I was endeavoring to explain to a friend today, in answer to his question, “What do you think of Trump?”, that I thought he (Trump) had a few core tenants of marketing perfectly wired.
Leave it to a marketing guy to try to answer every question by citing GREAT marketing chops! Let’s first lay the ground work with an analogy or at least point of reference to one of the strongest marketing campaigns of all time by the folks at Band-Aid.
You know why I’m stuck on Band-Aid? “‘Cause Band-Aid is stuck on me!”
Their jingle, the repetition and the singular focus (or distillation) around a single stake in the ground makes for incredibly strong branding and recall.
Name another kind of bandage? (Picture me humming the Jeopardy there as you struggle throughout this moment).
Jingles- They work. We remember songs better than spoken word. Remember the alphabet? Try saying it without the song, see how you do.
Repetition- As my golf coach likes to say, practice makes permanent. The more we see something the better we remember it, but MORE importantly the more we like it. Familiarity breeds LIKE. It’s why we can’t break habits, why we stay in abusive relationships. We like the routine. I am stuck on Band-Aid…
Singular Focus- Band-Aid hammers home the word STUCK. Every message is better when distilled. Like a fine vodka or bourbon, the focusing of flavors that occurs in the distillation process (or aging, aka consistency building process) makes a spirit stand out in an ocean of fermented potatoes and corn. Messaging requires distillation. Say in it 30 seconds, now say it in 15. Now explain it to Grandma in 10…better have a singular focus, great and recognizable flavor.
Catch the commercial and then we’re going to switch gears to El Trumpo.
Here’s the deal. You heard it here first. He distilled himself 7x (like a fine vodka) to represent TOUGH. Trump is tough, or at least blustery until he actually comes to blow with a crazy rally-disrupter, so we can assume he is tough, right?
TOUGH
- Tough on trade
- Tough on immigration
- Tough on ISIS
- Tough on his opponents
- Tough on everything (except women, but that is up for much debate, right?)
HE IS FULLY DISTILLED, AND THEREFORE #WINNING.
ARE YOU, IS YOUR BRAND, FULLY DISTILLED?
