An Introduction to Branding and Presidential Brands
Branding. It’s nothing new. In fact, “branding” is a clear example of business jargon that has penetrated popular culture. From package goods to pop stars, everything and everyone has a unique brand. However, understanding the nuances of a brand is first recognizing that a brand isn’t just a collection of logos or slogans or trademarks.
A brand is all about consumer experience represented by a collection of images and ideas that help to uniquely differentiate products or services that appear to be identical.
Brand preferences and other reactions are created by the accumulation of encounters, both directly relating to its use, and through the influence of messaging, advertising, design and public relations. And the power and value of brands today can far outweigh balance sheet items representing bricks and mortar. Hard to believe? Just ask Kraft how much of the premium it received when it sold for 600% over book value was due to brand equity. Better yet here’s the answer - $13 Billion. Or ask RJR Nabisco when their portfolio of brands brought in over $25 Billion. Branding does for products what American Idol does to talented - yet nameless - voices: it provides recognition and delivers value.
Chernoff Newman and MarketSearch build brands every day. In fact, the two South Carolina firms have worked hard together to produce awareness, loyalty and brand equity for hundreds of clients over the last 35 years. Jointly, we have helped our clients achieve tangible business results and gain significant competitive advantages through our proprietary brand asset practices. Shell Oil, Sears, Pirelli Worldwide, No Nonsense, Nickelodeon, Bank One, Nextel, Michelin, BMW, Sonoco, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield and are just some of the prominent brands with whom we’ve enjoyed relationships.
Branding is a critical element in today’s business environment and can have an immediate impact on growth. For example, Google, who was in 7th place in last year’s Brandz Top 100 Most Powerful Brands rankings, came out on top this year with a brand value of $66.4 billion. That’s a 77% rise in brand value, putting the relative newcomer ahead of long-established brands such as Microsoft, GE, Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart. As branding professionals, results like this are always of interest to us. Branding has proven that even “dark horse” newcomers can build enough equity to overtake well-known category leaders.
What could this mean for American politics? Arguably, candidates no longer run as themselves, they run as an extension of who the American public perceives them to be.
As an intellectual exercise, Chernoff Newman and MarketSearch have undertaken the process of evaluating presidential candidates as consumer brands.
- Why are voters drawn to particular personalities? Why do the emotional qualities of some outweigh the rational attributes of others? Who looks most like a president while not being perceived as the most trustworthy?
- Are political candidates knowingly and proactively setting forth to build their brand? Are the public’s perceptions of candidates in sync with the attributes candidates are espousing in their advertising, press release and appearances?
- Do the attributes candidates are marketing make a difference when it comes to the voters’ “purchasing decisions?” Does an outgoing personality equate to strong leadership? Does strong “awareness” of a candidate translate to a sure bet at the polls?
Over the course of the campaign in South Carolina’s presidential primaries, we will seek to answer these questions and carefully examine the use of advertising and other means of mass communications that create awareness and build a brand. We will evaluate the success or failure of each candidate, or in this case political brand, to attract capital such as political contributions. We will also measure the candidates’ effectiveness in influencing the behavior of South Carolina voters.
This study seeks to:
- Take a different approach to political polling, going beyond the “horse race” to explore how candidates operate
- Identify branding attributes associated with the candidates
- Assess overall support for candidates and identify which attributes are most directly correlated to candidate support.
- The results of our initial research provide an interesting look at public perception of political candidates and the unique strengths and weakness of each “presidential brand,” as well as how those strengths and weaknesses may impact voting decisions.