‘Embrace the buzz’ – Maltese marketing specialist shares lessons from Trump’s election campaign

Donald Trump swept to victory in the US presidential elections last week by winning voters across almost every demographic, on the back of a campaign that proved popular across the board despite accusations of racism and even fascism.

As the former President gears up to re-enter the White House, there have been no shortage of post-mortems analysing where his opponent Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party went astray.

Credit must however be given to the President-Elect for his savvy understanding of what a campaign can be in 2024, as he eschewed traditional media and Hollywood for a line-up of podcast interviews and online celebrity endorsements.

Alan Brincat, a Director at Propane, an iGaming Marketing agency, broke down his top takeaways from Mr Trump’s marketing playbook that led to his victory, identifying key lessons that businesses – and of course politicians – ignore at their own peril.

Sharing his insights on LinkedIn, Mr Brincat noted the centrality of authenticity to Mr Trump’s entire persona, favouring unfiltered speeches over rehearsed ones. While the results are not without flaws, they are real and relatable, “something a lot of voters connected with.”

His name-recognition also helped, with his presidential campaigns building off a decades-long career making headlines and cultivating a personal brand that is not only “synonymous with success and wealth,” but also distinctly “bold and unique.”

Mr Trump’s promise to ‘Make America Great Again’ may have been vague on details, Mr Brincat says, but the message was powerful enough to connect with millions of voters, showing that that getting stuck in the weeds can be a costly mistake for marketers. Rather, they should focus on crafting a “simple articulated message” that stands out.

By talking about restoring pride, giving hope and fuelling anger, the new US President capitalised on people’s emotions: “He understood that logic makes us think, but emotions make us act,” noted Mr Brincat.

Likewise, his message helped create a sense of belonging that made his supporters “believe they are part of something bigger” by “weaving relatable narratives” that spoke to their lived experiences and perceptions. In other words, “In order to win, you need to know your audience and their pain points.”

The marketing specialist also highlighted the knack Mr Trump has shown to “embrace the buzz,” noting that his soundbites kept him in the news and on people’s lips, even as he spoke directly to voters and bypassed traditional media, fostering a relationship with voters that felt more immediate and real.

Good news or bad, Mr Trump has made headlines in the four years of Joe Biden’s presidency. Although he is a twice impeached convicted felon, “he cleverly spun every controversy into a badge of honour,” with Mr Brincat pointing out that “every headline = free exposure.”

While the new President is something of a loose cannon, his campaign was run effectively and efficiently, using data and micro targeting that saw key counties flooded with ads with personalised messaging to push key issues directly to different demographics.

Mr Trump’s podcast tour was also a masterstroke that put his message in front of millions of young voters that might otherwise have felt alienated from the political process. “He hit up every podcast that mattered, taking his campaign straight to where his audience hangs out,” said Mr Brincat. The cachet gained from rubbing shoulders with media personalities like Joe Rogan also helped, as did the endorsement of people like UFC CEO Dana White, which gained the Republican nominee an army of young male supporters.

Speaking to MaltaCEOs.mt, Mr Brincat adds that Mr Trump’s strategic partnership with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the latter suspended his independent campaign was another stroke of brilliance.

“This move not only helped consolidate right-leaning voters but also attracted female voters by leveraging his reputation as a health advocate. By aligning with RFK Jr, Trump tapped into the voter base concerned with personal and public health.”

Finally, Mr Brincat drew attention to a central tenet of Mr Trump’s campaign – the ‘what’s in it for me?’ question. “Trump’s rhetoric, however, controversial, was always focused on his supporters’ sense of gain and their respective personal interests or benefit,” he said.

The next four years of a Trump presidency over the world’s largest economy and most powerful military promise to be full of surprises, but in the meantime, marketers and business leaders should take note of what made it possible – a “marketing masterpiece” of a campaign.