MarketingDoctor.tv
John Tantillo's Brand Winner... And Loser: Joe Wilson and Joe Wilson
Posted by The Marketing Doctor at 9/14/2009 12:28 AM 
Categories: Branding
Tags: South Carolina political brand brand deportment Obama Joe Wilson personal brand marketing You Lie Joe The Plumber Target Market Pelosi branding issue permanence Tantillo Sarah Palin effect
Categories: Branding
Tags: South Carolina political brand brand deportment Obama Joe Wilson personal brand marketing You Lie Joe The Plumber Target Market Pelosi branding issue permanence Tantillo Sarah Palin effect
Brand Winner… | And Loser |
 |  |
John Tantillo’s Winner and Loser of The Week:
Winner: Joe Wilson
Loser: Joe Wilson
Folks, I’ve never done this before, but this week demands that I select the same personal brand for both this week’s winner and loser: Joe Wilson, the man who shouted “You Lie!” at the President and has been dominating the 24-hour news cycle ever since.
The Winner
At the beginning of last week, Congressman Joe Wilson had a limited public profile. He was a South Carolinian backbencher who came very close to losing his last election.
Then he shouted at the president during a joint session of Congress and all that instantly changed.
Overnight, his campaign was flooded with donations, and Joe Wilson, though forced by his own party and congressional leadership to apologize, had made a critical statement about his political brand.
Most importantly, Joe Wilson had appealed to his Target Market: 1) South Carolinians tired of a federal push that they don’t trust; and 2) conservative, free marketers all across the country who are genuinely opposed to efforts by the federal government to oversee their lives.
The Obama administration represents this federal push, and Joe Wilson represents the unequivocal voice to the anger brewing across the nation.
Bottom line, anyone who does not like Nancy Pelosi couldn’t help but delight in seeing her glaring in Wilson’s direction with a school-marmish superiority that only confirmed the fear that she wants to impose a nanny state on the whole nation. (See my post on The Nanny State as the Brand Loser here.)
The key here is that Wilson doesn’t need to win over the congressional leadership or the President. And he would have no chance of doing that anyway.
If a consumer doesn’t like apple pie, then no amount of product adjustment will make them like apple pie. No Democrat is going to like Joe Wilson —so there’s no point in trying to win any of them over.
First and foremost, Wilson has to give the people of South Carolina what they want if he is to win the next election. This outburst might just do that.
The lesson here is to know the needs of your Target Market so that your targeted consumers will always buy your brand.
Sometimes hype and publicity gives a brand an artificial bump in popularity, but this bump is seldom long-lasting, and long-term success may be evasive. But the Marketing Doctor knows that there is always something to be said for short-term visibility-building tactics, especially if that fifteen minutes of fame projects the core characteristics of your brand —as I believe it did for Wilson.
When these two things come together, you’ve got the Marketing Express: a fast train that you want to board and ride as far as possible.
The Loser
Joe Wilson also gets crowned loser, because, ultimately, the outburst could hurt him in the long run for two important reasons: 1) brand deportment and 2) issue permanence.
1) Brand Deportment. Deportment is an old-fashioned term for behavior. It conjures up finishing schools and manners, but it’s really about understanding what is expected and acceptable behavior for a person in a given role. What is ultimately expected from an elected representative? It probably isn’t shouting at the President during a joint session of Congress. If Wilson wants to run for Senator, will this hurt him? Very likely. Restraint and decorum are important. After all, people can applaud those who say what’s on their mind, but most of the electorate believes that there are limits to this kind of behavior. You can call it the Sarah Palin effect. Here’s a woman of great personal charisma who may very well hit a professional roadblock that she will never be able to overcome because of the perception that she doesn’t quite have it all together.
2) Issue Permanence. When the times are especially uncertain and chaotic, just as they are now, issues and political camps can make a personal brand important that wouldn’t have been in the past. Look at Joe The Plumber during the last election. Here’s a guy who was catapulted into the spotlight, not because of who he was so much as what he represented: the working man’s opposition to Obama and big-government federalism. That dynamic hasn’t changed, and Joe Wilson is in some ways today’s Joe the Plumber. But when the issues change and the political winds start blowing from a different direction, it’s very likely that Joe Wilson’s brand will be left stuck with an old fight. That is, unless he adapts as times change.
Again, you must know and serve your Target Market first. You also must be aware of the reality of the overall market. Political brands must tread especially carefully as they build on their Target Market, but also seek to expand beyond it to increase market share and electoral possibilities. The problem is that just like Palin with her death panel comments, Joe Wilson might find his personal political brand perceived as ultimately unfit for high-office because of the very thing that earned him attention in the first place.
And remember, it’s always easier when you keep marketing and branding in mind.
TODAY'S TANTILLO TAKEAWAY -
Make sure your fifteen minutes of fame communicates the core characteristics of your brand.
Comments