What can we learn about marketing and communication from politicians?
In this video, Tony Robbins discusses the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump with ex-Vice President of Marketing for NewsEdge (and established author), David Meerman Scott.
Both men possess a healthy slew of real-world marketing knowledge, so it’s interesting to hear their take on what they both consider to be a particularly interesting election.
As Tony Robbins points out, 2016’s candidates are noteworthy for their unpopularity. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have historically low ratings for likeability, so it might be a logical assumption that neither is particularly successful when it comes to marketing.
However, and somewhat counter-intuitively, that is absolutely not the case. While we certainly aren’t putting forward any inclination towards one candidate or another, we have blogged about Donald Trump’s approach before. We’re strong advocates of authenticity and loyalty to your target audience, and regardless of your take on the man, Trump certainly embodies both.
What’s interesting to note about Trump’s marketing approach is that, of all candidates, he actually spent the least on traditional advertising in 2015. Trump spent around 2 million, but generated 1.9 billion in free exposure – more than every other candidate put together. Conversely, Jeb Bush spent 85 million.
Scott also pointed out a very interesting tactic of Hillary’s which earned her a peculiar nickname: “The Selfie Ninja”. Despite his overall disappointment with candidates’ abilities to integrate online marketing with offline, he was impressed by Hillary’s method of grabbing fans’ phones to take her own selfies.
It’s an interesting time for politics in the Western World right now. The U.S. election is underfoot, the Australian election is tomorrow, and we’re all waiting in anticipation to see how the result of Brexit will affect the world’s economy.
It’s times like these that marketers, professional communicators and those with a passion for media will benefit from paying very close attention to the details behind our politicians’ messages. There’s a lot to take in, and we’ll be here as always to offer our take on everything that unfolds.
