As I am writing these lines, Joe Biden has just been projected to be the 46th President of the United States. It came as a surprise to many that this year’s election was neck-to-neck. Almost half of the country still voted for Trump. The fact of the matter is that his supporters give him rock solid support.
Any businesses out there will envy this level of brand loyalty, where almost half the “market” continuously and passionately prefer the Trump’s brand of presidency over other competitors’.
Looking from a commercial product perspective, we will be able to gain some insights into how the Trump presidency has managed to pull this off.
If the presidency is a product, who are the sellers and the buyers?
In this unique context, the presidential candidates are the sellers, while the voters are the buyers. Voters pay votes in exchange for their rights and values being advocated for by the president of their choice. In other words, presidential candidates sell their ability to protect and promote the people’ rights and values in exchange for votes.
The United States’ population is more than 328 million, a big market with diverse religious, moral, political and economical beliefs. Any business that wants to capture this market must have a value proposition that appeals to a large enough audience, which, in this case, is equivalent to at least 270 electoral colleges.
So, who are Trump’s buyers?
Who are Trump’s “buyers” and why do they love him?
For the past five years, the Trump campaign and presidency have been a source of misery to those whose lives were wrecked by his divisive and contemptuous leadership, or the lack thereof, and a supply of late night shows’ materials to those who were fortunate enough to laugh about it.
While many Americans and international observers shake their heads in disbelief at his conduct and policies, a good number of his supporters do not think so.
Market Positioning
As long as the Trump’s brand of presidency represents their values and desires, it is still a positive value exchange. The whole world can think he is mad; but he is giving his buyers exactly what they want.
While Trump was running for the first term, his team read the market correctly that there was a big group of Americans who had a growing distrust in institutions, from government, corporate to the media.
He, an unorthodox candidate who was a businessman icon, someone not part of the existing establishment, had the right competitive advantage to appeal to this group of voters.
Market Acquisition
With masterful use of target digital advertising, Trump’s team had a “great hack” into the minds of his target audience with messages that echo their hearts’ desires.
Regardless of what his personal beliefs actually are, his divisive policies and public statements on immigration, minorities’ rights, the handling of the pandemic, foreign relations, etc as well as his personal scandals trigger passion and hatred. The more intensely people feel, the more engaged they are with his content and his brand.
This strategy is in tune with the algorithm behind many social media platforms that further drive and reinforce his reach.
In short, Trump does not indoctrinate people with radical extreme beliefs; he only amplifies what already exists. And because no other competitors in the market offered an equally compelling value proposition to this group of voters, he became the market leader in their mind share.
Is the Trump presidency a one-hit wonder?
The 2016 election made Trump the monopoly in the market. No matter what the people’s initial choice was, everyone had to consume the same product for four years. 2020 was the chance for all buyers to decide if they would like to switch to another brand.
Barring unforeseen stuns, we now have the answer that Biden is going to be the new national brand, making the Trump presidency a one-hit wonder.
Some might think perhaps the Trump brand’s value proposition has turned out to be too niche for his market share to grow. Many of his supporters might have been disillusioned and left the boat.
However, this might not be true. His popular vote count grew from ~63 million in 2016 to ~71 million in 2020*. His popular vote share also increased from 46.1% to 47.7%*.
In fact, Trump has gained an additional of 8 million buyers over the past four years. This increase is 47% of the overall increase in total number of votes from ~129 million in 2016 to ~146 million (to date) in 2020*.
This means though Trump most likely will be a one-hit-wonder president, the particular brand of presidency that he represents has gained more followers. The next player in the market who adopts the same playbook might very well threaten to assume the market leader position again.
Conclusion
The Trump presidency demonstrated a dangerously successful case of how to acquire a market and build brand loyalty. What is your take on this case study? Feel free to leave a line in the comment section.
*Data on the vote counts and vote shares are taken from Wikipedia and the Washington Post
