Build that #$!@?#!! WALL: Marketing, Messaging and when Identity Loyalty Branding BOTH crushes and is an Epic #FAIL

By now, we have all seen the drama unfolding on capitol hill. A government shutdown. Two sides locked in battle. An obvious stale mate.

What may not be obvious is that what we are witnessing is classic marketing and psychology at its most successful and most unsuccessful.

At the same time!

Here's how fundamental Marketing 101 (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning and Messaging STPM) + Branding and Identity Loyalty = A closed government that will stay closed.

President Trump has been characterized in the media as being less of a savvy businessman and more of a business promoter.

One thing is for sure, he understands STPM brilliantly. He has a base (part of his target market) that is fiercely loyal.

Dare I say "Identity Loyal."

Identity loyalty is when a product, service, organization or person is internalized as part of a consumers sense of who they are.

President Trump was elected because enough people felt this kind of loyalty to him and his messaging.

He spoke to their identity. He still does. He messages to them. Constantly. Usually via tweets.

Whether or not you think these messages are dog whistles, or key values that you yourself hold, one thing is for sure. The messaging is both SUPER effective. And SUPER disastrous.

In light of this, here is my prediction: The government shut down will continue into the foreseeable future. Why? Well, because I study Psychology, Marketing and Branding and here's what research would say:

BRANDING: The Power of Emotions and Identity

President Trump did an amazing job of "branding" this "wall". Through consistently messaging around "them", "those dangerous criminals" that are a "caravan" away from taking over "our country". Moreover, this is nicely wrapped up in values associated with retreating from the rest of the world in order to protect your own ingroup.

For the target market (Trump supporters, Republicans, Fox News, and other right-wing allies) this is an emotional argument that is completely intertwined with their identity.

Super effective and disastrous in terms of emotions because:

[1] Emotional arguments are impervious to "facts." Feelings rule the day and data takes a back seat. It is impossible for two groups to compromise on emotions when one option makes one group elated and the other group furious.

[2] Decisions that arise from emotions "feel" more like an expression of your true authentic self, (compared to decisions that rely on "rational deliberation"). Because of this, you feel more certain in the attitudes that you have that are based on emotions.

Super effective and disastrous in terms of identity because:

[3] The "brand" of the wall now is part of the target market's identity, which means they will defend it at all costs. The non-target market (The Democrats, progressives, liberals) will reject it at all costs because the wall "brand" is exactly opposite of their identity.

[4] Any perception of "conflict with another group" (of consumers) who doesn't share your view will lead to your group polarizing because "conflict" itself gives meaning to the attitude you want to protect.

RE-BRANDING: It's really hard to "undo" what's underneath a really good brand

Now we all know that once a "brand" is a "brand", "re-branding" is particularly difficult especially when it is done so well as President Trump has done with branding the wall.

That's the double edge sword.

When folks try to change the brand (with new advertising), for example when former Chief of staff Kelly says "it was never a wall", or when Lindsey Graham says "the wall is a metaphor for border security" or when Kelly Anne Conway says "It is a silly semantic argument because people who just want to say ‘wall, wall, wall’ want it to be a four-letter word.", this advertising is likely to fail in the eyes of democrats and may even annoy the target segment (see [1]-[4] above).

Of course it doesn't help if your re-branding "advertising" efforts are undermined by powerful word of mouth marketing from key influencers!

[5] In fact, research shows that "moral emotional" language (from Donald Trump) is shared at a much higher rate than just emotional and moral language on twitter!

So all in all, good luck. Hunker down for the long haul. To get these two sides together, you are going to have to get them to change who they are. That's a tall order. Until then, I wouldn't be visiting any state park public restrooms nor would I expect particularly cheerful (were they ever though?) TSA agents.

References (to dig further, see these cited works):

[1] [2] Maglio, S. J., & Reich, T. (2018). Feeling certain: Gut choice, the true self, and attitude certainty. Emotion.

[3] Lisjak, M., Lee, A. Y., & Gardner, W. L. (2012). When a Threat to the Brand Is a Threat to the Self: The Importance of Brand Identification and Implicit Self-Esteem in Predicting Defensiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(9), 1120–1132. 

[4] Rovenpor, D. R., O'Brien, T. C., Roblain, A., De Guissmé, L., Chekroun, P., & Leidner, B. (2019). Intergroup conflict self-perpetuates via meaning: Exposure to intergroup conflict increases meaning and fuels a desire for further conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 116(1), 119-140.

[5] Brady, W. J., Wills, J. A., Burkart, D., Jost, J. T., & Van Bavel, J. J. (2018). An ideological asymmetry in the diffusion of moralized content on social media among political leaders. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.