the blog and Twitterspheres have been having fun with it:
Yup, it's just Jeb! without the Bush part. Here are a few of the articles for your enjoyment. Write one yourself why don't you. Typography is why Jeb Logo is more than a Piece of Crap; Twitter hysterically mocks Jeb Bush logo; Jeb Bush Unveiled His 2016 Logo, and the Internet Shouted Unkind Things at It 

So, have fun with this, think carefully about your own campaign logo, and when times are tough, try this Plum Blueberry Spritzer, created for the Democratic National Convention.  Just the thing for cheering on a good Democratic candidate in 2016:
  
Ingredients
  1. 5 cups water
  2. 1 cup fresh ripe blueberries
  3. 3 ripe black plums, pitted and cut into eighths
  4. 8 fresh or dried bay leaves, plus extra for garnish
  5. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  6. 8 cups cold club soda, for serving


  1. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the blueberries, plums, 8 bay leaves and sugar, cover and boil over high heat, stirring, until the juice is reduced to about 3 cups and the plums are tender, about 20 minutes. Strain the mixture though a fine sieve, pressing lightly with a spatula to extract the juice; reserve the bay leaves. Return the juice to the pan, add the reserved bay leaves and simmer over moderate heat until reduced to 2 cups, about 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves; let the syrup cool.
  2. For each drink, gently whisk 1/4 cup of the plum-blueberry syrup into 1 cup of cold club soda, pour into a glass, garnish with a bay leaf and serve.


Make Ahead
The syrup can be refrigerated for 1 week.


Notes
Variation Pour 2 tablespoons of the berry syrup into a Champagne flute and top with Champagne.