Donald Trump Sworn In

Donald Trump is America’s 45th President: What Can We Learn?

On the 20th of January, 2017, Donald Trump was officially sworn in as the 45th President of the United States.

The result has taken the world by storm, creating both passionate advocates and furious detractors, despite the fact that many have taken to protesting Donald Trump and his stances – Meryl Streep being one such example. Against all doubt, Donald Trump secured enough votes to emerge victorious in a democratic election.

Love him or hate him, that doesn’t happen by accident.

And not only did he win, he overcame enormous odds to do it. The Bush–Clinton era lasted from the 1980s to 2009. That means that Trump is the first candidate since 1980 to defeat a Bush or a Clinton in a presidential election.

So how did this happen? What can we learn from this victory and apply to our own businesses, marketing endeavours or professional lives?

Branding

Before he ran for president, Trump had an established and recognisable brand. Trump’s name was associated with luxury, success and fame. Using the Trump Towers, The Apprentice and his business persona, he began his campaign with leverage.

Hillary Clinton had a brand as well, but her brand was simply not as powerful. People didn’t feel they knew her as well. People didn’t know what to associate her name with.

When people think of your company, what do they think of? What does your name represent? What identity are you putting forward? When you’re working on your branding presence, ask yourself if you’re being as congruent to the public’s perception of you as Trump has always been.

Polarisation

It may be counter-intuitive, but putting forward polarising marketing materials is one of the most common recommendations that high-level expert marketing gurus make. The reason is simple: Although you become less appealing to the people you weren’t targeting anyway, you become vastly more appealing to your supporters.

Donald Trump is an obvious example of the success of polarisation in your messaging. His messages were always straightforward, to-the-point and clear. His advocates and his detractors both knew where he stood, and he didn’t mind offending people that disagreed.

Trump’s direct and consistent message of change and safety never wavered, and because of that, his supporters only grew more confident as time went on.

Positioning

How do you excel in business when competing businesses are bigger, better funded and got there before you? There is no single answer, but “a sound positioning strategy” is a good one to start with.

Positioning refers to the concept of how a business positions itself in the public’s mind. Brands with great positioning strategies have managed to excel over powerful competitors (or at least co-exist with them) for a long time.

When you think of cola, you think Coke. When you think of toothpaste, you think Colgate. When you think fast food, you think McDonald’s. These three brands hold the cola position, the toothpaste position and the fast food position, respectively, in the average person’s mind.

But what if you owned a toothpaste company marketed specifically to orange juice fanatics? Let’s say you managed to develop a toothpaste that didn’t make orange juice and other things taste disgusting afterwards. Then, despite the massive resources and dominance of Colgate, your brand would hold the “toothpaste for orange juice drinkers” position. People in that category would never feel that Colgate represented their needs as well as your brand did.

Trump used positioning to indirectly slander his opposition with phrases like “Crooked Hillary” and “Lyin’ Ted”. Through repetition and a bit of suggestion, he began to give Hillary the crooked position and Ted the liar position in people’s minds.

He didn’t need everyone to be convinced, just enough to turn the tide in his favour.

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