Updated Study: Republicans Search Their Hearts As Democrats Use Their Heads

What do political candidates and some of the world's most famous companies - like Google, GE, Microsoft, Coca Cola - have in common? 

Branding. 

Just like these famous companies, presidential candidates try to shape your thoughts, perceptions, feelings and experiences in order to make a sale - in this case, a vote.

In April, Chernoff Newman and MarketSearch launched a study to examine perceptions of both Democratic and Republican presidential candidate brands (see the archives below for more on the baseline study).

In this followup, we've begun to see that a classic debate in branding is just as relevant to presidential brands as to the marketing of products and services:

Can we sell more widgets (or win more votes) by tugging at consumers’ heart strings or by convincing them with cold, hard facts? 

Take a look at the thoughts behind the study and our philosophy of branding. Examine the key dimensions of branding.  See why Hillary Clinton is a Volvo and Fred Thompson is an iPod and how the other Democratic and Republican candidates stack up. Subscribe to our blog for future updates and other thoughts on branding.