What Fire and Fury Won't Tell You About Trump

Trump is Like Apple

Simon Sinek said: “If Apple was like everyone else, a marketing message might be: We make great computers. They’re user-friendly. Want to buy one? …Here’s how Apple actually communicates: everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo, we believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user-friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?”

“The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have; the goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”

Donald Trump does not run his campaign based on his policies. The same way Apple does not sell computers. During his speech, he hardly talks about foreign policy or any other policy for that matter. That’s what Mitt Romney pointed out in his vicious attack on Trump on March 3rd. Romney might as well have spoken about the three little pigs - Trump's supporters do not care. They believe in what he believes. They believe in the ‘why’. The reason why he is running is to make America great again. He is tired of politicians doing nothing and that is exactly the sentiment among his supporters.

"I would say that a lot of people are fed up with the lies and lack of accountability of the political system. Trump is coming not from a political background but a business one. People are hoping for change and will be attracted to anything that is not a status quo option." — Adam M

Lesson: Stop selling what you do, or make. Instead, start selling why you do it.(html comment removed: more)

Trump Gives His Audience What They Want

Your customer is king, right? The best brands out there go to extreme lengths in order to understand what it is their customers want exactly. Today we have so many listening tools and we spend large amounts of money researching what it is our target audience wants to hear. We create our marketing content based on that. We make sure that our brand’s tone of voice matches the audience we are talking to.

According to Kirby Goidel, a political communications professor at A&M: “Trump captures the feeling that many people have of Washington that the current political system isn't solving problems, so the U.S. needs someone new to come in and take care of business - an outsider.”

Trump appeals to people because his communication style matches the sentiment of his audience. All his supporters believe that he “tells it like it is," something that voters have always wanted from politicians who usually emphasize deliberate, practiced deliveries of tested methods. These practiced deliveries are the equivalent of a marketer using business jargon to attract customers.

Lesson: It’s not about you; it’s about your customers. Give them what they want!

Trump Knows How to Ride the Wave

For many years, the Republicans campaigned relentlessly against Obama with below-the-belt tactics. They implied that he was a Muslim who was soft on terrorism. They also pointed out that he was born outside of America and that he encouraged illegal immigration. It was racist and xenophobic, without actually using racist and xenophobic words.

Their efforts gave birth to a monster. Masses of hate-filled and angry people started showing up all over the country. The Republicans had done their job too well and it was about to turn around and bite them.

Donald Trump, a shrewd and unethical businessman clearly understood that he could upend the Republican party by playing their game, and bettering it. He rode the Republican wave to the maximum, and verbalized what they could not. He became the bigot and fascist that mainstream Republicans could not, and managed to get America voting for him.

Lesson: Find out where the opportunities are and pounce on them.

Whether we like it or not, Trump has used his business experience to K.O his Republican opponents. You do not have to be like him to learn from his campaign marketing strategies. You do not even have to be a businessman or marketer. When it comes to life and success, some things always work.