"If you are a little different, or a little outrageous, or if you do things that are bold or controversial, the press is going to write about you." Donald Trump spoke these words in his 1987 memoirs. Sound familiar? Many believe Trump to be a maniacal candidate who says whatever kind of hateful jargon pops into his head. What’s often overlooked is that there’s a method to Trump’s madness: Trump is using a marketing technique to excite a specific audience and acquire their votes. Before he was presidential candidate, Donald Trump, the real-estate mogul was known as the controversial mastermind behind The Grand Hyatt and Trump Tower in New York. Trump has always been a bossy businessman and these characteristics are transparent in his campaign.
The majority of Trump supporters are over the age of 45, predominantly white and few with an education exceeding a GED. Picture Trump supporters as your typical blue-collar grandparents: the ones who constantly gripe about how this country is being run into the dirt with Obama at the helm. Does this demographic accurately depict the thoughts and feelings of your everyday American? No. But it does reflect the majority of voters. Trump knows this demographic is full of devout voters, and thus focuses his campaign on appealing to this group.
It seems that every news channel is flooded with flack regarding Trump’s campaign; the media is constantly scrutinizing how his rallies turn to riots and how his speeches are as hateful as they are ridiculous. One has to wonder how a sane campaign manager could allow Trump to turn off so many voters, but if you take a step back it all makes sense. Trump’s rallies and quotes keep him at the constant center of the media’s attention: drama sells, and Trump knows it. It’s easy to say that Trump is the most talked about man in the news right now, which is vital when running for president. Media plays a huge role in the presidential campaign and no publicity is bad publicity. Trump’s campaign may seem as if it were tenaciously running off the tracks, but this organized chaos is exactly what Trump is striving for in his candidacy.
The majority of Trump’s voters are sick and tired of the “soft” way this country has been run the past eight years and are seeking a tough candidate that speaks his mind—Trump delivers. His slogan, “Make America Great Again” is a beacon of hope for his demographic, and his demographic are the majority of voters (at least in the primaries). Trump is tough, and in the eyes of many Americans, we need tough. Say what you will about his political stances but you can’t disagree that the way he is running his campaign is rather brilliant. His business background coupled with being a reality TV star may not give him the qualifications to be a good president, but it’s the ideal background and experience to run a successful political campaign. So next time you turn on your TV and see the news coverage of Donald Trump’s latest outlandish statement or a rally that turned violent, just remember that none of it is by accident, and Donald Trump truly is the Mad Man of Marketing.
