BRANDING THE PRESIDENCY

WORDS: Liv Morgan and Pat Kinsley

Since Obama’s ‘Yes we can’ numerous Irish versions have circulated. A favourite, if shamefully apt, being ‘Maybe we can… sure go on, it’ll be grand!’ However now that our time has come, when it comes to the Irish Presidential Election what do we truly want in a leader?

The underlying strength of a good presidential candidate is based on the belief that this individual can best represent us, the people. Ireland needs to have a sense of pride in their leader. And from that they grow, we grow, Ireland Inc. grows. Whilst Ireland’s President and the President of the USA differ in their day to day role, there is still one unique similarity; The prime focus of any President is to represent the people of their country by always living the country’s brand philosophy.

Let’s face it, our country’s brand has not been the most spiffy in recent times; The traditional perception of drunk, red faced, potato eating, illiterate immigrants hasn’t completely disappeared and then we went adding financially incompetent, reckless, apathetic and economically dependent to the list. Ireland needs a leader that will restore our reputation. Not embed it.

The future President, needs to identify what it is we, Ireland Inc., want to be known for and subsequently work towards building the frameworks to facilitate those objectives. To do this, like any brand offering especially in a market with steep competition, the presidential brand has to know and understand its own DNA. It has to identify what makes it different from its competitors (something that is absolutely backed by truth), groom it so it sits comfortably with them and then deliver it consistently and as often as possible.

There would be justification in looking to existing brand offerings in the communications industry for inspiration. A brand that springs to mind is the trusty Nokia; Nokia’s prime selling message and what they were all about was ‘Connecting People’. That one line is crucial to the evolution of the job in hand especially in these ever changing times. Then you have Phillips, throw this brand in the mix and you get a bit of flair, sustainability and empowerment. Both brands, in all they do and say behind and infront of the scenes have one clear belief: “Let’s make things better”; A perfect foundation for any future presidency to build on.

Read more about Branding The Presidency in the Autumn 2011 issue of WMB, on newsstands from September 1st!