Learning From McCain's Biggest Branding Mistake

If you ever wanted to know more about the effects of branding, then simply follow politics. This year we saw Hillary Clinton attempt to own "experience" early in her run for office. When it didn't gain much traction, she shifted to a populist approach, which gained her votes but eroded her brand consistency. Barack Obama has been more successful with staying on his message of "change." McCain too has done a great job of owning a word... "maverick," and herein lies the problem. It's the "be-careful-what-you-wish-for" syndrome.

By owning "change," Barack can stay true to form by offering alternative after alternative to any emerging problems. It's a fairly safe position to own, especially in a down economy. His only downside is if things were to become very good economically and people didn't want change any longer. Doubtful in the short term.

McCain on the other hand has painted himself in a corner. He must now consistently be "maverick-y" to continue his brand promise. That can be a great word when you are running for president, but not so great a word if you're sitting behind the desk in the oval office. It puts him in a perceived oppositional stance, where he has to continually perform as a maverick in his own party, against the other party, etc. to reinforce his image. McCain would have been much better served to forget the word maverick and embrace the word "reformer." Instead he straddled both themes and got labeled more with being the maverick (only one click away from "erratic") A reformer works within the system to improve it. A maverick disrupts it.

Here's where the branding lesson comes in. As business owners we often spend much of our time and energy (wittingly or unwittingly) trying to own a position in the market, only to find it doesn't serve us. Perhaps we constantly pitch ourselves as the price leaders, only to resent the low margin jobs we get. Or we talk up our "we-can-do-it-all" capabilities, only to find ourselves spread too thin. Ask yourself what one attribute you and your company are most associated with, and what it would be like if you succeeded in totally owning that word. Would it really help? Could you really deliver? More importantly, would you want to? If not, it might be time to reconsider your position and pivot to something you can consistently deliver to a buying audience.

Right now people are buying change.

They are so-so on experience.

And they are a little leery of maverick.

What can you consistently provide? Is there a market for it? If you don't like what you've been getting, look at what you've been putting out. And then thank all our candidates this year for their very valuable branding lessons.

Phillip Davis is president and owner of Tungsten Branding, business naming consultants specializing in brand creation, product naming, tag line development, corporate identity and strategic brand repositioning. Phil's client list includes PODS, Team Logic IT and Sea Of Diamonds to name a few. His complete client list and company naming philosophy can be viewed at http://PureTungsten.com

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