Thursday, April 21, 2016

Out with the Old, In with the New: The GOP Gets a Bold New Brand Reboot as the “Grand Opportunity Party”

The new GOP is here and with your help, it’s here to stay. The GOP – the “Grand Old Party” - for better or worse, has been typically associated with and older, homogenous generation of conservatives who are out of touch with today’s younger generation and values. This reputation is fueling what’s wrong with today’s Republican Party. I propose a movement to unify the conservative party and bring revolutionary change with a newly rebooted GOP, as the Grand Opportunity PartyTM. I believe this is urgently needed if the GOP is to remain a viable force in American politics, win future elections, and avoid becoming a permanent minority party. I’ve formulated a powerful new strategy for the GOP, with updated messaging, branding, and a party platform built for the 21st Century electorate that Millennials and the other generations can all support.

As a brand marketer, I have often been challenged to produce branding solutions and updates for a given product or company. Any change to a brand requires balancing the heritage of the original brand with the desire to update its image to attract a new generation of customers. In respect to the new rebranding of the GOP as the Grand Opportunity Party, the challenge is similar. While no one wants to try to produce a New Coke® (a rebranding effort that failed terribly), there have been many other examples of successful re-branding that have worked spectacularly. Old Spice® has done an excellent job of re-branding in recent years. Their image is very different than the original brand positioning from years ago, and it is very successful. The long-term survival of many organizations is dependent on their ability to update their products, messaging, and branding to make themselves relevant to new and evolving audiences – or, in this case, new portions of the electorate.




How does this relate to the GOP brand reboot? Some in the industry have called the 2010 Old Spice brand reboot “the perfect branding campaign”. It took an old brand dating back to 1937, featuring an outdated whistling sailor, and turned the brand’s longevity into strength to attract younger customers by combining its experience and masculinity in an assertive, straightforward and edgy way with a young, confident actor.  It went from “your grandfather’s cologne” to the leading deodorant for men, having successfully built new market shares with a younger audience. The new Star Trek® movie series reboot from director JJ Abrams also took on the challenge of updating the 50-year-old TV series and movie franchise very successfully, keeping the roots and philosophy of the original while refreshing Star Trek for a younger, tech-savvy audience.

If we can give the Grand Old Party (GOP) a similar new brand and messaging update, perhaps a Grand Opportunity Party can be the revolutionary vehicle for conservatives to usher in a new era of freedom and prosperity that will attract younger generations for decades to come. As a marketer, the word “old” in the GOP brand name is highly problematic from the start, with our absolute need to attract Millennials and future generations of young voters[1]. While the word “grand” also feels a bit outdated, removing and replacing the word “grand” would be reaching outside the “zone of credibility” with the Republican base, in my estimation, as would changing the acronym of the GOP itself to something entirely different.

Like Old Spice and Star Trek, the GOP is faced with the challenge of shifting and crafting its brand and message to attract a changing electorate, while maintaining the rich history, values and roots dating back to 1856. We need to strike a balance of outreach to an evolving audience, while retaining the core values of the party. Conservatives are similarly challenged with being considered our “grandfather’s party” by many, and especially by Millennials - and progressives who currently dominate the news media and the culture. Liberal commentators go so far as to call the GOP the party of “angry old white men”.

I firmly believe we desperately need to shift course and adopt a bold new brand reboot now, and I believe that we ARE the Party of Opportunity (whereas, the Democrat Party can be more accurately labeled the “Party of Government Dependency” or the “Party of Authoritarian Government Power”). As stated in the preamble of the 2012 GOP platform:

“The pursuit of opportunity has defined America from our very beginning. This is a land of opportunity. The American Dream is a dream of equal opportunity for all. And the Republican Party is the party of opportunity.”[2]

The Grand Opportunity Party -The revolutionary new face of the GOP - and the
 American Conservative movement.

The logo brand for the Grand Opportunity Party that I created is shown below. The font style is dynamic, bold and current, reflecting our new refreshed style. While the Republican elephant logo may be red, white and blue (as is the Democrat donkey), the primary identifying GOP party color is changed from all red to a red, white and blue colored theme. The prominent and larger blue “O” communicates the primacy of “Opportunity” for all, while the star reflects a symbol of American heritage and strength, reminiscent of the old style US Air Force logo (called the Roundel and also referred to as the National). The font style of the letters closely resembles the font used by the GOP as shown on the GOP.com website (www.gop.com), maintaining a clear familiarity and brand consistency for the Republican Party.










This brand and message reboot,= represents all demographics and generations, and the new GOP logo and name change reflects this ideal.

With my strong passion for the conservative party, I am promoting my marketing strategy through my book and new media project, Cues for Conservatives. This book reflects my ideas and thoughts on how to market the young generation to get them on board with the Republican Party. It is a party that has great economic values that is healthy for the country and one that many can agree with. If it is done correctly, this approach can help inform Millennials the benefits of today’s new conservative party. They are the future and it is important for them to be informed on the conservative values.

If you are passionate about the American people and want the best party to be rebranded so it may connect with more people of all backgrounds, please consider supporting my efforts through my Indiegogo.com crowdfunding page. Together we can start a new conservative movement.





[1] http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/07/a-deep-dive-into-party-affiliation/ aspects of tform and eligious texts, teachings, publications and mosques.  Anti-sharia Muslims only practice these recal eful co

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