Brand Reputation Strategy Designed for Hilary Clinton - Case Study Example

BUSM 3072 Selling the Prime Minister ID: 11011614 Module leader: Christian Schnee Due 8th of May, Reputation Strategy Proposal Table of Contents Introduction 2 Discussion 3 SMART communication objectives 3 Strategic communications plan 6 Communication and brand reputation strategy 7 Communication tactics 10 Evaluation mechanisms for brand reputation protection 11 Introduction Brand reputation strategy is a phenomenon to communicate strengths of a brand across target audience. Intangible and tangible benefits are explored by a good brand reputation strategy. Political communication is closely knitted with the approach of brand communication. There are political leaders and political parties who rely on consultant services in order to deliver an appropriate external presentation. Competitive advantage in political field is gained through aligning set communication objectives with feelings and emotions. In this study a brand reputation strategy will be formulated for a political leader. Branding from political perspective encompasses three major components such as trust building, emotional narratives and multi-channel orientation. The research paper will focus on brand reputation strategy for Hilary Clinton. Political campaign to be designed for this leader will comprise of all possible emotional elements which can attract attention of people. Political communication branding is not only centred towards an image replacement. Emotional and functional perceptions are developed with the support of brand communication strategies. People’s perception about political actors is affected through a wide array of elements such as hidden details, intellectual and emotional details, and irrational and rational components. Communication strategies designed in this particular study will help in persuading voters to elect Hilary Clinton. Personal qualities of the leader will also be highlighted through this brand communication mechanism. Communication objectives framed will be in accordance with brand reputation strategy designed for Hilary Clinton. Discussion SMART communication objectives Brand communication strategies can be successful only when there is clarity about what is to be achieved through such strategies. SMART objectives comprise of five elements; specific, measurable, acceptable, and realistic and time constrained. Specific factor states that selected objectives should be well delineated and clear. Vague communication is usually exhibited by a vague set of objectives. Objectives needs to be measurable so that it can be evaluated whether objectives are being met or not. Acceptable elements indicate that strategy will be designed in such manner which is acceptable by others. Communication objectives also need to be realistic in order to facilitate maximum utilization of strengths and be aware about limitations. All objectives should be time constrained which means that they have to be accomplished within a specific time frame (Fill, 2006). The brand communication objectives for Hilary Clinton will be largely based on her original characteristics and various hidden details. Major objective of this political campaign would be to attract attention of voters towards the qualifications and experience possessed by Hilary Clinton. Trust factor can be developed only when there is emotional component present within projects undertaken by her. Brand communication strategy is totally based on identified communication objectives. The major strength of this political leader is her achievements and an image of being a strong leader. Specific communication objectives are increasing voter’s percentage in specified region, enhancing percentage of registered voters who can be beneficial for the candidate and to encourage supporters of the political party in terms of engaging into various party activities. Realistic objectives of the campaign are to establish environmental friendly practices, reduce rate of unemployment, enable active participation in education and welfare development of rural people, promote technological advancements in the country, and to extend support towards industrial sector. On the other hand, measurable objectives of the brand communication strategy are to focus on agricultural issues, allocate funds to necessary sector, increasing percentage of party supporters and mitigating issues related to employment or education (Keller, 2008). Acceptable objectives are to enhance economic development and to portray a better future for the country in future years. The time constrained objectives associated with brand reputation strategies are to influence voters in least time possible and create a unique political image of Hilary Clinton. In order to define the SMART objectives for Hilary Clinton, it is important to define the strengths or the factors that make her such an important political candidate and also the weakness that can serve as a barrier to her success as a presidential candidate. Hilary’s husband has been a president for 2 years, and therefore he may serve as a source for her to persuade the people to vote for her wife. For the primaries, more money has been raised by her, which provides her with certain leverage during her campaigns. Just because Hilary is a female presidential candidate, this automatically connects her with other American women. Hilary had become a new flip flopper as she does not support the war in Iraq and she also spoke against the Iraq war of 2002. Being a woman may also serve as a barrier for her, for the media may scrutinize her more than any of the other presidential candidates. Keeping all the strengths and weakness of Hilary Clinton there are more SMART objective can be defined for her. Hilary needs to gain the support from the critics, which means that she needs to improve her image in the eyes of the media through several advertisements and campaign events. This is a specific goal that can be measured with time. In order to measure the popularity of Hilary Clinton a survey can be conducted, where questionnaires must be distributed to know that who the people are favouring in this presidential election. A number of advertisement campaigns must be conducted and with every campaign the popularity of Hilary should be measured to see the reaction of general public after each campaign. The major objective of these campaigns should be that the popularity of Hilary only goes up and her reputation only improves in the eyes of general public. She should set objectives for the presidential elections, addressing the issues that have not been addressed by others. For example she should focus on strengthening the middle class and she must start speaking for them and their rights. She should talk about making healthcare affordable for the people, making energy independent and reducing the cost of energy, and increasing people’s access towards qualitative and affordable childcare. Strategic communications plan The stated objectives can be addressed through an appropriate strategic communication plan. This plan would encompass all personality traits of Hilary Clinton. Brand communication plan will be inclined towards dragging voter’s attention. This can be initiated only through highlighting positive characteristics of Hilary Clinton. Economic situation and health care aspects are common in all campaigns launched for the political leader. It can be stated that strategic communication plan for Hilary Clinton will be combining all possible media channels to deliver message to target people. Communication plan focuses on adopting all possible communication media which can attract individuals towards the campaign (Churchill, 2009). The message to be delivered will reflect upon expertise, achievements and qualification possessed by Hilary Clinton. Political achievements and seniority would be promoted through all advertisements designed for the candidate. 2016 Presidential Elections can be won by Hilary Clinton only on the basis of communication plan. A consultancy firm would be solely responsible for delivering message to target audience. The stakeholders of the communication plan shall be voters, external advertisement agencies and party supporters. The communication plan will encompass advertisement design, outlining key messages of political leaders and brand message promoted through different forms of media channels. The communication plan will not only comprise of advertisement campaigns and billboards, but also would include hosting events, direct interaction with people through mails or social media sites, and associating political brand with societal issues (Iyengar and McGrady, 2007). In this plan the main focus will be on highlighting strengths of the political leader. To be more precise communication plan shall be designed in such a manner that middle income group people can be directly reached by the candidate. There is a wide segment of middle income group people based in United States. Political campaigns would be targeted towards such people so that there is increased percentage of voters. In the initial phase of communication plan, advertisement campaign will be designed and shall be broadcasted across TVs, radios, and even in print media (Fill, Hughes and Francesco, 2013). This would be followed by billboards which shall constitute minimum time period. On the other hand, broadcasted advertisements would last for maximum time period. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will be utilized for extended time period in order to attract attention of voters. Communication and brand reputation strategy Political branding encompasses three major factors which need to be a part of all political campaigns. These factors are emotional narratives, multi-channel orientation and trust building. Emotional narratives in political branding refer to drawing a correlation between objectives of the political leader and human preferences or emotional well-being. This ensures stronger connectivity with voters. Multi-channel orientation indicates transmitting brand attributes through multiple communication channels. A wider base of target audience can be reached when there are many channels being used for branding activities. Trust building aspect can be accomplished only when brand communication strategies are able to strongly connect with the audience. Brand promise in political campaigns needs to be well executed through appropriate delivery of service to people. The core competencies possessed by political brands are in terms of policy positions being outlined by the candidate. Brand reputation strategy for Hilary Clinton will include different policy areas to be emphasized by the political leader. Political traits should be included within advertisement campaigns launched for Hilary Clinton. Seniority factor in context of working in political field since past 35 years shall be encompassed within all campaigns. Policy negotiations, wide range of political experiences and meetings with foreign parties will be an essential part of political campaigns (Kaid and Johnston, 2000). This would help in supporting Hilary Clinton to qualify her for all responsibilities of White House. Political experience is not possessed by other candidates and this shall form a competitive advantage for Hilary Clinton. Brand reputation or communication strategy is also based on political traits to be conveyed by the candidate. Policy oriented spots would be key focus of all brand campaigns being designed for the candidate. This kind of policy focus is all about addressing important issues by the candidates in future years. It is a mechanism to develop high trust level with voters. There shall be proper command on all policy details so that it can be efficiently accomplished in coming years. Leadership qualities need to be highlighted in all branding activities. Hilary Clinton brand can prove to be strong only when she stands out to be a desirable leader for all Americans. The trait of uncompromising leadership nature shall help in retaining voter’s attention. Clinton’s brand would be enhanced with appearance of the leader (Picton and Broderick, 2009). Formal appearance of the leader will help to build a brand symbol unique from other candidates. Casual appearance would not be entertained by the political leader which is usually adopted by other political leaders. The campaign designed for the candidate will also comprise of logos and symbols, stating uniqueness of the political party. Logo for Clinton’s brand is recommended to be done in an artistic way to represent peace, with a tagline “For People, By People”. This logo shall clearly indicate that Hilary Clinton would work for economic benefits and healthcare facilities of people. Logo of peace reflects policies to be undertaken by the candidate so as to bring forth harmony amongst residents and strengthen relationship with foreign countries. People could be able to associate themselves with the change being promoted by Hilary Clinton. Brand differentiators will play a vital role when it comes to brand reputation strategy of Clinton brand. These differentiators are in the form of media channels being used for brand promotion. For instance Clinton’s brand will focus on social media channels and mass mailing or mass texting rather than investing more on TV commercials or print media. However the frequency of brand building activities will differ such as more time would be allocated for ads in print media, social media campaign and live events (Needham, 2005). The investment rate will be reduced in case of TV commercials and saved money shall be allocated for governmental projects or mass texting. It can be stated that the main aspect of this brand reputation strategy is to highlight all contributions, strengths, experience, achievements and political initiatives of Hilary Clinton. After all the advertisements and campaigns, the data from Gallup campaign suggests that there is still a group of Americans that do not hold any kind of opinion (favourable or unfavourable) against the presidential candidate. Hillary Clinton’s biography has been a good publicity tactic to grasp the attention of the general public towards the presidential candidate. A nationwide tour has been designed, where Hillary Clinton would get a chance to geographically expand her network. This book launch tour is to gain supporters who will be ready to knock on doors for her or make phone calls whenever there is a need. This tour would also give a chance to the potential customers to know the author of the book better, and the selling of the book means distributing information about Hilary Clinton and directly appealing or recruiting more volunteer for her presidential campaign. The general public is not evaluating Hilary Clinton for her party nomination, rather than they are sizing her up for the presidential candidate. It is because of her previous campaigns that the people have started to think how life is going to be under Clinton’s presidency. However the domestic information that is being provided by her to the public is not much, which can be a drawback for her. People continuously want to know about the personal traits of the presidential candidates and this is where Hilary Clinton falls behind, when compared to the other candidates. People are actually looking for information that encircles her personal life, like how much money she and Bill Clinton have made since they left the White House, etc. Such characteristics provide the general public a deeper understanding of the candidates and they understand them better. Communication tactics The communication strategy for Clinton brand is all about identifying and communicating branding differentiators across target audience. Communication tactics will revolve around maximum utilization of selected media channels to transmit a common brand message. Integrated marketing communication is a mechanism through which multiple channels are utilized so as to communicate a brand message across target audience. Hilary Clinton has been a brand over the years due to her exceptional achievements in the political field (Ståhlberg and Maila, 2013). The actual political product of Clinton brand is promoted by being aligned with boundary conditions. Apart from healthcare and economic situation, the Clinton brand is recommended to outline future political policies and her seniority in this field. Political achievement is basically not included in campaigns of candidates since there does not exist such experience which can drag attention of voters. However extended base of political achievements does form a competitive advantage for Hilary Clinton. Her communication strategy will be inclined towards promoting tough leadership approach of Clinton. This could be accomplished only through TV commercials and ads broadcasted in social media platform (Russell, 2009). She should be portrayed as a tough leader who possesses all capabilities, skills and knowledge required for leading a country. Optimistic feelings are encompassed within peace logo and brand tagline. Clinton brand would utilize communication tactics of transmitting campaign message followed by interaction with target audience. Evaluation mechanisms for brand reputation protection Brand reputation strategies for Clinton brand are strongly aligned with set SMART objectives. In overall context, these strategies are designed so as to enhance brand reputation level. Brand reputation needs to be protected at every stage in order to ensure effectiveness of such strategies. Hilary Clinton through campaigns needs to promote her core competencies which cannot be imitated by other candidates. Feedback from public can be adopted as a mechanism to protect brand reputation. It is essential to analyze the impact created by political campaigns on people. For instance, Hilary Clinton is recommended to actively indulge into current societal issues related to any healthcare feature, economic conditions, educational aspect or any form of conflict related scenario. This political leader can protect her brand reputation through directly interacting with people. It should be taken into consideration that middle income group segment occupies a desirable percentage of population (Scammell and Langer, 2006). Interaction with this segment along with understanding their key issues or problems can serve as a mechanism to protect brand reputation. Timelines is another important factor since it denotes frequency of communication strategies and its probable impact on target audience. Brand reputation is developed on fulfilling brand promise and staying focused on people’s interest rather than highlighting own interests. Political policies displayed during the campaign should be realistic and achievable within specific time frame. Conclusion This study has been able to demonstrate various dimensions of brand reputation strategy. Political branding is different from that of product or service branding. In political branding, inclination is towards outlining key political policies to be undertaken by the candidate and its strong bondage with people. Brand logo and symbol for political brands should be chosen in such manner that it reflects objectives of political party or political leader. The new brand logo for this candidate can be artistic peace symbol which portrays harmony to be established by this political leader in future years. Hilary Clinton over the years has been known for her political achievements and concern towards the society. Seniority aspect is not included in other political campaigns but can be stated as a competitive advantage in case of Hilary Clinton. This factor would be encompassed within brand reputation strategies of Clinton brand. The ‘for people’ brand is a unique way to directly interact with target audience. Communication strategies are all about establishing a plan whereby multiple channels can be accessed to communicate a common brand message. In context of Hilary Clinton, more importance should be given to social media platforms so as to reach wide base of individuals in limited time period. References Churchill, G., 2009. A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 25(4), pp. 98-116. Fill, C., 2006. Simply marketing communications. UK: FT Prentice Hall. Fill, C., Hughes, G. and Francesco, S., 2013. Advertising, strategy, creativity and media. USA: Pearson. Iyengar, S. and McGrady, J. A., 2007. Media politics: A citizen’s guide. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Kaid, L. L. and Johnston, A., 2000. 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