Brands Continued

The republican brand from 1980 through 2006 was no doubt dominant. Bill Clinton, the only democratic president during this time won primarily by coopting some of the brand values of limited government. Clinton also benefited when George H.W. Bush defied his party’s brand identity by raising taxes, drawing the ire of his own consumers.

So what has happened to the republican brand since 1994? It has continually lost value to the point that the republicans lost their market share lead in the 2006 congressional elections. While taxes are still an issue in that people like to pay less, they are less of one as other issues like health care and the environment crowd them out (and some believe that we may have reached equilibrium on taxes).

Brands can get tired if the value proposition no longer holds or there is brand confusion. As much as the value proposition of cutting taxes got old and tired (see this recent article on taxes and the brand), the brand dilution was cemented by the product not living up to its acclaimed values. Many republican party consumers did not see the party living up to its value of limited government—in fact, the party is now viewed as being as eager to spend as its opponents. This recent article illustrates this. While reputation can carry a brand for some time, once the brand value is lost it is hard to get back. For example, some companies like Sprint have suffered recently from poor customer service—it will take great effort to turn this around.