Q: I hear so much lately about how Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are “hurting their brands.” I don’t really get that. – Aaron
A: There is a very good book on the subject of branding that any small business person might want to check out. In Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind authors Al Ries and Jack Trout describe how to brand a business, and position that brand so potential customers will associate specific ideas with that brand.
Of course, that is exactly what the presidential candidates are doing as well. Donlad Trump wants to be seen as the tough guy who will breal up the Washington establishment. Hillary Clinton wants us to think of her as the competent manager who is a safe alternative in a dangerous world.
This is exactly what you, as a small business owner, want to do as well. By creating a particular brand and then properly positioning that brand, you simultaneously set your business apart while also making it memorable.
Maybe not surprisingly, the first president to think about branding serious was JFK. I say it’s n
Certainly, as a savvy businessperson, branding is something you know to be important but it may also seem like a marketing tool that has more applications to large corporations than to the small business. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Creating an identifiable brand is more important for a small business than almost any other business entity.
There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that you have a lot of competition and you need to differentiate yourself. There are roughly 30 million businesses in the United States, and 99% of those are small businesses. [MD1]Combine that with the interconnected 24/7 global economy, the Internet, and the number of businesses vying for the same customers – and for people’s attention – and it’s daunting.
Having a great brand that resonates is your antidote to that.
In this typewritten account, Loewy writes that he saw President Kennedy's 707 for the first time in March 1962, when JFK flew into Palm Springs, where Loewy had a house. (That's the famous trip, March 23–25, during which Frank Sinatra had hoped to host Kennedy, but Sinatra's mob connections led the president's handlers to avoid him. In frustration, Sinatra personally took a sledgehammer to the concrete helipad he had built for the president's arrival when, adding insult to injury, he learned that JFK was staying with Bing
Loewy with Air Force One plane model.
Loewy met with Gen. Godfrey T. McHugh, the president's Air Force aide, in charge of his travel. He had known McHugh for a long time—a reminder of the sort of networking for which Loewy was famous, and probably a lesson for us all. Loewy recalled pointing out “the unbelievably poor manner in which the paint was applied” and the “rather gaudy” color scheme of the plane. “I felt that the new aircraft could become an image of the American government,” he wrote, “and that its appearance should be impeccable in every way. Loewy said he and his firm would be happy to donate their services.
His offer accepted, the designer showed up at the White House that May with four graphic schemes and five lettering alternatives. Loewy credits his graphics department, headed by Roy Larsen, with the lettering. The first proposals, according to Loewy, were based on a red theme, the Air Force standard. ”Together we arranged the panels on armchairs lined up against the west wall and the president without hesitation selected one of the graphics.“ His choice was also the one Loewy preferred.
JFK picked the paint scheme, too, but he wanted it in blue, not red. He said that he had never liked red and that blue was his favorite color. (In another version of the story, when Kennedy found out that the Air Force had proposed a presidential livery for the plane in red and gold, he balked that those colors were too imperial.) As it turned out, it would take a special dispensation from Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to use blue instead of red.
Loewy returned with blue patterns a few days later. He brought scissors and rubber paint with him. ”The president's desk was small and covered with documents,“ Loewy wrote. ”I knelt on the floor while the president, seated in his rocking chair, watched and made suggestions.“ The president even suggested a small change to one line of the pattern. Then, Loewy says, Kennedy called in his secretaries, Evelyn Lincoln and Mary Gallagher—who was actually the First Lady's social secretary—to choose their favorites. The results of this informal focus group supported the president's preference.
[MD1]This is true? What’s the source? Is there perhaps a different stat we can use?
Yes, this is accurate. It is a fairly well known stat that comes from the Census Bureau, though sometimes the final numbers vary. Here is a Forbes article that pegs the number at 28 million - Note that this article is 2 years old and the economy has been doing well, so “roughly 30 million” is accurate.