特朗普的逆袭可能让很多人大吃一惊，但机智的营销人员们却并不会感到很意外。从特朗普的品牌营销手册上，我们可以学到以下六条重要的经验：

给消费者找个活儿干

最好的广告是那种能给消费者“找事儿”的广告。比如联合航空请你“飞向友好的天空”，耐克让你“想做就做”。最成功的品牌还允许消费者与他们共同建立品牌价值。“让我们使美国再次伟大”就是一个含义甚广的战斗口号，每个选民都可以给出自己的解读。它能够体现出热情和决心。希拉里的“一起变得更强大”也是一个含义甚广的口号，但它体现的是一个过程，并不是说过程不重要，但是它所要求的结果却远远没有前者清晰。优秀的营销人员深知，如果你对你的品牌没有一个明确的定位，你的竞争对手就会替你这样做。

情怀是个大卖点

要想让消费者为一个不确定的未来投票，恐怕多数人都不会买账，尤其是如果你的品牌听起来还相当陌生。而作为一名政坛新秀的特朗普之所以能够异军突起，跟他擅于回忆那曾经辉煌美好的昨天，并且承诺未来将重建那样的辉煌美好有很大的关系。“再次”这个词并不是无意地被添加到“使美国伟大”的口号前面的。不知道你还记不记得家乐氏公司那个著名的粟米片广告：“像第一次一样再尝尝我们。”对于美国陷入凋敝的那些“老工业基地”的千百万人民来说，辉煌美好的日子是曾经真实存在过的，他们之所以给特朗普投票，就是寄希望于他真的能把那些好日子带回来。

追逐被遗忘的消费者

大多数金融机构追逐的都是同一批高净值目标客户，而对生活水准在小康及以下的成百上千万家庭，则要么视而不见，要么热情不高。特朗普还重新解读了民主党一向标榜的多样性，赢得了民主党内被本党忽视的蓝领阶层的芳心，同时也为自己拉来了一批新选民。与此同时，几乎所有共和党人都回家给他们的候选人投票了。好的营销人员总是知道如何在获得新客户和保留老客户之间进行平衡。

煎牛排时的滋滋声比牛排本身更吊人胃口

在执政经验和政治知识上，希拉里能完爆特朗普十条街。如果纠结于一团乱麻的政策之争，政坛新人特朗普很快就会被希拉里牵着鼻子走。因此，如果我们把此次大选比喻成煎牛排，特朗普的形象塑造以及他对选民的承诺，就是为了营造出更多滋滋的热气儿。特朗普浓墨重彩地描绘了他当选后的目标和效果，但对政策和实施细节只是轻轻带过。当然，随着现在特朗普的讲话风格变成了“特朗普政府将会……”，他现在也到了必须把牛排端上桌的时候了。特朗普能否实现他的承诺？如果不能的话，四年后消费者肯定不会再次买他这块夹生肉了。

建立激情

好的营销人员深知群众口口相传的力量。在社交媒体时代，光有更好的活动组织能力（传统的地面战），或是光靠在电视广告上砸钱（空战），对于希拉里来说还是不够的。因为特朗普是个极为果敢、极有活力的人，一天里能做五场演讲，而且听他演讲的观众人数既多、热情又高，给电视机前的普通选民留下了极为深刻的印象，效果远远超过了希拉里砸钱投的那些付费广告。有些权威人士会质疑激情究竟能否转化成选票。但优秀的营销人员都知道，如果消费者对品牌产生了热情，你的收银机就肯定会叮叮地响个不停。在这方面做得更好的显然是特朗普而非希拉里。

让时机刚刚好

政治营销需要你能够拿下多数人的选票，然而它并不看你平时每一天的业绩，它只看你每四年的那一天里的业绩，因此时机就是一切。一路选来，特朗普也知道了哪些路数有用，哪些没用。他对自己的主张进行了一些调整，也抑制住了自己公开喷人的欲望。他的民意在正确的时机达到了最高点，令很多民调机构和媒体权威感到十分意外。在最近的一场演讲中，特朗普又重复了同样的信息，让选民畅想一个美好的未来——如果他们相信特朗普政府的承诺的话。他自信地断言，“我们会拿下这个州”，“我们在那个州领先了”。消费者不仅想支持一个胜利者，他们也想支持一个视自己为胜利者的品牌。如果身边和自己差不多的人也认为一个品牌是一个胜利者，那他们也会倾向于更支持它。这样一来，一个品牌就会变成一股运动。

上周，“希拉里品牌”为选民承诺了一个光明的未来，但她看起来还和以往的候选人大同小异，而且看起来有点疲劳，且过于依赖奥巴马和文艺明星的站台。相比之下，“特朗普品牌”为选民承诺了一个很像昨天的明天，虽然他一直不被看好，且一直是政坛的门外汉，但他是一个果决且具有破坏性的人。他一个人站在舞台中央，鬃毛似的发型随风摇摆，一心准备问鼎白宫。

“特朗普品牌”是一个全新的东西。但“新”很容易，“好”却很难。时间将证明“特朗普品牌”能否实现它的诺言。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

本文作者John A. Quelch是哈佛商学院商业管理学教授。

Donald Trump’s victory may be a surprise—but not to astute marketers. Here are six important lessons from Trump’s brand marketing playbook:

Give consumers a job.

The best marketing campaigns always call on consumers to do something. For example, United invites you to “Fly The Friendly Skies.” Nike NKE -1.43% insists that you “Just Do It.” The most successful brands also allow their consumers to co-create brand meaning. “Let’s Make America Great Again” is an inclusive call to arms with a powerful goal that each voter can interpret for himself. It embraces passion and purpose. Clinton’s “Stronger Together” is also inclusive but it evokes process, not that process isn’t important, but the desired outcome is much less clear. Good marketers know that, if you don’t position your brand clearly, your competitors will do it for you.

Show the past as prologue.

Offering consumers the adventure of voting for an uncertain future never works with the majority, especially if your brand is new to the game. Trump, the political neophyte, won by recalling a better yesterday and promising to recreate it as the better tomorrow. The word “Again” is no accidental addition to the Make America Great slogan. Remember the famous Kellogg’s Corn Flakes campaign to recover lost consumers: “Try Us Again for the First Time.’ For millions of Americans in the rust belt, the good old days really existed and they voted to bring them back.

Pursue forgotten consumers.

Most financial firms chase the same high net worth prospects, ignoring or at best taking for granted millions of modestly prosperous people. Trump turned the Democrats’ commendable embrace of diversity on its head to invoke the “Forgotten Man,” winning over lunch-bucket Democrats overlooked by their party as well as bringing in new voters and energizing lapsed ones. At the same time, almost all Republicans came home to vote for their nominee. Good marketers always know how to balance new customer acquisition with customer retention.

Sizzle beats steak.

Clinton was always going to beat Trump on the steak of experience and policy knowledge. A new brand can’t afford to get lost in the policy weeds. Hence, Trump’s campaign persona and his contract with the American voter offered more sizzle. Painted in broad brush strokes, the contract emphasizes goals and outcomes, and is light on policy and implementation details. Of course, having begun many a sentence with the words “A Trump administration will…” he now has to deliver the steak. Will Brand Trump deliver on its promises? If not, the consumer won’t repurchase four years from now.

Build enthusiasm.

Good marketers know the power of word-of-mouth recommendations. In the era of social media, better organization (the old ground war) and outspending on television advertising (the air war) weren’t enough for Clinton. Trump’s determination and stamina—five speeches a day—and the size of his crowds impressed ordinary voters watching on television much more than Clinton’s barrage of paid ads. The pundits questioned whether enthusiasm would convert into votes. Good marketers know that brand enthusiasm rings the cash register. It did for Trump, but not for Clinton.

Close the sale.

Political marketing requires you win a plurality of votes not every day but on a single day once in four years. Timing is everything. Trump learned what worked and what didn’t work as the campaign progressed. He refined his message, suppressed the ad hominem insults, and peaked at the right time, confounding the pollsters and media pundits. In every recent speech, he repeated the same messages, inviting voters to imagine the future if they bought into the promises of a Trump administration. He confidently asserted “we are going to win” this state, “we’re leading in” that state. Consumers not only want to back a winner, they want to back a brand that sees itself as a winner. And they want to back a brand that other people similar to themselves see as a winner. That’s when a brand becomes a movement.

In the last week, brand Clinton promised a bright future but looked like the candidate of yesterday, a little tired and overly reliant on a supporting cast of Obamas and Bon Jovis. By contrast, Brand Trump promised a future that looks like yesterday, Everyman’s high-energy underdog and outsider, disruptive yet decisive, standing alone at the podium, mane flowing, ready to step up to Pride Rock.

Brand Trump is today’s bright new thing. But new is easy. Good is hard. Time will tell whether Brand Trump can deliver on its promises.