In the wake of changing demographics, shifting party
coalitions and voter attitudes, and significant wins in key battleground
states, Donald J. Trump defied all political polls to become the United States’
next president-elect. Not only did the win come with 276 electoral votes, the
win also came with an enormously needed re-boost to the Trump brand.
A post-Election Day, overnight National study conducted by
Brand Keys, the New York-based brand engagement and customer loyalty research
consultancy revealed that in each of the seven (7) categories where Brand Keys
has tracked the Trump brand – a brand whose added-value had been badly battered
by campaign rhetoric and the release of a video tape that captured Mr. Trump
making lewd comments about women – rebounded to levels close to or exceeding
added-value measures seen in April of 2015, just prior to his announced
presidential candidacy.
Whether you voted for him or not, Mr. Trump has been one of
the most powerful brands we’ve ever tracked. You could add his name to anything
from ties to buildings and the increased perceived value of the products fell
into the 20% to 37% range. Which was very high, enviable by any category or
brand standards, and what a brand is supposed to do. Now, we suppose, he
literally qualifies as “the most powerful brand in the world.”
When Mr. Trump threw his hat into the presidential ring in
June of 2015, some of the product and service categories Brand Keys tracked
were positively affected; some were negatively affected. That didn't totally
surprise or alarm us, though. In becoming a candidate Mr. Trump changed both
the brand paradigm regarding consumer expectations and values surrounding the
Trump brand and also blurred the traditional lines regarding where the “Trump
brand” was expected to compete. These shifts changed how consumers perceived
the Trump brand. And an oft-contentious campaign didn’t help foster consumer
emotional engagement and brand loyalty levels. But the disclosure of a
videotape capturing Mr. Trump making lewd comments about women seemed to have
placed the Trump brand in real peril.
Brands – particularly Human Brands, people who are seen to
be the living, breathing embodiments of those set of values they alone are able
to so successfully, seamlessly, and profitably transfer to products and
services – that are then so negatively and publically exposed the way the video
did to Mr. Trump, don’t usually come back as strong as they used to be. Think
about what happened to Martha Stewart or Tiger Woods. Their brands survived but
they never came back as strong as they were before the brand imploded – after
they went to jail or were forced to do a PGA-Adultery walk-of-shame, for
example. Human Brands don’t generally get a second chance to breath real life
back into their brands or rekindle the desire in the hearts and souls of
consumers. Not at their former brand strength, added-value levels, at least.
These shifts are incredibly strong.” But apparently winning a presidential
election is the exception that tests the rule.
According to 1,203 registered voters in the 9 US Census
regions, 100% of the categories where Brand Keys has tracked the Trump brand
that had been negatively affected a month ago with the Access Hollywood tape
disclosure, all rebounded to Post-Candidacy +added-value brand levels.
Added-value related to the Trump brand – that is, how much more a product or
service is seen to better meet consumer expectations and be seen to be worth
more monetarily with the Trump brand – is back up significantly from a month
ago in each of the seven categories where Brand Keys has historically tracked
the Trump brand. In some categories, the added-value brand numbers are the
highest Brand Keys has ever tracked for the brand.
CATEGORY
|
Trump Brand
(4/2015)
|
Post-Candidacy
(7/2016)
|
Access Hollywood
Tape Release
(10/7/16)
|
Trump as
President-Elect
(11/16)
|
TV/Entertainment:
|
37%
|
43%
|
30%
|
40%
|
Country/Golf Clubs:
|
35%
|
40%
|
34%
|
42%
|
Real Estate:
|
30%
|
30%
|
22%
|
43%
|
Dress Shirts:
|
30%
|
22%
|
18%
|
28%
|
Ties:
|
29%
|
23%
|
18%
|
24%
|
Suits:
|
25%
|
19%
|
15%
|
30%
|
Watches:
|
20%
|
11%
|
10%
|
13%
|
From a political perspective, with the White House won, the
Senate race no longer a toss-up, and the House firmly within GOP hands, a brand
that was once deemed toxic by many consumers – and totally mismeasured by most
researchers and political polls – is now seen as not only a safe option, but an
emotionally desirable option. Especially given the new set of values that the
brand has created around itself: victory, self-confidence and determination, a
sense of the visionary, and ultimately greatness. We’ll have to factor those
into our next Presidential Model, which was the one that identified Mr. Trump’s
suitability as a Presidential candidate back in June 2015!
The election occurred in contrast to predictions by the
political polls and pundits, and we’ll leave it to them to predict the future
when it comes to presidential politics. What we know for sure is that these
brand engagement, added-value numbers correlate very highly with consumer
behavior and consumer perceptions of added-value for consumers’ own sense of
self and actual product/service price value. They certainly did in voting
booths across America. One should remember that as regards the brand engagement
measures, these are leading-indicators, which means that we’ll be seeing their
effects six to nine months down the road, although we’d have to do some
additional drill-down research to predict the product and political effects of
those consumers/voters who feel disenfranchised.
All that said, as currently calculated, this version of the
Trump Presidential-Elect Brand’s added-value also adds a lot of new meaning if
you’re reserving the Presidential Suite at a Trump Hotel or scheduling a
tee-time at a Trump Golf Course.
We think that in addition to being a Human Brand, given the
election results it’s fair to call it ‘The Brand Commander-In-Chief’!”
Find out more about what makes customer loyalty happen and how Brand Keys metrics is able to predict future consumer behavior: brandkeys.com. Visit our YouTube channel to learn more about Brand Keys methodology, applications and case studies.
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