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There are few times when the power of branding is forefront as during presidential election years. When President Obama ran for office in 2008, he was relatively unknown, the “Outsider”. The likelihood of getting elected was, truthfully, not strong. But he had a powerful theme embodied in a simple message: “Hope” and “Change.” These words stirred many an American soul—and Obama personified them. His brand was carefully crafted, robustly communicated, and equal parts inspirational and easy to grasp. 

 

In 2012’s republican primary season, Mitt Romney has been painted as the “Establishment”, traditional candidate. Prior to the Iowa Caucus, it appeared this might hurt his chances. The media told us Republicans were seeking the dark horse—that un-entrenched candidate who would affect real change in Washington. 

 

But as the Establishment candidate, Romney had a foothold no other candidate had: People knew how to categorize him—offering him precious mindshare—and the freedom to promote an overarching campaign theme while the others duked it out over the issues they represented. 

 

Employing that lead, Romney presented an emotionally-driven campaign theme: BELIEVE. The single-word tactic allows voters to fill in their own blanks: Believe… in America, in more jobs, in a brighter future for our children, etc. etc. And as we saw with the '08 Obama campaign, people are eager to do so.

 

Enter the outsiders of 2012 who showed well in New Hampshire: Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman. Unfortunately, since both are Outsiders, neither one can own the categorization. Nor has either successfully differentiated himself in other ways (business leader, “maverick”, etc.). And because they are still in the “nice to meet you, here’s who I am” phase, Paul and Huntsman spend their time talking issues.

 

Their hard work has thus far paid off. But what’s the message? It’s nice to assume voters are voting based on your quiver of issue stances, but let’s be real. Most people vote, buy, and live life based on emotional decisions that are justified by a few supporting facts. And not only are these two candidates focusing on the detail of issues, their campaign themes are issue-based, too:

 

 

Both campaign themes require thought about their meaning—and, both themes are arms-length from people’s emotional needs. The irony is their themes speak to a real stance much more than "Believe" does--but they lack that emotional pull that is so critical.

 

A powerful brand needs emotion. It needs to run the risk of polarizing people, it needs to take a very large concept and make it personal to the audience, and it needs to be easy to grasp. So here we are in 2012, as yet another presidential race provides us with very basic dos and don’ts of branding. 

 

The lesson? Make it easy for people to remember you by differentiating within a category. And then give us a brand with an emotional pull.  Without both, you’re leaving too much to chance.