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."