I’m inclined to agree with King Solomon’s opinion that “there is no new thing under the sun”.

If you look closely, you’ll find that some of those brands made famous for being innovative aren’t truly original in their thinking. Consider for example our homegrown revolutionary, Discovery, which appears to have based their Vitality concept on the auto maintenance model: if you keep up with regular care milestones, those high-cost repairs can be avoided to a large extent. Obscure as it seems, their model has proven that what’s good for your Benz is great for your bod. 

This cross-pollination of ideas has proven valuable in my own career. It’s not uncommon for me to shoot off about beer when I’m making a point to someone who sells furniture, or call on examples from footwear when addressing a challenge in pharma. The answers are everywhere; especially in those places where one least expects to find them.

It was in this spirit that I wondered, is there any merit in scouring the world of Politics for some ideas to apply to product branding? Political brands are constantly in our consciousness, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t see this as a learning opportunity. 

Throughout history, and all over the world, we find examples of political brands that are forces to be reckoned with. Many political brands enjoy customer retention and commitment levels that would leave our favourite household brands drooling. Devoted citizen consumers advocate for their chosen party, making it a personal mission to influence the voting decisions of friends and family; risking their social standing in the name of party loyalty.

When last did you see such fierce persuasion for a brand of biscuits? I thought not.

In spite of this fierce loyalty, political devotees are seldom rewarded with delivered promises. I’ve seen many political parties shout their slogans loud and proud. They talk the talk, but when it comes to walking….well, not so much. Think of Trump’s “Make America Great Again”, or Hitler’s famed “Arbeid Macht Frei’” (Work Sets you Free). One would argue that these politicians fall far short of delivering against their rallying cries (and in the worst cases, the reality is diametrically opposed to their vision). And this is, I’m afraid, all too common. Locally, I see no evidence in action of the ANC’s more recent “Let’s grow South Africa together”. With our economy officially in recession, ‘grow’ was perhaps a rather ambitious suggestion. As for ‘together’, the long-standing divisions within the party make this questionable, reminding us that their ability to unite society at large is ever more doubtful.

When politicians and their parties consistently fail to deliver on their claims, they lose credibility. Interestingly, consumer citizens appear to be more forgiving of a political fail than they are of product non-delivery. Compare the single-digit shifts we saw in party performance in the 2014 vs. 2019 National Elections. And then compare this to how the once-mighty Lion Lager’s market share fell off a cliff once upon a time after disappointing its consumers (and how it was never, ever exonerated for this misstep).

In any category of goods or services, the brand’s first job is to provide a shortcut to meaning – when we see or hear that brand’s name or symbol, we are reminded of all that it stands for. This meaning is a sum of all the words and deeds a brand shares with us, its audience, over its lifetime. This includes the perfectly planned campaigns broadcast to a target audience, all the unscripted interactions, as well as those things left unsaid. It is often the unintended content which is most revealing about the truth of the brand. Nowhere is this truer than in the world of politics.

Keen on tapping into the disgruntled and the disillusioned among us, Herman Mashaba recently established his own party. Not long ago, Mashaba invited submissions from the public to share their thoughts and ideas on what his party should be named. While he gets points for sticking with the party’s claim to put the people of South Africa first, the unintended message I get from his invitation is indecision and obscurity. He didn’t quite utter these words, but what I’m hearing is that he is going to want me, the public, to put in more than I get out. The unintended message is loud and clear.

Sometimes the things we learn to avoid are just as (or more) important as the things we learn to follow. With exception of inexplicable commitment levels, the further I explore this theory that brands could stand to learn from politics, the more I realise that perhaps the greater value is for the ANC to learn some tricks from KFC!

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