Rebranding Brandless Hillary

by Marc Rudov, Branding Advisor to CEOs
September 09, 2015

On April 12, 2015, Hillary Clinton announced her 2016 presidential bid. Since then, she has relaunched twice: on June 13th and within the past few days.

Three branding attempts in five months. Something is wrong. Something is very wrong.

Simply put, Hillary has no brand. She is a papier-mâché candidate: hollow on the inside. That’s why she’s had few hard-hitting press interviews. Nothing to say. She’s counting on those who believe that a woman should be president, regardless of qualifications.

Accordingly, Hillary often speaks about a war on women. Yet, a record 56M women are out of the workforce — because of the Big Government policies she espouses.

Riddle me this, Hillary: Is totally avoidable massive unemployment not a war on women?

High taxes and burdensome regulations stifle business — the creator of jobs. But, Hillary, on October 24, 2014, uttered this gem:

“Don’t let anybody, don’t let anybody tell you that, ah, you know, it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs. You know that old theory, trickle-down economics. That has been tried, that has failed. It has failed rather spectacularly.”

Charging publicly funded colleges high speaking fees, however, doesn’t seem to conflict with Hillary’s stance on trickle-down economics.

Last month, Quinnipiac University conducted a nationwide poll of 1,563 registered voters, including 666 Republicans and 647 Dems. The top-three words the respondents associated with Hillary: liar, dishonest, and untrustworthy. Remember: No trust, no brand.

An Evaporating Gig

A brand is a customer-validated value proposition. It must mean something. It must contain tangible substance, not just comprise an empty tagline.

What value is Hillary promising? What will she, can she, deliver? More unemployment, empty rhetoric, and lying, I suppose. Are you getting why Hillary’s popularity is plummeting?

Her latest “humor and heart” theme is a desperate attempt to cling to an evaporating gig. She shed crocodile tears to ABC’s David Muir over illegal use of an email server. Even David Axelrod, who successfully ran Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and was a senior advisor in his 2012 campaign, disparaged Hillary’s fake sincerity.

Had Hillary hired me to rebrand her failing, falling, insincere campaign — an impossible task, mind you — here’s the logo I would have designed:

Parting Advice to CEOs

Branding is not a superficial exercise of spouting trivial words. Words matter. That is why your #1 priority is branding; if it isn’t, make it so.

Congruity counts: You must be able to back up your words with actions and substance that your target audience values.

Hillary has proven that insincerity fails: Everybody with a brain will detect and reject it. Only the brandless attempt to BS their customers and constituents.

One cannot brand the brandless. Don’t emulate Hillary.

POSTSCRIPT #1: MSNBC’s Morning Joe Panel Incredulous Over Hillary’s Phony Campaign

POSTSCRIPT #2: WaPo/ABC Poll: Female Support for Hillary Imploding (09.14.15)

POSTSCRIPT #3: Hillary Can’t Name One Accomplishment for CNN’s Wolf Blitzer

POSTSCRIPT #4: Russians Tried to Hack Hillary’s Server Five Times

POSTSCRIPT #5: After Six Months, Hillary Still in Search of a Brand

POSTSCRIPT #6: Rolling Stone: There Is No Real Hillary

POSTSCRIPT #7: Hillary’s Support Nosedives 10 Points in One Week (10.09.15)

POSTSCRIPT #8: Hillary Told Anderson Cooper How She Differs From Obama: Gender

POSTSCRIPT #9: Ron Fournier: Hillary’s Debate Performance Equally Good and Dishonest

POSTSCRIPT #10: DNC Has Chosen Hillary. Primary Elections Unnecessary

POSTSCRIPT #11: CNN: Democrat Debate Gave No Boost to Hillary