Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Trump Spent More on Hats Than Polling
Trump has spent $1.8 million on polling and $15.3 million on collateral (hats, signs, shirts) from June 2015- September 2016. His campaign strategy was to spend more on hats than on field consulting for a large portion of his campaign. It wasn't until September of 2016 that he started spending more on ads (roughly two thirds of his total campaign budget). Do you think this was an effective campaign strategy? How does Trump's campaign compare to Clinton's? Do you think the outcome of this election will be largely impacted by this?
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While this strategy seems absurd at first glance, it has to be taken into account that the campaign's spending on merchandise, including hats, would have been mostly or fully returned by the profits of people actually buying the the clothing. However, Trump certainly should not have spent so much more on merchandise than he did on direct mail and polling. His efforts would have been better spent convincing undecided voters than they would bringing merchandise to people who would already vote for him, which is what people who would buy those things are.
ReplyDeleteClinton seems to be running a very traditional campaign compared to Trump. Trump is not a typical candidate and he doesn't campaign in a normal way. I feel like that is aggravating to Clinton's campaign managers because they need to adapt their strategy to Trump's, even though it looks like he doesn't even have one.
ReplyDeleteThis captures the absurdity of this campaign pretty well; while Hillary invested her money in spreading her message and convincing potential voters, Trump spent his on hats. This goes along with the theme of completely new territory in a campaign; while Hillary's campaign is fairly typical, Trump's is almost unbelievable levels of ridiculousness.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that, according to the graph in the article, Trump's spending on advertisements basically doubled from August to September. His allocation of spending is bizarre to me. How can you spend more on hats than on field consulting and voter lists and data? His focus is, as always, on the wrong thing, which I think hurts his campaign. People who would wear his merchandise are probably already decided voters, so how does this further his campaign? Trump is basically fueling his ego-mania by expanding his representation through his followers. I think that the excessive merchandise may even be less of a campaign "strategy" and more of a way to showcase his fan base, again fueling his ego.
ReplyDeleteI don't think his campaign strategy was very effective. If he had spend less money on merchandise he would have had more money to spend on polling and convincing others to vote for him. Trump's campaign is very unusual compared to Clinton's very tradition campaign, I guess one of the only ways to see if Trump's strategy was effective is to wait and see what the outcome of the election is.
ReplyDeleteI don't think spending so much on merchandise is doing Trump many favors in terms of his winning the election. Spending more on getting his message out to people would be more efficient, but he would need more concrete policy ideas to really convince people to vote for him. However, if enough people were buying Trump's merchandise, he could be making a significant profit, which he could allocate to other areas of his campaign.
ReplyDeleteI don't think his strategy is really benefitting him as much as he would like it to right now. The ads are what inform people, he merchandise just gets his name and label out there. It's kind of pointless to spend more money on the merchandise-at least if you are spending that much on hats and shirts maybe have half of the funds go to a fundraiser or donation center to help the label.
ReplyDeleteWhile this strategy appears strange and like a mis-allocation of resources, I have the feeling that there might be an alternative purpose to this form of marketing. Seeing as Trump may not be able to win over many informed voters to his campaign, the next best strategy would be to get his name and label out so as to give voters a name to potentially recognize and vote for. While I personally find this strategy to be a waste of money (as I don't see many potential voters who would be willing to vote without any other form of education or motivation), it still could be (as others have said before me) a intentional fundamental difference in Trump's campaign to stand out from other political campaigns.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's absolutely crazy that Donald Trump is spending so much money on hats and other merchandise when he could possibly greatly benefit from spending money in other areas. Many people who will be voting this November may not have watched the debates on TV or be extremely up to date on politics. We all know his name by now, so all of the money spent on merchandise isn't really helping him, but it would be beneficial for him to spread his message. By getting his message out there more, perhaps people would have been more comfortable voting for Trump if they were clear about his policies and message amid all of these scandals regarding him right now.
ReplyDeleteTrump is not a traditional candidate, so I'm not sure why these statistics still surprise me. He's not going the traditional route, but I wouldn't say that it's completely absurd. He's making himself a brand through all of his media promotion and now these "swag" items. He is simply focusing on his label and using that to promote himself rather an gathering information to form a strategic plan.
ReplyDeleteThis campaign strategy is honestly intriguing and will surely be studied for years to come. Some people may quickly dismiss it, but Mr. Trump's red hat and slogan have become iconic in this twisted election. Secretary Clinton's campaign is certainly more traditional. We will see how effective his strategy was when the election results are revealed.
ReplyDeleteI think this campaign strategy was somewhat effective, but would only ever work for a candidate like Trumps. The hats, shirts, and signs are everywhere, so this strategy helped put Trumps name out there. It's so hard to ignore Trump's campaign if you see his name everytime you turn around. Hillary obviously focused on more traditional campaign strategies, which is representative of how they both ran their campaigns.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is very effective, for everyone already knows Trump's deal. However, it is an indicator that he really doesn't have his priorities straight. He, as a business man, puts much emphasis on merchandise and his label, while he needs to focus on how to be a president.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely convinced if it was an effective campaign strategy, but it was a goddamn hilarious campaign strategy. One of the benefits I might see from this campaign strategy would probably be that since his campaign is based on getting people angry, and the more people wear his stuff out and about, the more people will get angry. But that's a bit of a stretch.
ReplyDeleteI think that, although Trump's hats have become iconic in the past year, it was a poor way for him to spend his campaign finances. It is more important for a candidate to spread his or her message and ideas than it is to advertise.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the hats are really helping his campaign that much. It seems like the hats just for making Trump supporters feel more unified or maybe Trump is just doing it to make more money. It isn't necessary for Trump to put himself out there, most people already know him from the apprentice or his constant media spotlight. If the hats were to put his name out there, it was an unnecessary effort but if it was to make money or just raise Trump morale and make the supporters feel more unified then I guess it worked.
ReplyDeleteI believe Trump spending that kind of money on hats is ridiculous and ineffective in contrast to Hillary's traditional approach. Although his hats have become increasingly popular, it is unlikely to influence one's vote. I don't think a guy who spends $15.3 million on merchandise alone is fit to run the country.
ReplyDeleteI think squandering over 15 million on hats during his campaign perfectly illustrates Trump's lack of sensible planning and reflects very poorly on his ability to lead this country. It also shows his absent-mindedness with regard to real issues.
ReplyDeleteI too believe Trumps choice in spending an insane amount of money on merchandise seems very untraditional and unprofessional but it does make sense because he is after all a businessman. Trump probably felt more comfortable getting his campaigning out that way than going the more traditional side with tv commercials and other such things. Trump probably also saw a potential profit in the merchandise to help raise money for him campaign.
ReplyDeleteI believe the way Trump went about spending his money was not the most intelligent thing he could've done. He spent way too much money on merchandise and things along those lines. He should've focused more on tv ads and campaigning instead of spending billions of dollars on pointless stuff. He spent $15.3 million on merchandise alone, that's way too much. He definitely could've put his money towards better things, then again he is a businessman.
ReplyDeleteTrump ran the most unconventional campaign in the history of politics. Props to Kellyanne Conway for masterminding the whole thing. Clearly, his methods were indeed effective, seeing as he is now the president elect. Clinton ran a more conventional and above-the-belt campaign, with her ads "attacking" Trump simply by playing audio and video clips of things Trump has actually said and done. The election was influenced by many things, but I don't think Trump's marketing campaign was one of them.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it was a very unorthodox and stupid way for Donald Trump to spend his campaign money, however we see now that spending money on advertisements and polling may not sway an election as much as we think as Mr. Trump has now been elected president. Hillary ran a normal campaign, spending her money on ads that attacked Trump simply by watching him be himself.
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