Trump's Twitter: A Branding Iron

A Lesson in Branding:  A Branding Iron is Small and Hot and it Hurts.

Trump understood how to brand his opponents.   He did not do it with a careful argument.  He did it with a phrase that encapsulated an idea that was short and memorable.  The fact that it was shocking and unfair was a feature, not a bug.  It made it memorable.  

Can Trump style branding work against Trump?

Sweet are the uses of criticism.  A reader of this blog and my Facebook posts objected to my use of the cartoon below yesterday.   She said it was not up to my "usual standards."  She is exactly right.   I consider her comment doubly credible because she had a long, very successful career in marketing a natural product--fresh pears--and increasing their value 100 times by turning a "mere pear" into a treasured Christmas gift through branding.

The cartoon is shocking and unfair.  It changes Trump's brand.

The cartoon is shocking.  It makes an implication of homosexuality and overtly says Putin is dominant.  Her unintended compliment to the cartoonist was that she likened it to a Trump twitter, which I consider high praise for the cartoon.  If the idea represented by this cartoon is going to be effective it will be exactly like a Trump twitter.  

That is the point.

Trump is undeniably a master at branding his opponents.   He picked up on elements of his rival and reduced them to that.   Bush's body language was indeed weak-looking.  His arms hang and his shoulders slump.   Trump reduced him to Low-Energy Bush.   Marco Rubio is short and he became Little Marco.  Ted Cruz was making hard sharp critical comments against Trump and Trump worked to devalue them by characterizing them as per se dishonest: Lyin' Ted.

And, of course, Crooked Hillary.   

Trump does not argue these points, he assumes these positions and ties the word to the opponent.  It is unfair, but effective.  It is unkind and dishonest but it worked.   The public wanted a shorthand way to consider his rivals and Trump supplied it.   

My blog post yesterday included the above cartoon, in which Trump is shown in a photo that is undeniably homo-erotic, with Trump behind Putin, suggesting two gay lovers, with Putin holding the reins.  The fact that I got objections from it demonstrate it's power.  I included it not as a "first person" presentation of my thinking or the "usual standards" of this blog, which are to describe in objective prose,  but as an illustration of what kinds of thinking is "out there" and what might go viral, what might spread, what might have traction.

Trump's alpha male dominance was part of his brand, something Trump actively promoted and defended against the "small hands" tease by Rubio.  Trump offended people with his "pussy grab" comment but that comment was consistent with his brand as an alpha male and it did not hurt him.   By election day it may have helped him.  It proved his brand.  He was strong and masculine and Hillary was short and feminine (and therefore weak and crooked, as he branded her.)   Having three wives, each successively younger did not hurt him.  He commands his harem.  Being highly sexed fits his brand.  

What would hurt his brand is the notion that Trump's alpha male testosterone swagger is counterfeit.  Republican opponents have been calling him a "con artist" for two years.   Voters are alert for signs of deceit and they are looking for a "tell".   The cartoon suggests in a glance that Trump is a con.  He is not the alpha male and a womanizer.  He is the man in the back seat to a man.  He is dangerous after all, in thrall to Putin.

Is the cartoon fair or a serious argument?  Not at all.   It is exactly like a Trump tweet about Lyin' Ted. 

Will the cartoon "stick" in people's minds? Not unless it is repeated consistently by Trump opponents.  Trump hammered in his branding by repetition.  Memes need to be circulated if they are going to stick.  

Trump made an opening for this kind of attack because he has handled the policy tilt to Russia in a way that is inconsistent with the Trump style.  He seems a bit more needy, a bit more fawning in his approval of Putin than is the standard Trump style. Trump has dismissed the Russian hacking of the DNC readily, in sharp contrast to his reaction to Mexico, China, and Japan, where he has been quick to look for fault, not excuse.

This meme may fizzle out.   Trump could nip it in the bud with some strong public talk against Putin (perhaps paired with some back-channel reassurances that Trump is just posturing, don't worry.)  And maybe Democrats will feel reluctant to push this idea since imbedded in it is the notion that gay beefcake displays are transgressive.   The anti-gay Christian right will not want to push the idea because they have some Supreme Court seats to fill.  

Thanks for the Beefcake, Mr. Trump!

The ideal group to push the idea would be gay men.  They could praise Trump.  They would have more credibility as a brander and destroyer of Trump if they did it as praise, not condemnation.   They could congratulate Trump on having the courage to express his inner desire for a strong masculine leader, someone stronger and more desirable than himself.  They would understand exactly what they are doing--damaging Trump--but they could do it in a way that voices their own message: gay is OK.  

Will supporters of Donald Trump think this is mean spirited and vicious.   They certainly should because that would be exactly what it is.   It is doing branding the Trump way, the effective way, with a short, hot, hurtful idea that sticks.  Trump is Putin's lapdog.

This blog attempts to witness and understand political messaging and branding and Trump's opponents can learn from him.    As I was finishing this post I received the following photo, sent to a college classmate from a friend in New Zealand.

 Certain ideas spread.