Trump Showed the Value of a Simple, Concise and Memorable Core Message

Whether you are marketing a new consumer service or a candidate for the highest office in the US, it is critical to create a compelling, core message—a short slogan or tagline that people immediately understand; that they can emotionally relate to; and that they can easily share in digital (tweets, Facebook posts) and analog (t-shirts and bumper stickers) ways. Love him or hate him, President-elect Donald Trump and his team nailed it with "Make America Great Again." Though hard to hit such a home run, future candidates cannot overlook coming up with their own version.

Clinton podium versus Trump hat: What wins?
(photos by Gage Skidmore)

Not a Nice-to-have
Quick test: State both Trump's and Hillary Clinton's taglines? Trump's is easy, even if you hadn't read the previous paragraph. It was everywhere. On the red hats of Trump and his supporters. Shortened to #MAGA in thousands of tweets. But Clinton's? Even having closely followed the election, it's hard to remember hers. The picture embedded shows her in front of a "Stronger Together" podium. Was that it? I'm not sure. And that's the point.

A core message helps explain to voters why they should invest time, energy, money and their reputation in a candidate. Sure, those running need websites with bulleted breakdowns of positions and in-depth bios. But, the modern electorate exists within a world where catchy, easy-to-remember and share phrases are essential.

Key to a winning message, especially one for an audience of consumers and a media industry with short attention spans, is to make it:

• Simple ... instantly understandable, with no need for third-party explanations
• Concise ... as few words as possible so it fits on apparel, podiums, etc.
• Compelling ... a point of view that emotionally resonates with a large audience
• Memorable ... facilitates instant recall
• Shareable ... hashtag friendly or easily reduced to a satisfying acronym

"Make America Great Again" meets all the criteria. It has four words, takes a stand, is easy to remember and the hashtag is fun in and of itself.

Compare the candidate messaging.
Politics aside, which is more compelling / memorable?

It Doesn't Have to Look Pretty
Graphic designers may cringe at the Spartan font and treatments of Trump's main message, but whoever came up with it must be thrilled with its exposure, public awareness and how it has been embraced by both supporters and even those who dislike the man. Compare that to Clinton and her messaging. Her arrow logo is probably the marketing collateral that most would remember, and it is about as generic and cold as possible (it was not well received by graphic designers). Only the most diehard fan would embrace it alone, but it was not often paired with the primary tagline.

So what about Clinton's main message? Beyond its limited exposure, "Stronger Together" was a weak slogan. Why be stronger together? What's in it for me? There is no mention of a goal or outcome, just a state of being. It conveys no energy or movement. The other option, "I'm with Her," failed for the same reasons. Why are you with her? Where are you going together? Like "Stronger Together," it never pays off.

The reality is that while messaging and logos won't win elections, they can significantly contribute to a victory (or loss).

A Message Litmus Test for Any Candidate
The process of coming up with a message that competed with "Make America Great Again" would have been extremely worthwhile for the Clinton team. I'm sure they tried, but, for whatever reason, they failed to produce one as good as MAGA. They should have tried harder. It is that important.

Going back in time, the Clinton team should have (figuratively) locked themselves in a room until they came up with something powerful. A facilitator could have guided them through core message options by asking:

• What's the outcome voters should understand that we will deliver?
• Does the message reduce our complex view of the world into something easily digestible?
  
• Is the message ready for modern campaign uses, such as being social media friendly?

Perhaps one of the greatest lessons in Clinton's defeat is that they could not simply and quickly articulate why voters should join them. Or perhaps they could have, but they didn't spend the time to do so for whatever reason. Either is a failure. For future candidates, generation of the core message should serve as both a powerful tool to help win an election, and a way to validate whether a campaign can connect with average Americans.