It may be said that "branding" is all about locating your "target market."
President Joe Biden has done just that. He has found his niche of voters; that segment of the electorate who know fully well he is not Donald John Trump.
Biden's recent attendance at the G7 Summit meeting in Geneva, Switzerland actually reinforces this concept. There Joe was, greeted by the Group showing relief that the page has been turned from the Trump era; that a new U.S. leader has arrived on the global scene.
To support this brand difference perception, a recent Pew Research Center Poll found when "looking at 12 nations surveyed both this year and in 2020, a median of 75% express confidence in Biden, compared with 17% for Trump last year."
What's most compelling, however, is how intelligent people find this ground-breaking when it's a relatively simple branding and psychological phenomenon at work.
We like brands that appeal to us, and — that don't "rock the boat".
It's what marketing and branding are based on.
Few, however, want to acknowledge the importance of these two constructs.
You could miss this primary human dynamic metric if you are politically connected, love obscure analysis, and prefer the counter-intuitive rather than parsimonious policy.
Simply explained, Biden is the status quo brand when it comes to interpersonal, political style. This is best seen in Vladimir Putin's analysis of Biden when queried by a reporter regarding their then-upcoming meeting. "Biden is radically different from Trump because President Biden is a career man. He has spent virtually his entire adulthood in politics," said Putin.
On Trump, Putin had this to say: "He (Trump) is a colorful individual. You may like him or not. And, but he didn't come from the U.S. establishment. He had not been part of big-time politics before, and some like it, some don't like it, but that is a fact."
Bingo!
Vlad gets what many don't — Branding underscores differences; we engage with brands that we like. And whether one likes the Trump brand is a function of what he says and what he does — its brand appeal.
Fundamental human nature dictates that when one is critical of others, it always puts the person criticizing at a disadvantage. We don't want to hear it if we are the entity under attack. Trump's "take no prisoners" approach was manna to many average Americans who felt that politicians of the past relented to the globe's relentless demands for more and more dollars, money to be spend by the U.S. with little in the way of thanks for our generosity bestowed upon an ungrateful world.
This was Trump's target market. It showed up in significant numbers but failed to garner the winning formula to get Trump another four years in the White House and back onto the global stage.
It shouldn't come as a surprise then when a perceivably softer, gentler leader came onto the scene that there was a relief, a welcome change so that things could get back to normal.
It's Psychology 101, nothing more. To be surprised is naivete on steroids.
The "not being Trump" brand, unfortunately for Biden, may only work for this one election cycle. From a branding perspective, it only works when Brand Trump is the standard by which Biden is compared.
Biden's challenge as he moves forward into his first term is to define his brand, which many feel is weak, if not non-existent.
Our nation's 46th commander in chief has three years to identify his brand position; one independent from Trump, and do so to and for enough Americans so that they have a reason to vote for him and not Trump in 2024, no matter who the candidate may be.
Biden's knee-jerk response to Trump's handling of the border by allowing thousands to enter the country doesn't help support the "Biden is Not Trump" perception.
Eliminating thousands of jobs by terminating the Keystone XL Pipeline supports Biden's need to remind Americans that he's not 45. The question is whether voters will decide that their president makes choices based on current data rather than the last personality who held the office.
It simply may not be relevant by the time the next election occurs.
It's simple for Biden. Be your own man with policies that are uniquely your own.
If Biden is able to pull this off, he will understand that it's always easier to achieve your goals with marketing and branding at the forefront of your mind.
Dr. John Tantillo is a marketing and branding expert, known as The Marketing Doctor. JT utilizes his doctoral skills in applied research psychology to analyze the issues and personalities of the day utilizing his marketing and branding lens. This provides his readers with additional insight needed to understand the "new normal" in politics, news, and culture. Dr. Tantillo is the OpEd writer for Political Vanguard. He is the author of "People Buy Brands, Not Companies," and the Udemy course "Go Brand Yourself!" Dr. Tantillo is also the host of the popular podcast BrandTalkk, another way to talk heard and seen on YouTube.You can follow him on Twitter @marketingdoctor and at Facebook.com/dr.johntantillo. Read Dr. John Tantillo's Reports — More Here.
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