By Maverick Steffen | Daily Marketing Advice

President Obama must have been going crazy whenever he heard his campaign saturated down to one word.

I have no doubt the President probably wanted to say so  much more to American voters, however, he and his staff were resolved to win with one word that apparently resonated in the minds of voters and forced the first partisan overturn in 8 years: "change."

Normally, people aren't very complex.

Typically they make fleeting judgments about most things with at least a word or two. Ugly, tall, grotesque, large and strange are a few of the words I'm sure I generate in people's minds as I walk down the street.

President Obama used change, Crest used cavities, Domino's used delivery, FedEx used overnight and Charlie Sheen used winning. A well chosen tag strategically placed can mean the difference between you defining what people think when they hear your brand, or you disappearing into the void of bankruptcy.

I hate to say it, but drug cartels knew what they were doing when they coined the effects of marijuana as getting, "high." Really, who doesn't want to be higher?

Unfortunately, anti-drug lobbyists still haven't figured this out an answer to this tag. When I think of the anti-drugs movement, all I think about is D.A.R.E. Not so cool compared to high (in case any kids are reading this, drugs are horrible and make you ugly, homeless and give you herpes).

Perhaps the anti-drug people should take a lesson from the anti-abortion movement. They defined a decision many women make every day as simply, pro-life or pro-choice. Simple right?

Unfortunately many companies fail to observe this commandment, and never really seize the opportunity of imprinting their brand permanently into the minds of their market niche.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to Facebook my friend to Xerox what she Google'd me last week.