Corporate Democracy from Say on Pay to Say on Politics

Networked political brands: consumption, community and political expression in contemporary brand culture

“…The personal/corporate brand (the lines are blurred here; Sherman, 2017) and the political brand are so inextricably linked in the figure of Trump that changes in the value (social and economic) of one brand influences the value of the other (Fischer, 2017; Mahdawi, 2018; Torres-Spelliscy, 2018). In fact, Trump’s historically low approval ratings as president have driven the value of his personal/corporate brand to similarly historic lows: a YouGov BrandIndex poll of consumer brand perceptions in late 2017 found that of over 1600 brands towards which it measured perceptions, Trump’s brand (as well as Ivanka Trump’s) fell in the bottom 10.…”

“…As a result of this collapse in corporate brand equity, companies and organisations licensing the Trump brand name have scrambled to rebrand (Torres-Spelliscy, 2018). For instance, a golf course in Dubai removed ‘Trump’ from their name in the course of the 2016 campaign, while buildings in New York, Toronto and Panama, among others, have either sought to rebrand or succeeded in rebranding under new names since his election (e.g.…”

“…For instance, a golf course in Dubai removed ‘Trump’ from their name in the course of the 2016 campaign, while buildings in New York, Toronto and Panama, among others, have either sought to rebrand or succeeded in rebranding under new names since his election (e.g. Fahrenthold and O’Connell, 2018; Torres-Spelliscy, 2018). These efforts include those by residents of Trump-brand condominiums in New York, where residents have pressured the building owners to break their licensing agreements with Trump and rebrand (Mahdawi, 2018), and by the Trump International Hotel in Panama, which the Trump Organization has threatened with legal action should they proceed with rebranding without the Trump name.…”

“…These efforts include those by residents of Trump-brand condominiums in New York, where residents have pressured the building owners to break their licensing agreements with Trump and rebrand (Mahdawi, 2018), and by the Trump International Hotel in Panama, which the Trump Organization has threatened with legal action should they proceed with rebranding without the Trump name. Yet even the Trump Organization has taken to rebranding its corporate endeavours, launching a new line of (lower priced) hotels branded ‘Scion’, instead of ‘Trump’, which they announced in a press release from which the US president and principal of the company’s name was notably absent (Torres-Spelliscy, 2018).…”