Again Rocket Branding is not judging who should win the 2012 Presidential Election and, again from purely a branding view we still believe that Obama has a strong ‘brand‘ following that he can use to regain momentum and win. (Please see my last Blog,” Rocket Branding believes the Obama brand is staged to Win,” Oct 9, 2012)

 

Arguably Romney’s recent debate success has boosted his chances and by all accounts his running mate, Paul Ryan, did well enough in the VP debate to keep momentum on their side for now.

 

With a few weeks to go and a close race, next week’s Presidential debate could be the decider. If President Obama can regain the emotional ‘brand’ connection with his base (and particularly like minded ‘undecided’ in the swing states) then Rocket Branding would still give him the edge.

 

So what can/should Mitt Romney do to win?

 

 

Ok so let’s ‘rocket’ the Romney ‘brand’.

 

Apparently according to the polls and pundits, there are some 5% or so of voters yet undecided who will most likely decide the election. Let us appoint them our SOB target (source of business or source of vote target in this case) and let’s look at what can make them fall Romney’s way over the next two weeks.

 

Rocket Branding is about creating emotional beliefs for a brand. So what emotional belief do we need to build among this SOB target?

 

‘Likeability’ is clearly a driving factor for creating emotional belief in elections and although Governor Romney has improved on this measure, the Obama brand still wins here across most voters.

 

‘Likeability’ though can be trumped by ‘trust’…especially if the stakes are high. Just because you like some one it does not mean you automatically trust them to do the right thing by you and here the results are mixed between the two.

 

The SOB target surely by now has heard all the arguments, gaffes and narratives. So why are they are still undecided?

 

The key may well be in whom they think they can trust? And again all Obama has to do is push the ‘rich’ button and trust becomes an issue for Romney and Republicans in general. Romney’s 47% gaffe only pours more fuel on this fire.

 

So there it is. Romney must create a belief among the SOB target that they can TRUST him. If he can stand tall and focus his passion on relevant issues and answers (jobs, jobs, jobs, security) and respectfully withstand the ‘rich/47%’ body blows from Obama then he has a chance. The secret for him is to be clear, substantive and human on the issues and importantly stay on the high Presidential plain and not get into ‘small ball’ with the petty gaffes and zingers. This is not unlike what he did in the first debate and what Paul Ryan did to a degree in his debate with Joe Biden.

 

Two heavy weight emotional brands going at it with nothing less than the leadership of the free world going to the victor. Such great theater!

Even Honey Boo Boo must be eager to watch.

 

Which brand do you think will win? Lets chat about all the Rocket Branding possibilities.