A good brand should ideally reflect a persona with certain values, style, authenticity, and a genuine proposition that people can identify with. Ultimately people will hopefully bond with that brand personality. But creating and communicating such an appealing brand is not easy. Sometimes it helps to directly compare your brand to a competitive brand to highlight your relevant differences and strengths.
These principles are meaningful not just for a commercial product or service, but also for positioning a brand for people, companies, cities/countries, government institutions, etc. Here are some classic examples of how marketers have clarified the distinctive traits of a brand by contrasting them with another:
- NYC vs. L.A – The Big Apple brand has successfully promoted its unique personality attributes over time – i.e. NYC is intense, dynamic, exciting (“never sleeps”), highly literate and fun. Just the opposite, L.A is usually perceived as laid back, sprawling, superficial, and “tinsel town” (from Woody Allen).
- Kennedy vs, Nixon – years ago, the personality descriptor, “charismatic”, became popular but there were aways some disagreements on how to exactly define it. Instead, many people decided the best way to understand its meaning was to select a notable person who obviously had charisma (e.g. Kennedy) and contrast it with someone who had none (e.g. Nixon)
- VW Bug vs. Oldsmobile – in the 1960’s the VW Bug soared in popularity as a bare-bones, distinctive, fun-filled tiny car with counter cultural and rebellious values that appealed to younger consumers during this turbulent era (e.g. assassinations, drugs, hard rock, the pill and “free love”, anti-Viet Nam War, riots, Woodstock, etc.). These values made a huge impact when they were compared to the “old man’s” car, Oldsmobile – a big, chrome filled, stodgy, ostentatious, old fashioned gas guzzler.
King Charles Shows Dignity and Leadership
No longer does royalty reign over European countries like centuries ago, but kings can still play an important role in helping to sustain tradition, peace and healthy relationships between nations. King Charles’ visit to the White House in April presented an opportunity to help mend their current, fragile relationship with Trump. It also gave us a chance to view the different styles and values of each “kingly brand” (Trump once called himself “THE KING”).
While King Charles had long been overshadowed by Diane and his mother, plus mired in scandals, he delighted everyone on both sides of the “pond” by proving to be a master at diplomacy and help restore that “special relationship”. With regal understatement, Charles presented himself with “elegance, intelligence, warmth, wit and bipartisanship”. He spoke directly yet politely and eloquently about his key values and ideological differences, such as the essential role of NATO, the importance of checks on executive power, the need for a “stable and accessible” rule of law, the need for “unyielding resolve” to support Ukraine, and the threats from climate change (i.e. “the shared responsibility to safeguard nature”) – all issues that Trump has opposed or questioned. In short, it was a class act, dignified and uplifting, just the opposite of the boorish “King Donald” brand.
The Vulgarity and Vengeance of Trump
The decent and respectful decorum of Charles, when juxtaposed against the blunt and bombastic style of Trump, presented a clear picture of completely different leadership brands. Trump’s abuse of facts and obsession with retribution are demonstrated in his wild diatribes and accusations, such as:
- On Easter, he described his threat online to Iran, saying “there will be nothing like it. Open the Fuckin Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell”. Two days later, he threatened “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
- Trump constantly attacks immigrants, especially from “hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, and Somalia”, the latter he described as “filthy, dirty, disgusting and ridden with crime”.
- He even attacked the Pope, as being “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy”.
- In a social media post, Trump vengefully accused former conservative supporters Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and others as “stupid people…they have one thing in common, low IQ’s, … they’re NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS…”.
The difference between the brand persona of these two “Kings” cannot be more obvious when contrasted against each other, which also helps to amplify and clarify the true nature of each leadership brand.
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