Monday, October 27, 2008

Analyze This! Branded Candidates

Analyze This! Branded Candidates

According to the 2008 Presidential ImagePower Survey by Landor Associates and Penn, Schoen & Berland, James Bond and Jack Bauer (TV 24) would be heading into the final stretch of the U.S. presidential campaigns this month. The poll of likely voters sheds light, says the study, on various aspects of the nominees' identities by associating them with familiar brands across categories. For example, in the eyes of the public, Obama is associated with BMW, Target, and Google, while McCain is aligned with Ford, Walmart, and AOL.

Brand Association (Consumer Perception of Brand & Candidate Similarity)

Brand

Candidate

Obama

Biden

McCain

Palin

Coffee

Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks

Car

BMW

Ford

Ford

Ford

Computer platform

Mac/PC

PC

PC

PC

Retailer

Target

Target

Walmart

Walmart

Search engine

google

AOL

AOL

Google

Fast Food

McDonalds

McDonalds

McDonalds

Wendy's

Magazine

People

BusinessWeek

BusinessWeek

People

Fictional character

James Bond

Bond/Bauer

Jack Bauer

James Bond

Source: Landor Associates/Penn, Schoen & Bertland, October 2008

According to the survey, voters' perceptions of candidate attributes finds Obama as charming, approachable, compassionate, intelligent and unifying, while McCain is seen as strong, reliable and respected. On the vice presidential side, Biden was identified as respected, strong, and reliable, while Palin'sattributes include trustworthy, "shares my values," and approachable, as well as unifying and credible -two qualities she shares with Obama.

Mary Ellen Dugan, executive director at Landor Associates, says "The study suggests that both campaigns have effectively co-branded to broaden and balance their appeal. Obama and Palin... (are associated) with similar positive key attributes, despite the strong surface distinctions between the two candidates... Likewise, Biden and McCain are both aligned with similar brands despite their deep policy disagreements."

The survey suggests that Obama and Palin have a lot in common, as do McCain and Biden, demonstrating that the VP candidates compensate for Obama and McCain's perceived weaknesses, at least brand-wise.

Scott Siff, executive vice president at Penn, Schoen & Berland, notes that "...Three of the key brands that McCain and Obama are both associated with... won their reputation as game-changers in their respective categories... This similarity in the candidates' brand strategies also indicates that whichever candidate best achieves the positioning they are both trying to claim may well be the winner on November 4."

1 comment:

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