The functional purpose of branding is to identify a differential promise about the values of a brand, and communicate it to consumers in a coherent and consistently way. Political parties have failed to transmit that brand promise, resulting in the total loss of public confidence. This is why politics must learn from branding.
Like any brand that has reached its final cycle of life, political parties need a regeneration if they want to survive. These parties are articulated today as a group of members who share the strictest sense of belonging and the denial of anyone who does not share the same opinion. A totally opposite approach to having citizens at the center of their strategies.
But building a political brand is something that takes time and a careful strategy. Unlike other brands that seek the continued confidence of the public, political brands seem to be focused only on getting confidence every four years, when polls become the best indicator of sales and trust.
In the absence of a clear promise, supporting only their messages by generalist ideologies, political parties are engaged in the speeches of fear and in the discrediting of the contrary. But what would happen in the outside world if Pepsi simply told us how bad the ingredients of Coca-Cola are for our organism? It is clear that negative messages do not get adepts to your lines.
Politicians should learn that they should not only communicate to the voters, but especially to those who do not vote, just like any brand that tries to enter the home of new consumers. Even if we move from parties to politicians or brands to branded products, it is necessary to build an emotional connection between the product and the customer. And that is something that does not conform only during a political campaign.
Fortunately, the population is not stupid and picks out those brands with which it feels identified, who have been concerned to build a positive dialogue. Completely neglected by our political brands. It is time for political parties to take good note of what good management of their brand means and what it can do for them.
