Why Donald Trump is winning the marketing war over Hilary Clinton & Good Publicity vs. Bad Publicity

US Republican Presidential Nominee, Donald Trump may be trailing in all the major polls behind his Democratic rival, Hilary Clinton, but there is one war he’s winning; and it’s the marketing war.

I started following the US Presidential elections earlier this year when it became certain that the Mr. Trump would become the Republican Presidential candidate.  He achieved this feat by defeating seventeen other Republican candidates, and insulting them along with practically everyone else along the way.

Some of his statements were simply shocking but the ‘shock factor’ is especially what is causing him to win the marketing war.  Mr. Trump has managed to get every Political Analyst, Thought Leader, News maker and even the regular man to sit and analyze his every shared thought on every news-based programme throughout the United States.

As a direct result of this shock factor, his campaign has not had to spend exorbitant amounts on a formal advertising campaign to get his message out to potential voters.    In fact, according to the Washington Post, up to August 16, 2016, Trump’s campaign had not spent any money on advertising while his Democratic rival, Hilary Clinton has spent US$61 million dollars.

Trump’s shock factor has worked so well that all he has to do is make a statement or have an outburst at one of his events and the news networks will run with it.

Whether the attention will work in his favour or not is left to be seen but the fact that he is trailing in the polls, says that though his visibility is high, there is something to be said for good publicity.

This is a teachable moment for businesses in general and startups in particular.  As a startup, you are encouraged to strive for good publicity as there is also bad or negative publicity and your business can suffer, even temporarily from the damage.

Bad publicity as the name suggests is publicity that is unfavourable and positions your business in a bad light, there is however a school of thought which suggests that there is no such thing as bad publicity and maybe this is the school to which Mr. Trump subscribes.

Bad or negative publicity however, comes down to how it’s handled.  PR Experts suggests that companies should have a written plan which details possible scenarios, an appointed Company Executive who speaks to the media and the methods which will be used to communicate with the public. 

At all times though the business is encouraged to own up and apologize if it’s wrong and work with your PR specialist to keep the media, your customers and staff fully aware of all developments.