Become the Meme: What Donald Trump's victory can tell us about branding, marketing and sales in the 'Age of Brain Rot'

As I am writing this article it looks like Donald Trump* has won the US election. This could possibly be the biggest turnaround in US political history since Washington was defeated trying to defend New York from the British in 1776.

Somehow Donald Trump has been able to get his vote out and secure victory?after what was a divisive first term. Donald Trump is the master of political?communications in the Age of Brain Rot.

What is Brain Rot?

According to Wikipedia Brain Rot is

"Brain rot?(or?brainrot) is a colloquial term used to describe Internet content deemed to be of low quality or value, or the negative psychological and cognitive effects caused by exposure to it.?The term also, more broadly, refers to excessive use of digital media, which may lead to cognitive decline, including a reduced?attention span?and impaired?mental functioning."

Now, through our digital consumptions we have all, in some way become infected with the distractions?of Brain Rot.

The constant stream of nonsense is distracting and reduces our attention spans.

This is the age of brain rot, political?discourse is at the same level as the meme about bad drivers, Warhammer and Arsensal's?latest self-imposed defeat. And it has to compete with this content.

Brain Rot is a distraction, distraction, distraction.

So how did Donald Trump do it?

1. Trump focused only on his audience, his people, and his voters.
2. Trump had very clear messages that had been building for years (MAGA, Stolen election)
3. Trump used snappy, short messaging that cuts through all the levels of distractions. He became the distraction.
4. Trump built allies with people who had access to a massive social platform that could be used to craft messages that resonate.
5. Trump chose a VP that was in tune with trends in technology, and key demographics in the swing states.
6. Trump focused on marketing channels that he could easily win (earned media) and channels that had strong emotional buy-in (Joe Rogan).

In short, Donald Trump became a meme.

So what does this tell about Sales, Marketing and Branding in the 'Age of Brain Rot'?

1. Knowing your audience and what resonates with them is vital and focus?deeply on them.?
2. The size?of the audience only has to be as?big as your purpose.
3. People are distracted. You have to distract them and entertain them, then you might cut through the digital haze.
4. Messages should have strong memetic qualities that can be absorbed quickly.
5. The outcome you want your audience?should be very simple, and repeated often.
6. Quality of production matters less than memetic qualities.

Know your audience, focus on them, message often and message in a way that matters to them.

In short, become the meme.

What does this mean for the future?

Business branding and marketing have always been way ahead of political communications.

However, US elections have a habit of highlighting the changes and trends that have happened. Think Obama and small donations, Howard Dean and online event organising JFK and television, and now Donald Trump and the Memetic fusion of traditional and digital media.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Maybe Branding will be called Memeing in the future?

• Please note this article is not endorsing or ditracting?from Donald Trump so please do not "@" me for these observations.

#Branding #Donald Trump #Elections #Marketing #Media #Meme #US Elections