The Ultimate Branding Battle - Using Politics as a Model for Marketing

With only two months left, the 2016 US Presidential Election is entering its home stretch. After a year of extraordinary surprises and intense campaigning, both Clinton and Trump are preparing to make the final push for November. The major party candidates have run dominant campaigns, one unconventional and the other more traditional, and both have been carried by a political fervor not seen in quite some time.  

In an era enveloped by media, it is only fitting that the superior marketer and brander will ultimately decide the 2016 Election. Both Clinton and Trump are historically disliked and flawed political candidates, resulting in one of the most negative general election campaigns in history. With decades of accumulated media baggage, there exists little chance that public perception of either candidate will change significantly before November. Yet, in order for either to win, they must not only navigate around poor public perception, but also attempt to persuade voters through their presidential campaigns.

Presidential campaigns have become the target of fascination, especially during this election cycle. Not only are they gigantic political operations, but also closely resemble many modern large-scale marketing campaigns. Many people have long tried to separate politics from business, yet in 2016, political campaigns may be the quintessential examples of how to create successful modern day marketing campaigns. 

Target Audience 

The United States has long had a tradition of having abnormally long election cycles. Compared to the one month long campaign season seen in the United Kingdom and the approximately 11 week cycle in Canada, the nearly 20 month long political event in the United States can seem quite excessive. While US elections are generally lengthier than those of global counterparts, they offer the opportunity for extensive analysis. Presidential campaigns have essentially become large-scale marketing campaigns with an intent to address and appeal to as many people as possible over the course of a year and a half. Establishing and reaching a target audience is one of the most important goals of any marketing campaign and can quickly separate success from failure. One of the key decisions campaigns must decide early on is which demographics they can draw support from and which social and/or economic groups they must appeal to – thus establishing the target audience.

When considering appealing to an extensive and diverse voter base, it’s undeniable that the Clinton Campaign has been much more successful than the Trump Campaign thus far. In recent polls compiled by the Pew Research Center, Clinton has dominated among racial minorities, millennials and women, with +83% among African-American voters, +24% among Hispanics, +11% among 18-39 year olds, and +19% among women.    

      Clinton’s dominance with minority voters remains consistent across multiple polls                                                        (Source: NBC News)

Clinton’s large success in constructing a diverse coalition can be attributed to an understanding of political landscapes across the United States. During the Democratic Primaries, Clinton was able to defeat Senator Sanders largely due to her support from many African-American voters. Having worked in the south for many years prior to becoming First Lady, the campaign has utilized the decades old political and social networks. When campaigning, Clinton specifically visited churches and communities in the south, a region for known for its strong faith and close knit atmosphere, enlisting the help of prominent African-American figures such as Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Jim Clyburn. In addition to African-American voters, Clinton also receives large support from female voters, who commonly site her record fighting for gender equality as a primary reason for supporting her. Having fought for equal rights for women since her time at Wellesley College, Clinton has naturally built a strong coalition of female voters hoping for greater progress.

The Clinton Campaign has been extremely precise when it comes to appealing to diversity and its target audience. By understanding the motivations and cultures behind target groups, the campaign has not only been able to construct a diverse coalition, but has managed to successfully reach a majority of its target base.

Branding and Message

Many of the most well known companies today have established cultural status through popular slogans, precise branding, and messaging. Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan and recently Coke’s “Taste the Feeling” marketing campaign have become widely popular and instantly recognizable. Creating an appealing marketing campaign is the result of precision branding, attractive slogans, and clear messaging – three components essential to running a successful presidential campaign.

            The most famous slogans around the world are both catchy and concise

Throughout the election cycle, there has been no better brander than Donald Trump. Over the last thirty years, Trump has managed to make his name synonymous with wealth in pop culture. In addition to building a successful personal brand, a large reason for his victory in the Republican Primary was his ability to brand his opponents, such as “Low Energy Jeb”, “Little Marco”, and “Lyin’ Ted”. While this may seem unsophisticated, in reality Trump cleverly assigns negative labels using characteristics already exhibited by the candidates themselves. For example, Jeb Bush attempted to appeal to voters early on as the 'reserved' and 'levelheaded' choice. However, this was easily branded as “Low Energy” in a year of high-octane, populist politics. This brand-by-association allows nicknames to catch on more quickly and become more effective, especially when the candidates themselves personify the themes and messages.  

In addition to being a master brander, the Trump Campaign has had great success at creating slogans as well. Next to Senator Sanders’s slogan “Feel the Bern”, Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan is widely regarded as the most effective among those created for the 2016 Presidential Election. Unlike that of Sanders, Trump’s slogan is not only catchy, but is also directly related to a central theme of his campaign: making America great by restoring traditional values. A key factor of a successful slogan is the ability to catch on quickly while also representing an idea, concept, or philosophy. Not only does the slogan encapsulate Trump’s campaign, but it also attempts to draw on a sense of nostalgia (a powerful marketing tool), by essentially replicating Reagan’s slogan from the 1980 Presidential Election.

                                          (Source: DonaldJTrump.com)

Trump’s ability to precisely brand, as well as generate instantly catchy slogans with holistic messages, is both brilliant marketing on the part of his campaign and especially effective in an era of digital media. With outlets such as Snapchat and Vine, media has become increasingly compressed, meaning shorter messages are becoming increasingly relevant and powerful. This new form of digesting media and information provides new avenues for digital marketing campaigns - avenues already being intensively explored by presidential campaigns.

Social Media Platforms 

Social and traditional media have proven to be invaluable during this election season. With many people anticipating a gradual shift from television to digital mediums, modern day marketing campaigns are forced to utilize new outlets and resources to spread their messages and products. This diversification of media marketing has been a key component to the major political campaigns of 2016.

With 2016 being a year of outsider politics, unconventional candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump were propelled by waves of digital momentum. However, while both politicians utilized various forms of social media, the candidate who has made the greatest push online has undoubtedly been Hillary Clinton. When considering social media campaigning, one must acknowledge Trump’s dominance on Twitter. Utilizing the compressed media format, Trump has been able to create and ride waves of online excitement throughout the election. However, outside of Twitter, Trump’s influence is not as clearly seen or felt, with limited to no presence on sites such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Medium. 

To contrast, the Clinton Campaign has made a push to widen appeal and reach out to as many voters as possible, especially millennials. This has resulted in the active use of Hillary Clinton accounts across all of the major social media platforms.

       Clinton's widespread digital marketing involves utilizing multi-platform reach

Not only does the Clinton Campaign create accounts on social media sites, but it also efficiently tailors its campaign specifically for each platform. On video sites such as Youtube, the campaign releases ‘behind-the-scenes’ videos, similar to popular videos created by online vloggers. On professional and business oriented sites such as LinkedIn, Clinton recently utilized the increasingly popular LinkedIn Publishing platform to talk about plans for small businesses. This precision target of audiences through social media content has created an immense digital campaign for Clinton.

In addition to creating a presence on essentially every major media site, the Clinton Campaign has also began to take advantage of the growing interest in episodic digital content and recently launched the official ‘With Her’ podcast.

                                                      (Source: iTunes) 

On top of this already extensive cross-platform digital media marketing, the Clinton Campaign has not forgotten about traditional media. Over the last few months, the campaign has been blitzing battleground states with political ads, during Olympic coverage and normal programming, outspending Trump $70 million to $0 on television and $15 million to $0 on radio. This does not take into account the already enormous amounts of coverage both candidates receive from broadcast news networks.

During a political election that has been driven by social media, Clinton’s dominance on media platforms is likely a large reason for her current lead in the presidential race. Marketing campaigns heavily depend on cross-platform media content – and the Clinton Campaign has been effectively doing just that.

Final Thoughts

As social media takes on an increasingly important role in daily life, companies are focusing more of their efforts on digital marketing and appealing to a diverse consumer base. In addition to the growth of digital media, traditional television ads remain effective for reaching growing audiences. Included with branding, effective marketing has become essential for financial success.

Politics is often seen as a far removed topic that ought to be kept separate from every day conversation – however, with the growing reach of media and the advancement in marketing techniques, politics is no longer a conceptually secluded issue nor should it remain taboo.

Because when it comes to presidential campaigns, not only are they the vehicles necessary for political success, but are fast becoming models for marketing campaigns of the new digital future.

---

Erwen (Alex) Zhu is an intended Business Major at the University of California Berkeley and writes as a millennial voice for marketing, social media, entertainment, politics, and cultural impact.

Enjoyed this piece? Follow Alex on Twitter and LinkedIn. If you liked what you read, please share, like, and comment. #StudentVoices

You may also enjoy:

• Clinton v Trump: Why the 2016 Presidential Election will turn Social Media into a War Zone 
• Clinton v Trump: Why the 2016 Presidential Debates will become Historic Televised Events
• Bernie Sanders's Social Media Legacy 
• Mastering Media Manipulation - How Donald Trump Hijacked 2016