Branding Identity

So, lets face it, America is a brand driven society.  McDonalds, Chick-fil-A, Pepsi, Coke, Frigidaire, Kenmore, Craftsman, Apple, Walmart, Starbucks, Polo, Tommy Hilfigure, Coach, Gap, Marlboro, VA Slims, Heinz, Hellmann's, Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, etc. the list goes on and on.  It it even getting to a point where you yourself has to become a brand.  You must market yourself in a way so that people will want to buy your brand aka hire you for a job.  And as with any brand sometimes you can oversell or talk your product up so that people buy into your brand but then it is not what they expected.  Enter politics.  I really don't keep up with many politics. I don't know who is running for city council, or mayor or senator, i rarely know who is running for mayor, heck i don't even know who any of these people are for VA, I really only know the presidential level politics. 


"Getting party or candidate messages out can be increasingly difficult as they are presented within an emerging genre that Caulfield (2008) calls ‘infoenterpropagainment’. Using this term to cover much mediated political communication, Caulfield argues that both politicians and media blend political information with aspects of propaganda, including media or political bias, and present it to the audience in a way that entertains. " 


I couldn't agree more.  I think that political parties/campaigns have tried to brand themselves in a "hey look at how cool I am" flashy way.  it has almost become a superficial popularity contest rather than focused on the issues.  The party wants to win so bad that they appeal to the publics commercial interests.


And perhaps this is where citizen journalism and social journalism come in to play.  People are sick of this "campaigning" and they want to know how that person or party will benefit the public. 


But the flip-side to this kind of negative thought on branding would be that if you really are honest in your branding and then follow through you then build consumer/client trust and the stronger that trust is the more likely people will vote again for you/your party.