You Are the Brand

Sarah Palin: So You Want to Be Taken Seriously?

Political brands can be hard to figure out. There have been some names and brands associated with great leaders throughout American history—names such as Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, JFK, Roosevelt. You get the idea. But in the modern, media-obsessed, Internet-driven blogosphere, building and sustaining a successful political brand requires an understanding of a far more complicated equation. Consider the case of Sarah Palin. Until August 2008, who really knew who Sarah Palin was? I didn’t, and a big part of my professional life involves doing political commentary. Within minutes of the announcement that GOP presidential candidate John McCain had picked Palin to be his vice presidential running mate, the name “Sarah Palin” exploded on the national political landscape. Since then it’s been a branding roller coaster for Palin. So much of how she is viewed is a product of the way she looks, what she says, how she says it, and who she blames when she says it. Palin offers a unique look at the modern-day branding process for anyone hoping to rise into a leadership position or to understand the creation of an instant celebrity. Looks Matter The fact that an attractive, forty-five-year-old woman from Alaska stands out among the countless white, middle-aged and older, men who dominate politics in our country says something about the role of one’s appearance in the political branding process. It’s been said that if Sarah Palin looked like Susan Boyle (the Internet-created singer from England), she would never be the political star she is 185 Sarah Palin So You Want to Be Taken Seriously? Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:29 AM Page 185 today. Let’s face it—to a lot of people, particularly men, Sarah Palin is hot. (And don’t kid yourself, this isn’t a sexist comment. A big part of Barack Obama’s appeal is that he’s a good-looking and physically fit younger guy; in 2008 when People magazine featured him without his shirt on, all of a sudden Obama’s pecs became part of his brand.) I know it sounds trivial to consider how somebody looks when you’re talking about electing national leaders to solve problems of world peace, terrorism, environmental catastrophes, a fiscal crisis, etc., but when you’re building a political brand, looks do matter. How do you think John Kennedy beat Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential race? The JFK brand, while greatly influenced in later years by his assassination in November 1963, was to a large extent the product of the fact that he was a great-looking guy running against a not-at-all-so-good-looking Richard Nixon in the first televised debates in our country. Those who listened to the debate thought that Nixon won, while those who watched the debate on television thought that Kennedy won. (Could it be related to the fact that Nixon refused to wear makeup during the debate?) Looks matter a whole lot. Sarah Palin has been on the lucky side of this line. The Power of Words Beyond being physically attractive, Palin’s brand is a product of her tendency to say pretty outrageous things. Part of her appeal is that she’s unpredictable. (She likes to call it “going rogue.”) The media realized very quickly that she’s good TV—even if what she says often doesn’t make any sense or, as was the case in the 2008 campaign , demonstrates a shocking lack of knowledge. In the book Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, authors John Heilemann and Mark Halperin note the following: There was the matter of Palin’s substantive deficiencies. On September 10, she was preparing to fly back to Alaska to see her son Track ship off to Iraq and to tape her first network interview with ABC News’s Charlie Gibson. Before the flight to Anchorage, [McCain advisors Steve] Schmidt, [Nicole] Wallace, and other 186 YOU ARE THE BRAND Adubato_(Brand)_final 4/11/11 11:29 AM Page 186 members of her traveling party met Palin at the Ritz-Carlton near Reagan airport, in Pentagon City, Virginia—and found that, although she’d made some progress with her memorization and studies, her grasp of rudimentary facts and concepts was minimal.1 Apparently, this is a kind way of...