How Trump Won the Election

By Cristina Rivero. Sources: Russ Klein, chief executive of the American Marketing Association; Tim Calkins, professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management; Michael Beer, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School; The Saylor Foundationhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/trump-campaign-marketing/

He leaned on his established brand identity

He used his celebrity name to attract attention and amplify his campaign message. “Trump capitalized on the power of the Trump brand, which people associate with and aspire to luxury, wealth and celebrity,” said Tim Calkins, professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

He used an extreme message to stand out from other candidates (purple cow, juxtaposition, strategy canvass, disruption)

Brand names can be very important, but the value a product creates and offers to consumers — in this case, voters — is the center of effective marketing.

Trump created and communicated an offering “value” of delivering change in exchange for the risk and time “price” voters paid to consider voting for him. Trump’s communication plan used the campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” to resonate with groups or target markets of people he wanted to reach — voters sharing similar lifestyles, world perceptions, moods and concerns about employment opportunities. He also targeted groups of voters who felt their basic need for public safety has been compromised. “Trump had a very direct and consistent message and paired it with change,” Calkins said. (Obama strategy was the same. A focused message of “Hope and Change” aimed at the disenfranchised).

He repositioned his competitors to make them seem less attractive

Trump labeled competitors with unflattering names like “Crooked Hillary” and “Lyin’ Ted” to solicit reactions from the candidates and psychologically repositioned their standing among voters. He also applied a problem/solution marketing formula. He framed the “problem” as the nation being in economic and societal trouble, rallied people to galvanize their dissatisfaction with government and positioned himself as the change agent (Obama strategy—”Hope and Change”). “Trump created a sense of what the problem was, framed it and then juxtaposed himself as the solution,” according to Russ Klein, chief executive of the American Marketing Association.Michael Beer, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School, has presented a change-management formula highlighting three components of focus for change leaders to succeed — create dissatisfaction with the status quo, develop a strategy to drive behavior and create a process to engage people and raise their dissatisfaction. “What drove people to him was not just dissatisfaction and frustration with their economic situation but also dissatisfaction with feeling powerless.” (Obama strategy was to empower the masses by making them feel their $5 donations and sharing of videos on social media could change the future. It worked).

He used public appearances to focus attention on himself

Trump and Clinton used ads and public relations to build brand awareness and demand. Both applied marketing influencers (Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich for Trump; President Obama and entertainment celebrities for Clinton) to sway voter opinion.But Trump also used his numerous rallies to generate and perpetuate media attention. Strategic marketing categorizes consumers into segments or groups of buyers based on behavioral, demographic, geographic and psychographic characteristics. Trump marketed to voters based on their wants, social class, income, ethnicity, location, opinions, values and lifestyles and held events attended by those market segments. “Trump was always out there, and rallies were a platform to generate more buzz,” Calkins said. (Obama strategy was the same—experiential and event marketing).

He leveraged social media to create excitement and buzz

Trump used social media, and Twitter in particular, to build relationships with voters and create a word-of-mouth buzz for his brand. Clinton’s use of social media did not generate as much communication buzz. This strategy helped Trump build attitudinal loyalty, the degree to which a customer prefers or likes a brand, rather than behavioral loyalty, when a customer buys a product out of habit.“Trump had a communication plan that leveraged social media for PR attention,” Calkins said. (Obama strategy was the same. He created a lot of content exclusively for social media consumption and sharing, and encouraged people to share it.).

Summary• Simple and consistent tagline that delivers a desirable brand promise to a defined target audience • Strong brand identity with clear mental associations of positive attributes (brand attributes the

target consumer cares about)• A bold brand juxtaposition / differentiation that is clearly positioned against or opposite of the

competition. It’s not about being a little bit better, it’s about being as completely different as possible (disruptive positioning and innovation)

• Brands that are the same or similar to their competition do not create strong loyalty or buzz • Leverage events and experiential marketing to get closer to the market and establish more

emotionally charged connections, as well as media and social media content and buzz (disruptors naturally create free buzz)

• Create content for social media to engage, inform, energize and empower your brand advocates to endorse, like and share your message (creating free buzz and herd following)