What does Trump know about branding? Absolutely nothing. Here’s why.

Posted by / Branding, Public Relations, Publicity, Strategy

(Thread) What does #Trump know about #brand? Clearly nothing, based on this tweet. Let me explain.

First, a definition of brand. Brand is about values. It’s a promise made by organizations to live up to a core set of values. The #brand of an organization is determined by how well it lives up to these stated values – in both actions and words.

The #brand of an organization is determined by key stakeholders – customers, investors, partners and employees – based on whether it lives up to the promise it made (known as a brand promise).

Brand is not determined by features or functionality. It’s also not about a product.

You can’t alter an organization’s #brand by changing the name of a product – that’s not how it works.

A re-brand is effectively creating a new company. You’re acknowledging that the values on which a company was established are no longer believable because the organization has failed to live up to them.

A re-brand is also an acknowledgement that operational changes cannot be made to enable the organization to live up to the values included in a #brand promise

There is a belief that a #brand or #rebrand is all about name, logo and company colors. It’s not. That’s a visual identity. Identities can be designed to communicate core values – but changing them won’t alter a brand unless an organization is delivering operationally

The 737 Max 8 has done damage to the @Boeing #brand because it brings in to question the core values of the organization. It is a product that fails to live up to the promise the company made at its foundation – and that’s a big problem Why? Because The 737 Max 8 brings in to question all kinds of things about the product choice, certification and how it managed the recent grounding of Max 8 and 9 aircraft.

The answers to these many questions will determine how badly the product has damaged the @Boeing #brand. The extent of the damage can’t fully be calculated right now but one thing that is clear – the damage is significant.

One thing that will be critical to rebuild trust in the Boeing brand will be strategic #publicrelations. Public relations is a process of building, maintaining (and rebuilding) key relationships to a point where they are actionable again.

#Publicrelations isn’t #publicity. No amount of media coverage, or empty promises will repair the damage done by the 737 Max. #Brand isn’t determined by empty promises – it’s determined by operational behavior. Through both words and actions.

The first thing that Boeing needs to do (if it hasn’t already) is to acknowledge the company has failed to live up to the values on which it has build its success over decades. It then needs to address the failures. Empty press pieces – publicity – won’t help

For the record, the #Trump #brand is now synonymous with sympathy xenophobia, bullying, lying and attacking anybody that doesn’t agree with him. While that may find an audience amongst some, it’s unlikely to be something with mass-market appeal.

If Trump knew anything about #brand he’d understand that. He doesn’t. Trump knows nothing about #brand – if he did he’d not have put his name on any number of products that have born his name.

If #Trump did understand #brand he’d understand that right now his brand is of somebody that has failed to deliver on his promises (on healthcare, on manufacturing jobs in coal and automotive, in particular), on tax cuts for working and middle class Americans…

UPDATE:

And now this @cdnbiz story adds further potential damage to the Boeing #brand
Boeing shareholder alleges investors were misled on Max jet – Canadian Business

https://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-news/boeing-shareholder-alleges-investors-were-misled-on-max-jet/

If #Trump understood brand he’d know that a new name and new features won’t fix this sort of thing.

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