The Democrat’s Brand Problem
By: Elizabeth Rose
Tags: United States, Marketing, Democratic Party, Politics, Brand Strategy

This week on Crooked Media podcast, Pod Save America, co-host Dan Phiffer spoke with CEO of Civics Analytics, Dan Wagner, about the results and polling data that has come out of the 2020 election.

As the two tried to work out the various reason for ballot splitting and voter turnout, Wagner pointed out an incredibly interesting data point — people across the country consistently voted for progressive policies, but, at least in some cases, rejected progressive candidates.

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For example, the Florida ballot contained a $15 minimum wage initiative which was approved by a 60–30 margin. With the same stroke of their pen however, Florida voters also voted in majorities for those candidates who voiced skepticism, if not out right opposition, for raising the minimum wage including Republicans President Donald Trump and Representative Matt Gaetz.

Even further, marijuana legalization won in every state where it was on the ballot. Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, and New Jersey all voted to approve recreational marijuana. In South Dakota and Mississippi, medical marijuana was approved. And it was not close. All of the measures were approved by 5 or more percentage points.

Yet, in Montana, South Dakota, and Mississippi, voters voted overwhelmingly for Republicans in both the presidential and congressional races on the very same ballot. In Arizona, while the state ultimately went blue, Joe Biden only beat Donald Trump by .3 percentage points.

Wagner diagnoses this as a brand problem. In marketing, he explains, a brand problem is where people like the product, but not the brand. For example, in 1998, Hyundai experienced a major brand problem where people were impressed with the quality of the car, but did not want to drive around in the Hyundai name.

Here, “people like the Democratic product, but they don’t like the Democrats at the same rate they like the product and that’s the definition of a brand problem.” Given the results from the 2020 election, this is hard to deny.

So how does one fix a brand problem? A knee jerk reaction would say that Democratic candidates need to be more likable. That their problem is that people don’t like them. That the party is elitist and not relatable to blue collar workers.

The problem with the likability argument is that attempts at becoming more likable often backfire, making the candidate less likable. Voters are savvy and are quick to notice when someone is trying too hard to get their attention. Supporters of the candidate may see their new approach as too compromising and proof that the candidate is willing to weaken their policy position for votes.

Rather than focusing on likability, we can turn back to principles of marketing. Where marketing can diagnose the problem, it might also provide helpful answers.

A real problem exists where voters do not associate candidates with the policies they support. When this happens, it shows a deficiency in brand association.

Brand association is “a mental connection between a brand a concept.” For example, when we think of Apple we think technology, ingenuity, and minimalism. If you think Joe Biden, Joe Biden wants you to think unity, stability, and trust. Ideally, when we think Democrat, the party would hope the association is equality, progress, opportunity, and most importantly, the party’s major policy platforms like healthcare reform, immigration reform, and raising the minimum wage.

But cultivating brand association requires ensuring that the message reaches voters. Democrats can have the best ads in the world but they ultimately mean nothing if they aren’t being seen by meaningful populations. And unfortunately, to make the problem even more difficult, people today exist in echo chambers. The internet has created a selective exposure vessel where you can steer the ship to produce the information that will reinforce already held views. Information expressing anything to the contrary can easily be tuned out by changing websites, changing the channel, or putting down the phone.

This has been incredibly useful to Republicans who easily have a pipeline to these voters. The Republicans have been given access to control Democrat’s brand association, depicting Democratic candidates as socialist, corrupt, and big government pawns. Once that general belief of distrust is created, it is incredibly difficult to undo.

This does mean we should we worried about 2022 and 2024 but it does not mean the party is doomed. Instead of letting the recognition of this problem be discouraging, I’d instead urge that it be enlightening.

The party should move away from focusing on likability, and instead focus on reachability. We need strong data-driven internet campaigns to reach voters who would otherwise never hear from a Democrat. Democrats should also take seriously the will of the voters. If the voters voted for progressive policies by wide margins, then Democrats should be quick to attack the Republicans who actively fought against those policies.

Winning elections requires an immense amount of reflection. If we can grapple with our weaknesses, and implement strategies to improve, the party will be stronger for it.