Clinton is the Established "Brand" Candidate
Late last week, the News Blog looked at the "brands" of the candidates, the way they might be packaged as a product. (And let's be honest here, like it or not, that is exactly what happens to almost all political candidates of either party.)
Barack Obama is the "new thing" that appeals to the "millennial" generation. John McCain is the brand that wants to be the insider and the outsider at the same time. And Hillary Clinton?
Well, she comes from the "established" brand of Clinton. As Susan Jung Grant, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Colorado at Boulder explained on All Things Considered, think of Clinton as, well, a potato chip.
"Imagine an established brand, such as Lay's Potato Chips, says Jung Grant."Perhaps Sen. Clinton could be sour cream and chive potato chips," she says. 'It's the idea that it's a little bit different from the main category.' "
(Perhaps salt and vinegar or barbeque might be better, considering the last couple of days in the campaign. Then again, a new campaign slogan: "Betcha can't have just one Clinton.")
While being connected to the established brand is good, it has its drawbacks. "People feel like, 'Well, we know this candidate. We know what to expect.' And so, maybe, it's not invoking people to take a second look -- maybe ... there is almost too much familiarity," Jung Grant says.
But new bit of information can change the way people look at an established brand. Clinton's tears before the New Hampshire primary encouraged people to look at her in a new way.
Clinton's management style is old-school hands-on where direction comes from the top down, says University of Denver business professor Jim O'Toole -- like Wal-Mart, where Clinton served on the board of directors for six years.
Obama, on the other hand, is a hands-off, delegate authority manager, says O'Toole -- more like an Internet start-up. These differing management styles mirror a debate that has been taking place at business schools over which style is more effective.
"Young people are comfortable with the flannel-shirted software CEOs," says O'Toole. "A lot of older people are more comfortable with the General Motors approach."
Which style do you prefer? Steve Jobs or Sam Walton?
5:28 PM ET | 04-14-2008 | permalink
