BrandSimple | BrandDigital: The Blog

Super Tuesday is upon us. Pundits are calling it the first national primary. I’m calling it a battle for the brands. From my BrandSimple perspective, the winner hands down will be Barack Obama. He’s identified the clearest, simplest brand driver of anyone running. His easily understood idea is sort of akin to Pepsi’s “choice of a new generation.” And whether people agree with this choice of a new generation they’re in full agreement that everything he says and does is in alignment with his well-defined brand idea.

Second on my best branded list is John McCain. His brand driver is more akin to Coke’s classic positioning, “It’s the real thing.” As an American hero with a stellar military record and an equally stellar senatorial record, he projects himself, what he says and what he does, as the real thing, at least when it comes to presidential timber. He comes across as authentic.

This leaves Hillary Clinton stuck in the middle, sort of between Coke and Pepsi. While she has plenty of supporters and just as many claims, she hasn’t identified a simple, clear way to define her brand. This could bode problems. As all brand professionals know, it’s really hard to win from the middle. It’s hard to win when consumers can’t quite figure out what you stand for. It’s hard to win when you don’t have a simple, clear idea driving all of your branding activities, be they ads or speeches, promises or platforms. If Hillary Clinton wants to make it to the top of the best branded list, if she wants to make it to the top, she’s got to get out of the middle. It’s hard to win from the middle. Just ask Dr. Pepper.

Whether they like to admit it or not, politicians are brands. Like all brands, they affix themselves to our psyches through “bumper sticker ideas.” Simple “sticky” associations we summon up whenever their names are mentioned. Nimble reductions of what they stand for with no details required. Whether we agree with a bumper sticker idea is not the point. It’s whether we “get it” and whether it’s gripping enough to stick.

For example, we got that FDR would give us a “new deal” and we got Reagan’s bumper sticker idea, cleverly posited as a question. “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Without a doubt, we also got – and continue to get – George W’s sticky idea. He likes the course he’s on. In fact, he’s stuck us with the notion that we’re “either on his side or the other side.” Which brings me to the inherent paradox created by bumper sticker ideas, whether they apply to political brands or traditional brands. Once they stick, it’s hard to peel them off mental bumpers. When people have your brand pegged one way or another, it’s hard to change their minds, whether you want to, or not.

So, what’s my advice for the political candidates of 2008? The easy part first. You need a brilliant bumper sticker idea. Given the way people think about brands, they’re required branding tools. The hard part? You need to get strategically focused and identify a simple promise people will care about for the long term.

None of this is rocket science. It’s plain and simple branding science. And while the obvious reality of all bumper sticker ideas is that there are no simple solutions to the complex issues they represent, they get our attention – for better or worse. So candidates, take heed. If you want people to “get it,” capture it in a bumper sticker idea. But before you do, make sure it’s something you’d like to be stuck with for the long term (or, at the very least, two terms).

Dealing with negative issues head on is as smart in branding as it is in life. In this case, I’m referring to Citgo’s recent hard-hitting print ad in which it addresses the controversy regarding alleged ties to Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan oil interests. Rather than sidestepping the issue, Citgo took the strategic high road. It stated, for the record, in black and white terms, that Chavez did not control the company, nor had any influence on Citgo’s business practices.

Branding is a long-term initiative. Stuff happens along the way, in the market and in the world. Taking on tough issues as they come up is part of the equation. Dealing with the less than favorable isn’t fun, but to mitigate loss of brand equity it’s a necessary strategy. Citgo did the right thing. If I were to be so bold as to offer advice (which I am), I would suggest that Citgo do one more thing. Hold off running any traditional image advertising until things cool down a bit. It’s hard for consumers to get two completely different signals from one brand simultaneously. They get confused. Which is not good for any brand. But, in branding, as in life, things move on. Citgo is moving in the right direction.

Bill Clinton is back in the news ? big time. There he is reaching across the ideological aisle to join in tsunami relief with President Bush the elder. There he is with the wife of the current President Bush during the recent events at the United Nations in New York. There he is applauding a speech given by his own wife with an adoring Chelsea by his side. And, yes, there he is with none other than Sir Richard Branson as Sir Richard announced a pledge of $3 billion during a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, a major new force in the philanthropic world. Bill Clinton is powerful. More to the point, Bill Clinton is a powerful brand. (If you don’t think people can be brands, ask Oprah, Donald or Martha.) What does former President Clinton know that all powerful brands know? While it’s one thing for a brand to establish itself by representing something different, yet relevant, the difficult part is to stay relevant. And, what could possibly be more relevant than worldwide efforts in the name of AIDS relief efforts, global warming, and human rights? While Bill Clinton may have made a few egregious errors along the way (which is not the premise of this piece), he was a strong and charismatic leader. These leadership qualities are at the core of his brand. In fact they define his difference. He knows this, and is re-channeling these qualities in ways that are relevant to the health and well-being of millions of people. Other former presidents may build libraries to further the social and ideological causes they espouse. Bill Clinton is building his brand to do the same. Exhale, Bill. It’s working.