Posts by Jay Gronlund

How MAGA Extremists Try To Rebrand Taylor Swift

Posted by on Feb 19, 2024 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

How MAGA Extremists Try To Rebrand Taylor Swift

 A key ingredient for shaping a brand is the set of values that define the brand personality, which are essential for sustaining a bond with customers. Taylor Swift is today the world’s biggest pop star, not only A because of her musical accomplishments but also due to her values and genuine rapport with such a wide range of different age groups and diverse ethnic and gender factions.  Yet extreme MAGA conservatives are creating false conspiracy stories to warp Swifts wholesome, popular brand image to ultimately advance their own political motives. The MAGA brand essence is different from...

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Re-Branding SF, CT And U.A.E.

Posted by on Jan 16, 2024 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Re-Branding SF, CT And U.A.E.

Branding is commonly associated with consumer products, corporate images and even personalities (e.g. Trump), but this discipline is also essential for creating an identity for a geographic location.  The basic positioning approach is the same – define your target audience, identify your unique strengths, develop a compelling promise based on these strengths, and ideally create a name and/or a catchy slogan that communicates this promise and emotionally captivates your customers.  Here are three different situations, a city, state and country, that all involve a branding effort to address...

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Perception Is Reality: Branding And Politics

Posted by on Dec 18, 2023 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Perception Is Reality: Branding And Politics

In any communications, it is essential to first understand fully everything about the other person (e.g. a customer or voter), especially their perceptions and emotional biases.  Their attitudes may be based on doggedness or falsehoods, but they exist and cannot be ignored.  Whether it involves brand marketing or political campaigning, it will ultimately be perceptions and human feelings that will determine a purchase or a vote. Unfortunately our society and political climate has devolved into a divisive culture highlighted by extensive vitriol and misinformation.  Trust in our institutions...

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Is The Republican Brand In Trouble?

Posted by on Nov 16, 2023 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Is The Republican Brand In Trouble?

Winston Churchill supposedly said: “If you are not a Liberal when you are 20, you have no heart, and if you are not a Conservative when you are 40, you have no brain”.  The assumption is that as you get older and gain income, buy property and start a family, preferences for security and stability become more dominant.  Personal values and attitudes do change over time, and strategic brands must adapt to these evolving desires by fine tuning their promises, especially for their primary customers. The risks of not staying current with the values of a brand’s core customer base can be...

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Why Friendship Is Also Essential For Good Branding

Posted by on Oct 13, 2023 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

Why Friendship Is Also Essential For Good Branding

  Successful branding is all about connecting to your customer.  A brand must make a promise to a person that is relevant, credible and emotionally inspiring.  It is a highly personal process.  People respond to people, not things.  This is why a brand must define itself like a human personality with personal traits and values that also mirror those of the targeted customer.  Basically branding is like developing and sustaining trustful friendships, and this requires ongoing support. How Friendships Evolve and then Dissolve In September David French wrote an insightful article in the NY...

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