Whether you are selling a politician or a product, your objective is exactly the same: build a brand in the prospect’s mind.
Firm beliefs: US presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s strategy of focusing on one word, ‘change’, worked brilliantly.
In the case of the politician, the brand can transcend several generations. There have been 38 presidents of the United States. Six of them have been related: John Adams and John Quincy Adams, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Bush and George W. Bush.
Currently, Hillary Clinton is trying use the Clinton brand to do the same thing that George W. Bush did. She may well succeed. Clinton launched her campaign by focusing on “experience”. Not a bad idea, because it’s a word that differentiated her from her chief rival, Barack Obama.
While Clinton was clever, Obama was brilliant. He focused on the word “change”, a concept that matched the mood of the American public, yearning for change after seven years of Republican rule. Obama’s theme: “Change we can believe in.”
Almost immediately, Clinton realized her mistake and jumped on the change bandwagon. Her new theme: “Countdown to change.”
It’s too late. Today, Clinton looks like a follower instead of a leader. But, still, the Clinton brand is very strong so she still might achieve her goal. (Look at the power of the Gandhi brand in India.)
When George W. Bush ran for the Presidency in 2000, he called himself, “the compassionate conservative”. His opponent that year was Al Gore. What word did Gore try to pre-empt? I don’t know, and most voters didn’t, either. After he lost the election, Gore focused on a single concept, “global warming.” Today, he is one of the world’s best-known individuals, and a winner of a 2007 Nobel peace prize. Most politicians and companies ignore one of the most fundamental concepts in marketing: Own a word in the prospect’s mind.
If you want to run for office, if you want to launch a new brand, if you want to jump-start your business career, the first question to ask yourself is: “What word do I want to own in the minds of my prospects...” That would be an easy question to answer, except for the last part of the question, which is “... a word that nobody else
* Article taken from Al Ries Publication.
1 comment:
i can't comment on the artice written by Al ries neither do i have the courage nor the knowledge, but will put my reservation on one line "brand Gandhi".........
Gandhi was and is a brand in India but what congress has achieved is not bcause of the legacy of gandhi rather a clever manuouvre among regional parties.
Even after the declaration of "Indira's emergency" as unconstiutional was the Indian ppl able to throw the incumbency??? Perhaps not. Moraji desai failed dismally in two years it was rather a poor cordination of all the forces which make the janta party.......
Second thing is-- Nehru and Gandhi was two different identities which the congress confused millions of voters for more then 50 years and even now......the recent bandwagon is Rahul gandhi (the so called Yuvraaj )of sicilinan race.
In a nut shell Gandhi is a brand that even I like millions agree but who uses the brand is a big question mark
Post a Comment