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Like many people, I have been following the US presidential race with a mix of fascination and disbelief. Every four years marketers look to it for lessons they can take forward and this year the Republican race has rewritten the rules about winning at all costs.
While the mayhem, bombast and name-calling may not be applicable for most brands, we can unearth a valuable lesson from the Donald Trump phenomenon. It’s a back-to-basics study in understanding societal change and responding to your audience’s changing mood.
Trump took advantage of what was common knowledge to the political establishment in the post-GFC United States – the Republican heartland was angry. The Republicans knew this – they’d been feeding it for years – but didn’t understand that this changed how they needed to respond. Trump took heed of these changes in society and then responded with a voice to this disillusionment. And branded it ‘Trump’.
Of course, this is not unique to politics. We see these societal changes in every category and institution, but because of institutional hubris and legacy they are not responded to. Brands don’t need special research powers to see the reality of these changes – they are in plain sight. The challenge is having the audacity to respond.
Unilever acknowledged the reality of climate change and fair trade years ago – not perfectly, but significantly. In response, it adopted a Sustainable
Living Plan with the goal of “making sustainable living commonplace”. Here was a big player responding to societal change by putting responsible capitalism at its heart.
In the automotive category it took a newcomer like Elon Musk to shake up the game. The voices against fossil fuels and for more sustainable energy sources were well entrenched, but the car companies only paid lip service. Tesla Motors didn’t timidly test the waters by going hybrid before plunging into the electric car space – it leapt away from the established players and responded to the changing mood of society. Completely.
The Catholic Church is caught on the wrong side of societal changes that demand transparency and accountability in the wake of child sexual abuse scandals around the world. But, through either hubris or legacy, it is not responding despite huge reputational damage.
Every brand is affected by the same societal changes, but very few break from the pack. Let’s see if Apple moves manufacturing back to the US; if Japan succeeds in replacing nuclear with sustainable power (it said it would); and whether the pharmaceutical industry transforms its pricing policy to reflect what people in first-world, secondworld and third-world markets can afford.
By James Hier, CEO ANZ of MEC Sydney.