Elections Are Branding Battles
Elections are brand fights.
At Kellogg, we define brands to be the associations linked to a name, mark or symbol associated with a product or service. When people see a name or symbol, what do they think? This is the brand.
A political race is all about branding. People aren’t buying a product they can see and touch, they are picking an individual whom they hope will make good decisions. If a candidate has positive associations, they will tend to attract votes. Negative associations will drive people away.
Two Branding Jobs
A candidate has two branding tasks. The first job is to build their own brand. This is about building brand?awareness and name recognition. More importantly, this is creating certain associations. A candidate might want to be associated with being tough on crime or cutting taxes or supporting a woman’s right to choose.
The second job is defining their opponent’s brand. Brand associations can come from anywhere. With marketing funds, you can build negative associations around your opponent’s brand, perhaps defining them as unethical or out of touch.
Unfortunately, the second task is sometimes easier and more powerful than the first.
A Chicago School Board Battle
Chicago is electing a school board for the first time this fall. The races are intense, despite the fact that these are unpaid positions with limited impact, since the majority of the school board will still be appointed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The battle in my district has become a remarkable branding fight, with each candidate working to define their opponent’s brand.
There are two big spending candidates. One of them is Karen Zaccor. She is a Democrat supported by the Chicago Teacher’s Union and Mayor Brandon Johnson. The other is Ellen Rosenfeld, a former teacher and a Democrat not aligned with the CTU.
Zaccor’s team is spending aggressively to tie Ellen Rosenfeld’s brand to Donald Trump, Project 2025 and the Republican party. One of her recent flyers calls out, “Billionaire Backed. Republican Funded. Billionaire Backed. Republican Funded.” You can see one of her flyers above.
Ellen Rosenfeld’s side is working very hard to link Ellen Zaccor to the unpopular CTU and Brandon Johnson. One of her flyers notes, “Karen Zaccor is a paid CTU Delegate who donated $2,000 to Brandon Johnson. Her campaign is mostly funded by the Chicago Teachers Union.” Not surprisingly, Zaccor’s marketing materials don’t mention that she is supported by the CTU and Brandon Johnson. You can see one of Rosenfeld's flyers on my website.
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While the candidates were sending positive brand messages earlier this fall, things have now spiraled into a distinctly negative battle.
Responding to negative attacks is a losing approach, partly because many of the attacks are based on elements of truth. I suspect Zaccor contributed to Brandon Johnson, and some Republicans have donated to Ellen Rosenfeld.
As a result, the candidates spend as much as they can shaping their opponent’s brand and building negative associations.
It is amazing that anyone runs for office.
The Presidential Race
We are seeing a stunning branding battle at the presidential level. Donald Trump is doing a nice job making people think that Harris is no different than Joe Biden and not that bright. Kamala Harris is highlighting Trump’s bizarre behavior and the threat to choice.
Harris is struggling to attack Trump because Trump’s brand is associated with outrageous statements. When Trump says he will do something illegal and dangerous, people ignore it, thinking “That is just Donald Trump doing his thing.”
The momentum seems to be favoring Trump.
My advice to Harris: take another swing at that CNN question from October 8 “Would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?" At the time she said, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.” That was the wrong answer. Harris needs to separate her brand a little from the Joe Biden brand.
Harris should put out a list of four or five important things she would have done – and will do – differently.
Harris will get the continuity vote, the liberal vote and the choice vote. To win, she also needs to attract people looking for a change.
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