In Brief: Conservatives Woefully Out-Marketed by Leftists
Marketing professor Gene Del Vecchio explains why this matters.
Gene Del Vecchio is a consultant and adjunct professor of marketing at the USC Marshall School of Business. So he knows a branding problem when he sees one.
While the Republican Party makes a strong case for their various platforms, too often they lose the marketing battle. Unfortunately, that is the only consequential battle in Washington D.C.
The power of marketing is derived from the astute ability to identify a target audience, craft a simple yet powerful message, and effectively disseminate it to voters. Unlike the Republican Party, Democrats have honed this ability for decades with powerful effect.
Del Vecchio relates the story of the abortion debate in the 1960s, when Democrats realized they were outmaneuvered by the “right to life” slogan. Before long, the “right to choose” became their rallying cry and public opinion shifted dramatically their way.
Immigration is another such subject:
The use of the term “illegal alien” has deep roots. … The U.S. has used the term “alien” almost since the country’s inception, having been referenced in the 1790 Naturalization Act that provided the first guidelines for granting citizenship. …
Those in favor of the phrase say it is simply descriptive. Liberals believe it to be dehumanizing, and they fired up the marketing machine.
Why?
In politics, shrewd marketing influences public opinion, which empowers legislators, which changes laws. In many ways, politics is marketing.
The only recent, significant example of Republican leadership out-marketing Democrat leadership was the 2016 election. Then-candidate Donald Trump had a more effective, benefit-oriented slogan — Make America Great Again — versus Clinton’s non-benefit slogan — I’m with Her.
After four long years of the Democrat marketing machine going “into hyperdrive” to tear down Trump, he lost. “Trump did not lose the presidency due to his policies. He was outperformed by far superior marketing.” And if Republicans want to succeed, he concludes, this must change.
Throughout, Democrats do a superb job of thinking strategically and acting tactically, for the long game, which proves them to be master marketers. Republicans are simply not as skilled and are sometimes hampered by their scruples, and so they will fall further behind unless they understand that espousing sound policy is not enough. They need smart, more aggressive marketing that uses a greater array of tools.
It’s time to level up.
