Trump was not elected on a platform of decency, fairness, moderation, compromise, and the rule of law; he was elected, in the main, on a platform of resentment.
– David Remnick (New Yorker)
Yesterday was a shocking day.
During the presidential race Donald Trump has showcased racism, hatred for women and downright lack of manners that should not be tolerable for leader of any organisation, not to mention the most powerful country of the world. I hope that some of the comments were just smart strategy (cynical adman in me) and there will be wiser Trump in the office.
Time will tell.
There have been lots of good articles of the reasons why Donald Trump won (both scientific and emotional), but there are three main reasons for the win that every marketer should take into account with their own marketing strategy:
He (Trump) took advantage of a media landscape that has never been more broken, more fragmented and more open to misinformation, disinformation, and even outright hoaxes and lies.
I don´t have many Trump supporters in my Facebook friends. I don´t have lots of friends living in rural areas. My peer group is mostly comprised by knowledge workers, who have not gotten the short end of stick with globalization. Not to mention that I am Finn living in Singapore who does not really know anything about day-to-day life in USA. That is my digital world, but not the digital world for majority.
Not only in USA, the nations are divided. Is Super Bowl the last thing that brings all the people together in USA? And where digital has improved our life in many aspects, it has not brought us together. Media has lost its role as unifying force and you can nowadays ignore all the opinions that are against your worldview. Social media is not a conversation, it is a shouting match.
Never assume that your digital world is similar as your audience.
2. Top-of-mind is more important than positive sentiment
The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
– Oscar Wilde
Many politicians and brands make the mistake of trying to please everyone. For majority, that is a huge mistake. Donald Trump is living proof of this. There were more people who were against him (Hillary got more votes) and he still won. The more people talk about you, the more you will gain followers. Sometimes angering 10 to gain 1 loyalist is worth it.
Find your audience. Only focus on that audience. Don´t try to please everyone.
3. Surveys are the most unreliable method of research
Hispanics won’t vote for Trump. Well, no, it turns out that Hispanics won’t tell pollsters – not even those automated telephone polls that they use in the States – that they will vote for Trump. Many of them just go out and quietly vote for Trump in larger numbers than they voted for Mitt Romney last time.
If we would believe in surveys, everyone would be eating healthily, recycling and not voting for Trump. People lie in surveys. They want to portray certain image and are bad at self-reflecting. Words are cheap, behavior is the only thing that truly matters. Surveys and digital pre-testing are waste of money at their best and harmful at their worst.
Don´t believe what people say. Follow how they move (location), how they spend their money (consumption patterns) and with whom they are in contact (social).
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
-Winston Churchill
Stand-Up Strategy 