Blog Layout
The Real Story of Trump's Brand Success – 5 Important Lessons
noreply • June 4, 2016
BTW, this is neither an endorsement nor a negative on the brand of Trump, but merely a timely example of personal and corporate branding.
Signature Look
Earned Media/PR
Licensing
Storytelling
“It has been said that next to hunger and thirst, our most basic human need is for storytelling.” -Khalil Gibran.
There is real neuroscience behind storytelling as well.
Science says that our brains are more activated when we listen to stories vs. being told facts.
Source:
Storytelling makes facts come alive. They make conceptual ideas real and tangible. Stories help us understand why a person is unique. Trump's stories are about how he took a "modest" $1M loan from his father and turned it into a multibillion-dollar enterprise and how he raised a great family. Stories are also told in the campaign promises he makes.
Who could forget “I will build a great wall—and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me.” Stories are also told when he creates labels for his competitors. This is called “de-positioning.” Jeb Bush was "low energy" and Ted Cruz became "Lyin' Ted". Trump keeps his stories simple and "black and white" to appeal to the masses who are tired of political rhetoric. There are no ambiguities or complex narratives in his storytelling.
Archetype
All successful brands have built strong
and have woven them into the personality, identity and storytelling of their brands. Archetypes have their basis in Jungian psychology and represent a stereotype of a universal character that frequently showed up in literature and dreams. In other words, an archetype is a pattern of a character – the images, symbols and behaviors that create a character in literature. The idea links people's passion and needs in the form of a character they identify with. For example, Dracula and Frankenstein represent archetypes of horror movie characters. A strong archetype combined with a great brand story, identity and personality is the stuff that makes brands great. World class brands do this well and Donald Trump is no different. Common archetypes are depicted in the graphic below.
In addition, you can break down these archetypes into specific behaviors, motivations and attitudes. Scholarly research has linked these archetypes to specific brands.
https://youtu.be/vcEOsGvT0qA
dfriedman@clevelpartners.net
