Trump and Marketing
Whatever you think of Donald Trump? The very idea of a brand is being sullied here. I say that because I think that a brand is based on good will not simply publicity. Of course brand managers and PR people who work with brand managers have a lot in common with political campaign staffs in the US because they are constantly trying to up the BS factor so that people will buy their products without demanding real value and integrity. Thats the problem with the corporate world today is that it is so big that it seeks to play on people's desire for smallville yet what they offer could not be further from that. So what we see is all this imagery that romanticizes old ways of craft building products when things are more mechanized and mass produced than ever. My thought is that Trump reflects the bankruptcy of corporate brands in that it (the corporate culture) is putting value on something that is shoddily produced and then at the same time undervaluing the ability of the American consumer to make critical and informed decisions about products and services. So please if you can going to talk about the value of branding in our lives try to see the writing on the wall: brand value is not based on publicity or the someone to get it alone it is based on the craft of effective corporate management and that includes providing real innovative value to consumers. And what kind of consumers do you want anyhow? I would think we want to instill a set of values in people so that they could be discriminating in making decisions. We dont want them to buy us because we do good publicity but to buy us because we are the very best and we share their values and commitment to being the very best in all that we do. For these reasons above I think the rational and article about on Trump is weakly put forward and does a disservice to those who seek to understand good will and brand management as well the development of a compelling and powerful brand.