How Hollywood And The Oscars Lost Their Branded Magic
A key driver for making America a cultural powerhouse over the years has been the popular movies from Hollywood. Fans all over the world would flock to their local theatres to see the latest from Hollywood, especially the Oscar nominees. It was a unique “dream factory” that spawned new heroes to cheer, rich content for TV and cable, related paraphernalia, and an endless fountain of gossip for the media. Captivating, widely popular, memorable ENTERTAINMENT is what the Hollywood brand has promised to the masses, and delivered, at least until...
read moreA Branding Perspective: Why Corporations Oppose Voter Suppression
The rising tide of corporate resistance to new voting suppression laws is gaining momentum every day. The possible ramifications of this opposition are wide and deep. Conservatives urge business to stay out of politics, even though many enjoy receiving corporate contributions. Their rationale is a baseless argument that such modifications are essential for eliminating voter fraud, which has been totally disproven. On the other hand, many view these new voter restrictions as an alarming threat to our democracy, similar to the January 6...
read moreLessons In Re-Branding: Trump To Biden
A brand should be strategic and rarely change dramatically. But new customers often emerge with different values and demands, competition may bring pressure on a brand, and/or new leaders invariably want to re-position their message and brand image. We are now seeing a stark re-branding of the Trump Presidency by Biden, which offers a classic lesson on what is essential to create a new and different brand identity. (Note: this is not about right or wrong, but about different approaches.) In any new product or re-branding initiative, the...
read more“Words Matter” – How Republicans Leverage Emotion-Driven Words
While the Democrats can rejoice that Biden won the presidency, they experienced surprising and disheartening setbacks in the House (lost 10 Seats), plus many “down ballot” elections in various states. A major reason for this surprising outcome was the masterful use of highly emotional words and accusations by the Republicans which created fear and anxiety among Trump’s base (e.g. primarily non-educated, rural whites) and importantly many swing voters. The voters’ intense emotional reaction contributed to these Republican gains, which also...
read moreWill The 1/6 Insurrection Force Changes In Citizen United PAC Donations?
The January 6 riot at the Capital building may have become the tipping point for business and their involvement in politics. Many CEOs have been very critical about Government’s response during the past 4 years to such societal issues like BLM, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, but their public reactions have been limited. Their attitude was to not take any action unless their corporate business model or values were directly affected. However the refusal by Republican leaders to accept the Presidential election results and the...
read moreHow Trust In Brands Is Undermined By Disinformation And Conspiracy Theories
As Covid-19 spreads mercilessly, taking lives, destroying the economy and further polarizing our society, there is another concurrent and dangerous “epidemic” expanding furiously – the unbounding spread of misinformation, especially those incredible conspiracy theories. Despite ongoing efforts to refute these falsehoods, believers remain beholden to these erroneous claims. The biggest risk of this phenomenon is the serious decline of trust of our most cherished brand values throughout our society. Very simply, a brand is a promise of value...
read more“Me” Versus “We”: Individualism Driving American Brand Values?
Biden-Harris won, the pandemic is surging, the economy is in ruins, and the pundits are still trying to understand why – including how Trump managed to attract 70 million votes. Behind these historic events is the growing influence from individualism, which helps explain this election and the pandemic. But will this underlying social trend continue to transform those values traditionally associated with brand “America” – e.g. kindness, caring for others/empathy, trust and fairness, integrity and credibility? Masks for Fighting Covid-19...
read moreThe Rise and Fall Of The Trump Lifestyle Brand
The revelations from Trump’s tax records in late September demonstrate two fundamental lessons about branding: (1) how smart branding can generate new opportunities and lots of financial rewards, and (2) the crippling pitfalls of not managing and sustaining a lifestyle brand with consistent integrity and credibility. A “lifestyle brand” is based primarily on the perceived image of a particular person. For example Martha Stewart and Ralph Lauren are noteworthy lifestyle brands, as is Donald Trump. They all have a reputation for admired...
read moreWhat Brand Archetypes Fit Trump and Biden?
The concept of archetypes was originally created by Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychologist in 1919, based partially on Plato’s ideas and also on historic cultural, personal and mythical images. Marketers often use the personality traits of an archetype to position a brand so it reflects the values and desires of targeted customers, on the assumption that people emotionally connect with such brands. And each political candidate is essentially a brand as well. As we enter the final stage of the Presidential election, it may help voters if...
read moreShareholder or Stakeholder Capitalism? Need New Brand Profile for CEO’s?
The purpose of a corporation is undergoing wide scrutiny today – i.e. continue to focus on shareholder profits or broaden its goal to embrace all stakeholders? Last year chief executives in the Business Roundtable representing the 181 largest U.S. companies met and committed to “lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders – customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders.” Since then other drivers have reinforced this fundamental transformation. Covid-19 has heightened broad expectations that companies...
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