KEN BANKS’ BLOG OCTOBER 2020
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BRANDING AND POLITICS!
As election day draws closer, I am once again amazed at the amount of political advertising that has flooded the airways, the mailboxes, the press, social media, billboards and anything else you can imagine to get the candidates’ name out in front of the electorate. The more I see, the more convinced I am that the political campaign strategists never studied marketing or branding. The strategy seems to be spend as much as you can, copy whatever the competition is doing or what has been done for the past several elections, and (worst of all) attack you opponent as aggressively and as cold-heartedly as possible. The recent debates were a prime example of immature, derisive attacks (although the second presidential discussion (not really a debate by definition) was significantly more civil than debate NUMBER 1.
No question that there is some long running competition between major brands throughout our capitalistic marketplace. Branding requires finding an advantage for your product or service over you like competitor(s). However, a successful brand strategy is based on communicating your advantage to those customers who would be moved to purchase once they are convinced that your advantage resonates with their individual needs or desires. Can you imagine if Ford or Chevrolet used their multi-million-dollar marketing campaigns to yell and scream and many times misrepresent the facts (aka Lie) to discredit the other brand. Or, if Walmart and Amazon only spoke of the disadvantages of delivery or of brick and mortar shopping, When I was with P&G’s Folger’s Coffee brand, the message was always built around the aromatic and tasteful advantages of their highland grown beans. They did not say Maxwell House tasted like sludge or that Chock-full o’ nuts was not made out nuts and were lying about their brand. As a customer, I like the ability to choose what I buy and where I buy it. McDonald’s has always out performed Burger King when it comes to their store experience, but they have always stressed their quality of their people and the taste of their food rather that attack the management of BK which seems to change every year and leaves an inconsistent message in their branding.
Daniel Burrus, in his webcast “Strategic Deep Dive” recently highlighted the collaboration among major companies (not necessarily competitors, but still searching for more of the customer’s shopping dollars) in the attempt to deal with COVID 19. Ford, GE and 3M while marketing their own safety measures, collaborated to provide ventilators, respirators, and face shield to help health care workers and first responders in dealing with the pandemic. It was the right thing to do and it’s the kind of cooperation that would enable our government to provide safer and quicker solutions to a number of issues facing the population of the US. The improvement in automobile efficiency has long been a competitive advantage, but he cooperation of automakers to provide better, more fuel-efficient vehicles as well as the many safety features now standard in even the basic models. Gaining a competitive advantage drives product improvement and more creative marketing messages while not alienating the other brands or their loyal customers. When Volkswagen was caught providing false emissions and mileage results to meet government standards, the other auto companies didn’t start calling them out and question the management’s ethics (even though it would have been warranted}. Instead, the featured their own results and provided unbiased studies and reports that built the respect of their customers and the general public as well.
I have long been a proponent of having more than only two political parties whose main goal in their marketing is to find fault with anyone in the opposing party or who was appointed to a government service position by the competitive party elected officials. This is not a Red or Blue constituency. It’s not black or white. Not Christian or Jew. Native or immigrant. We need to have more choices and more factual reporting of the accomplishments of all the candidates. Many marketing experts have been quoted as saying that “Marketing isn’t just the single-most important business function. It’s the only thing.” It amazes me how many comments are made with the utmost certainty by one candidate versus the other. Immediately, the other candidate refutes the comment saying emphatically “That’s not true.” In this situation, one or the other is not telling the truth and it’s amazing how many findings by independent fact-checkers confirm the false statements by one candidate or the other and for all offices. It’s time we told the truth all the time and built our messages on one’s qualifications rather that the other’s perceived shortcomings. I hope it happens soon. Be sure to vote on November 3rd.
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