Mediaboss Marketing

WASHINGTON What do Democrats have in common with bars of soap?

For the purposes of developing their brands, plenty, according to David Srere.

As the co-CEO and chief strategy officer at the global brand agency firm Siegel+Gale, Srere says any entitys credibility, likability and staying power boils down to the same things: What do you stand for? How are you different? And why should anybody care?

It might be food for thought for Democrats around the country who are stuck in limbo trying to get back on top after a series of demoralizing defeats.

South Carolina Democrats, whose candidate Archie Parnell lost to Republican Ralph Norman in the 5th Congressional District special election by a mere 3.2 percentage points, are among those reeling.

But in South Carolina, there are obstacles as old as 30 years. The state is as conservative as ever. Through gerrymandering, Democratic voters are concentrated in a single congressional district represented by the state's only Democrat in Washington, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn. All of state government is in GOP hands.

Pair this with years of financial neglect from the national Democratic Party and the faithful have been left to their own devices.

South Carolina Democrats have never, ever, relied on or waited for the national party to come in and help us, said S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson. Weve got the ability to organize, weve got the ability to train and teach and, most important, we have a message that, if we localize, well move voters in this state.

But South Carolina Democrats might be up against a bigger problem: Their party, at the national level, needs a better brand.

Bruce Newman, professor of marketing at DePaul University College of Business in Illinois, said the reinvention of any organization, including political parties, typically happens in four parts.

Step one: find good leaders, Newman said. Step two: find the right message. Step three: communicate that message effectively. And step four: Who is your competition? What are they talking about? How do you respond and how do you differentiate your message from theirs?

Heres a look at how Democrats in South Carolina are working to reverse their party's fortunes ahead of the midterm elections, and how they might take a page from a branding strategist's playbook.

Theres more to winning than just the messenger. But sometimes, when people dont have time to delve into the facts, a figurehead is the only thing that matters, said Craig Johnson, president of the Atlanta-based Matchstic branding agency.

At a certain point, someone makes a judgment call on which side theyre going to believe, and who do they trust, Johnson said. And really, thats what brands are. ... When its too much to break down and understand, do I trust Donald Trump? Or do I trust Hillary Clinton?

To the extent that all politics is local, Newman said any rebranding effort for Democrats must involve identifying leaders nationally but also locally.

Others, though, say little will change locally until theres a change in leadership nationally. They say House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi should step aside, arguing the liberal Californian represents a brand thats out of touch with moderate-to-conservative districts around the country, especially in the South.

In South Carolinas 1st Congressional District, just hours after announcing his bid to unseat Republican Mark Sanford, Democrat Joe Cunningham promised he would not support Pelosi for party leader, if elected.

Its kind of like a sports team and a head coach. Its not the head coachs fault, but when the team starts losing, they ultimately look for a new coach, Cunningham said. If a company experiences losses quarter after quarter ... the buck stops at the CEO.

Clyburn, the third-ranking member of House Democratic leadership, flatly dismissed Cunninghams strategy of disassociating himself with Pelosi. "That's stupid stuff," he said. "That's not going to connect with South Carolina Democratic voters.

Robertson said it is up to every individual campaign whether they wanted to wade into a national conversation about the sustainability of Pelosis tenure.

I think that weve got plenty other issues facing the citizens of South Carolina than to give a damn right now who the minority leader is in the United States Congress, he said. We have people who are going to die if Republicans get their way as it relates to health care.

As South Carolina Republicans succeed in nationalizing issues, Robertson said Democrats have to do better at localizing them. When Trump vilified German manufacturing at the expense of American production, for instance, Democrats needed to point to the business BMW has brought to the state.

And next year, Robertson continued, while were talking about rebranding something, we have to talk about how the Democrats are the ones who put in a middle class tax cut for people in this state.

In his campaign, Parnells message was that he would go to Washington to help simplify the tax code to make life easier for middle-class families.

The Democrats cant brand themselves as the anti-Trump, its just not going to work, Newman said. It has no positive message; it has no real meaning.

Democrats have a message, said Jaime Harrison, former S.C. Democratic Party chairman and now an associate chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The problem is, they aren't as disciplined as Republicans at communicating it.

"Say it, repeat; say it, repeat; say it, repeat," Harrison said of the GOP.

AJ Lenar, vice president for political campaigns at GMMB Communications, said Parnell ran a successful campaign because he found his message helping constituents through economic insecurity and doubled down.

Local brands are different than national brands, said Lenar, who is based in Greenville and oversaw all of Parnells digital advertising. Archie was an example of that when he was talking about local issues, keeping the national brand out of it.

Though Parnells background as a tax attorney was a good starting point, selling that to voters presented a challenge. Ultimately, his strategists settled on portraying Parnell as a non-politician, an awkward policy wonk with little natural charisma but an earnest desire to do good by voters.

In all four of his digital ads, Parnell said the following two lines: I know enough about the tax code to bore you to tears, and I dont have all the answers, but I will work every day to make your life better.

Lenar said that on Election Day, Republicans said they voted for Parnell because they "loved his ads."

"'Differentiation' is not a strategy that can be achieved by saying, 'I'm different,'" Srere stressed. "Differentiation really is finding something that sells really well and selling it every single day."

Harrison suggested Democrats need to "show, not tell," how they're different from Republicans.

One answer, Harrison said, would be for local parties, elected officials and political candidates to pool resources and host workshops to help voters learn job and resume-writing skills. In a nod to improving education opportunities, Sumter County Democrats host a yearly school supplies drive.

"This is how you start to change the brand, the perception," Harrison said. "It's not about changing our slogan, or even changing the things we fight for. People understand that. People have to start trusting that the image they see is the real thing before they believe it."

Harrison said it would take time. Marketing experts agree.

"Democrats need to find their story," Srere said. "And that's only the end of the beginning."

Read more from the original source:
The art of the rebrand: Can South Carolina Democrats change their image? - Charleston Post Courier