Brands have things to learn from both Trump and Biden’s approach to populism – CampaignLive

Did you see the love hearts that the Bidens set out on the Whitehouse lawn for Valentines day, filled with messages to the American nation like Unity, Hope and Love? You donthave to be a master in semiotics to spot that these were designed to put some distance between the current and previous First Families.

Many in adland are also pretty happy to see the back of Trumps famously populist presidency. And theres a group with a particular reason to be cheerful those of us who believe in creative (not political) populism: that the most effective creativity speaks to the many rather than the few.

Thankfully for this school of creative thought, Biden is now being hailed as a populist, too (a progressive populist). And as the stigma around the P-word diminishes we can be loudly and proudly creatively populist without sounding like we want to Make America Great Again. Phew.

So what lessons can anyone looking to speak to mass audiences learn from these two strands of populism from Trump and Biden?

Their policy differences are less relevant to the daily life of brands. More revealing are their strategies for creating emotional engagement with their audiences.

Trump may have avoided impeachment this month, but it was clear from his rhetoric that were going to see a continuation of his signature strategy: the use of friction and division as the source of emotional engagement with his supporters.

Biden, meanwhile, is clearly adopting a different approach. From Amanda Gormans striking calls for unity in her inauguration poem The Hill We Climb, to the First Ladys folksy love letters on the lawn, he is aiming to move people through an appeal for togetherness.

But are these two opposing approaches, of friction and unity, both fair game for brands?

The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer shows that business leaders, for the first time, enjoy greater levels of public trust than politicians do. And as we know from another American icon, Spider-Man, with great power, comes great responsibility. So, in a world struggling with polarisation, do businesses need to be firmly on the side of unity?

Some of the challenges of championing unity can be seen in Jeeps Super Bowl ad, The middle, starring blue-collar hero Bruce Springsteen. In its call for togetherness, the ad managed to inadvertently pull off the feat of being one of the most divisive of the night.

But can brands justify going the other way and actively playing to division and friction?

Abrasive creative is nothing new. From the ShakenVac song to the Go Compare singer, advertisers have long used friction to drive salience. But this approach, while unleashing unwelcome earworms and reducing brand likeability, is unlikely to endanger the fabric of society.

Others recognise their products themselves are divisive, from the sublime (step up Marmite) to the ridiculous (Andrexs Scrunch vs Fold, anyone?). But, if treated with a deft lightness of touch, this can be a playful way to engage both lovers and haters.

Some look to take on the category establishment. Theres an echo of Trumps swamp-draining bravado in BrewDogs self-styled punkish campaigns. But the worst one can say is that such strategies are at some point likely to prove growth-limiting. Its easier to play the scrappy outsider when you have sales of $300m per year than it is when you enjoy Carlsbergs $10bn.

Others directly enter the political fray. But no matter how satisfying it might be to tell a president to f**k off as Rebel Kitchen did, this is clearly a case of stooping to someone elses level, rather than following Michelle Obamas famous mantra When they go low, we go high.

Then we come to those who take a social stand, notably Nike in its Colin Kapaernick campaign. It bravely supported the right of black NFL players to take a knee in the face of Trumps condemnation of the practice. It was unapologetically provocative and political was it also irresponsibly divisive?

In a word, no. Theres an important distinction to make here. Campaigns like Nikes are not deliberately sowing differences. They dont suggest, as Trump so often does, that if you are different you are an inferior, second-class citizen. They are actually defending the right to be different. They dont demonise difference, they celebrate it.

And there are those that put this celebration of difference not just at the heart of a campaign, but at the heart of their brand. From Skodas celebration of those that are Driven by something different, to Apples iconic Think different and its current challenger Androids platform of Together, not the same.

This shows how brands can best treat the potentially toxic area of difference today. Not by glossing over it, like Bruce and Jeep. Not by resorting to name calling, like Rebel Kitchen. But by accepting and celebrating our differences whether playfully or powerfully.

We are all different. Its the one thing we all share. Difference unites us. And perhaps thats what the Bidens should have written in a love heart on the White House lawn this weekend.

Josh Bullmore is chief strategy officer at Leo Burnett

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

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Brands have things to learn from both Trump and Biden's approach to populism - CampaignLive