ABOUT 2024
People react to a message with the head, the heart, and the gut. People need to feel a message, and feel it often, for that message to have an effect.
That’s why political campaigns need to be conducted as consumer marketing efforts. To build brand equity around a candidate.
And to deliver messaging that defines and reinforces the candidate’s brand–and the voter’s relationship with it.
In 2024, instead of understanding and internalizing what the voters were sharing, Democrats talked about policy and the value of institutions.
Voters were pissed about high prices and the cost of living. Democrats wanted them to worry about democracy.
The Democrats’ problem is a marketing problem.
Your message isn’t out there if you’re not out there
And Joe Biden was practically invisible. In 2023 and 2024, Donald Trump was everywhere.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rallies_for_the_2024_Donald_Trump_presidential_campaign
https://www.podchaser.com/creators/donald-trump-107a4Qug6y/appearances
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/presidential-news-conferences#Data Table
CONstant repetition shapes the narrative
Illegal migration at the US Southern border declined in 2024.
However Trump attacked Biden for allowing hordes of illegal immigrants to enter the US in almost every one of his campaign appearances.
A Gallup poll from October 2024 showed 21% of Americans view immigration as the most pressing non-economic concern.
Campaigns are really about how people feel
To many Americans, inflation is a synonym for high prices. But despite positive macroeconomic data in 2024, prices were still high. Americans didn’t feel prosperous.
Trump relentlessly exploited this sentiment.
The Biden campaign and Democrats kept pointing to data, but never addressed how people actually felt.
It was a marketing victory.
On November 5, 2024, 54 percent of voters preferred Trump’s handling of the economy and immigration.
Marketing is about repeatedly delivering a compelling message to an audience.
Which is exactly what the Democrats didn’t do in 2024.