Brand Mix

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. The Olympics are over. Now the political season starts in earnest and many of the branding and economic blogs I read have veered off their normal path into this muddy terrain:

1) Politicians Need To Be Better Branders: Brand Identity Guru
Scott White criticises both Barack Obama and John McCain for choosing VP candidates who complement the ticket rather than reinforce it.

2) Extreme Appeal: Voters Trust Extreme Positions More Than Moderate Ones, Study Finds: Science Daily
USC economist, Juan Carillo shows, in a new study, that extreme political positions can build trust even when the electorate has ideological reservations. As Carillo says: "Voters rightly perceive that someone without ideological commitment cannot have developed a valuable political program. They reason that, "If you tell me what I want to hear, it probably means that you don't have any ideas of your own to share." This study supports and helps explain Scott's POV (above). (By way of Marginal Revolution)

3) Conventions '08: Come Chat It Up, Marketers: Marketing Profs
Various brand marketers gives their scores on Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention. The scores (out of five) were: 0, 2, 3.5, 4, 4.5 and 5. Not sure that this range of scores does much to build credibility of the branding profession or, at least, the value of using brand principles to analyze politics.

4) Palin in Comparison: Fritinancy
Nancy Friedman comes up with some interesting scoop on Sarah Palin, John McCain's VP pick, including a reference to FOX News Channel's co-host Steve Doocy who suggested that Palin does so know about international relations "because she is right up there in Alaska right next door to Russia."

5) Palin Pandering Pops McCain Bubble: Rob Frankel
Rob's not a big fan of the decision to go with Palin as the VP pick. "In the end, McCain's foolish attempt to pander is what kills all brands. It reflects an inability to lead, an abdication of authority by playing to the crowd instead of inspiring the crowd."