The Democrats Need to Get Sticky

The basics of building a core message and why liberals are so bad at it

MAGA is one of the strongest brands I’ve ever seen. It’s up there with Apple, McDonald’s, Amazon, Coca-Cola, and others in Interbrand’s Top 35. All of these are what we call in my business “sticky.” Think of it like an earworm but with words.

Let me be clear—that doesn’t mean I agree with anything MAGA stands for. But from a communications standpoint? It’s brilliant.

Ronald Reagan’s campaign was the first to use the slogan—plus a peppy “let’s” that Nancy probably added. But Steve Bannon is the person who made it what it is today. Like me, Bannon has been practicing IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) for decades—although I think I use my powers for good rather than evil. Still, Bannon is one of the best at selling the worst.

Criticizing the Democrat messages is easy to do at a high level. There are a lot of pundits taking potshots at the Democrats like crabby old James Carville. But I don’t see a deconstruction of the MAGA brand to help understand precisely what the Democrats are up against. Or explain how a brand like that—beginning with its core message—is built.

In addition to my marketing practice, I’ve taught communications at the graduate level for over a decade. So, for this post, I’m putting my professor cap back on to Bonniesplain a few things—and to answer why the hell we’re struggling to compete.

Dissecting the Red Message

Let me ask you this: What was Hillary Clinton’s slogan? Kamala’s? Scratching your head, aren’t you?

Contrast that with the fact that everybody knows MAGA, and what the acronym stands for.

Make America Great Again is the core message and MAGA is the slogan that drives it home.

In addition to being in complete alignment, Trump’s message nails every requirement of a strong message:

• It’s simple. The words “make” “great” and “again” cannot be translated into anything else. It means what it says and it says what it means. It’s the political equivalent of “Just do it” or “You’re in good hands.”

• It’s relevant. It solves a problem for the targeted audience. It answers WIIFM, what’s in it for me.

• It fits everywhere. Today, messages have to be crystal clear on a million different channels. Podcasts, digital ads, billboards, broadcasts, social media—and hats.

• It’s aspirational. Marketing 101 is that messaging has to be aspirational. MAGA aspires to go back to the “good old days.” When the world wasn’t burning up and everything cost much less…who wouldn’t want that?

• It’s consistent and persistent. There haven’t been slight tweaks or translations or, god forbid, failed brand extensions. Anybody remember BIC disposable underwear?

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The Blue Message

As an exercise, let’s use those points to analyze AOC and Bernie’s tour message, Fighting Oligarchy.

First of all, what does “Fighting Oligarchy” actually mean? Fighting—legislation, lawsuits, physical fights? Is AOC stepping into the ring with Trump?

Side note, I’d love to see AOC in a cage match with Trump. Maybe Jack Ohman’s You Betcha! will do a cartoon of that someday.

Is this slogan relevant? Maybe. Is it aspirational? Hardly. Fighting is exhausting. Does it fit everywhere? You can answer that for yourself.

I’ll get to the consistency part in a minute. First, let’s examine the poster.

What is going on here? Why are there two pictures, each of AOC and Bernie? I feel dumb because I don’t know who the other guys are. And wait... there’s another message. And it doesn’t align with the primary one—not at all.

And maybe you can clear up something for me. I’m not sure how to pronounce it.

Is it AH-ligarchy? OH-ligarchy? And honestly, I just learned what that meant beyond some vague image of a rich Russian named Vlad. (Yes, I’m watching White Lotus.)

I also just saw something new from AOC—that Democrats need to be “brawlers who fight.” In the middle of this tour, there’s already a new message.

NO.

Fighting Oligarchy isn’t simple, nor does it tell me WIIFM. And it doesn’t fit anywhere. Not on a meme, maybe on a billboard, but definitely not on a hat, prime real estate for marketers.

Just for fun, let’s review Hillary Clinton’s campaign slogans too:

1. Ready for change, ready to lead.

2. Big challenges, real solutions: Time to Pick a President

3. In to Win

4. Working for change, working for you.

5. The strength and experience to make change happen.

No wonder we can’t remember them. There was no consistency. And what the heck does this mean? What kind of change? In to win….what? Ready to lead…why was she trying to convince them?

10 years later, it still hurts my marketer's brain. But there was more pain to come. It’s 2024, and enter Kamala’s message: STRENGTH THROUGH JOY.

I asked ChatGPR to give me an interpretation:

• Cultivating joy, happiness, and positive experiences can build inner resilience and emotional strength. In other words, focusing on joy strengthens one’s capacity to face challenges.

That’s pretty complicated. But then I heard about this:

The phrase is an English translation of "Kraft durch Freude", a slogan used by Nazi Germany for a state-run leisure organization designed to promote well-being and productivity among German workers.

I know the first one was closer to what the Harris/Walz team was going after, and they had no clue about the second. But a good marketer would have discovered that in a competitive search.

But beyond these examples, one thing is for sure:

Brilliant people wordsmith the message into oblivion.

I’ve worked with many nonprofits and policymakers. Get a bunch of smart people in a room, and suddenly, marketing is the “easy part.” They start throwing around witticisms and great slogans. They debate nuance until the meaning is completely gone. They chose clever over clear.

And here’s the worst part—basic marketing principles get ignored. They don’t do competitive searches to find out how the message might be misconstrued (in German, for example). Because they think it’s easy, they haven’t taken the time to embrace marketing best practices, let alone learn how to deploy IMC.

It’s like Democrats are shooting arrows while the Republicans drop nuclear bombs.

A Blueprint for a Strong Message

The good news is this CAN be done, and guess what? It’s bulletproof. Not only has Trump survived, but Coke, Apple, and a host of other brands have flown through brand crisis after brand crisis.

Except maybe Tesla.

So, how do you start? Core messages and well-aligned slogans are simple, but they’re not easy to create. Most of us begin with a few questions to point us in the right direction.

1. What is the problem you’re trying to solve? I think the Democrats are trying to preserve democracy, but why? I believe they want to create a society where we are equal and we support each other.

2. What do you aspire to? People want to know that our leaders will make things better. Battling the enemy is a short-lived goal. It’s not sustainable, and it’s a drain. I think the Democrats want to build a sustainable future for everyone on the planet, not just us ‘Mericans.

3. WIIFM. We’re all selfish bastards. And I think Maslow was right when he said we have to meet basic survival needs before going after bigger goals—like joy. Right now, joy seems like a pipedream for a lot of people.

4. What’s your delivery strategy? If you deconstruct the channels that MAGA flows through, there’s a smart choice of channels and —more importantly—synergy between them. Synergy is the secret sauce of IMC, by the way.

If you can’t send the brand across every channel in a unified, consistent, and persistent fashion, you’re done—end of story. Long live MAGA.

It’s all marketing, folks.

Until Democrats treat their messaging like building a brand—one clear, memorable, repeatable message—they’ll keep losing.

It’s time to stop being clever, get out of the way, and pay marketing the respect it deserves. I have a short list of the best IMC experts in the country. AOC, how can I reach you?

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Want to share your favorite (or least favorite) campaign slogans and why?