By Jaideep Shergill
‘The Donald’ is the most famous nickname given to Donald Trump by the media after Ivana (his wife), a Czech native, called him that in an interview. He is also known as The Don, The Trumpster and DJT.
Plus, Donald Trump is a bully and a braggart. Most thought he would run out of steam well before the Republicans anoint their candidate and look where he is now, a step away from becoming the next American President, the most powerful man on the planet!
But whether you intensely despise him or just mildly dislike him, one thing you’ve got to admit: Donald Trump is a phenomenon, the likes of which has never before been seen on the American political stage. He is also the anti-thesis of everything we are taught and teach in the world of effective PR.
Trump has energised the masses by striking the proper public relations note for an electorate distressed by an uncertain economy and shifting cultural mores and exasperated by politicians who care mainly about their own reelection.
Most importantly, he doesn’t follow any of the classical rules we train spokespeople on when we prepare them for media handling sessions:
- He doesn’t prepare speeches
- He is aggressive and obnoxious
- He is off-message most times (does he even have any?)
- He abuses all and sundry and takes on the competition and the establishment
- He takes the media head on
- He has even been his own spokesperson. A fact he denies vehemently.
Ironically, while the the list of don’ts can go on and on, Donald Trump is a bonafide success. So what makes the impossible possible for ‘The Donald’?
1.Donald Trump is always on the offensive:
Donald doesn’t shy away from taking everyone on. From Jeb Bush to hecklers at his rallies to media anchors comparing him to Hillary Clinton. He has taken them all on and has very strong arguments which he is consistently delivering.
2. He is a true celebrity:
He has tremendous lasting power and has been on the front pages for decades. Being a celebrity shouldn’t count for much when you’re running for president, but in 21st century, it counts for plenty. Trump hardly even advertises; he’s getting so much free publicity, largely due to his larger-than-life image.
3. Takes on his critics:
Public Relations consultants religiously tell their clients, “Always take the high road, and never ever badmouth the competition.â€
But Donald Trump doesn’t listen to public relations consultants; he listens only to Donald Trump. And he pulls no punches, even taking on the holy cows that other politicians won’t go near. Most importantly the people seem to love the breath of fresh air!
4. Trump tells it like it is:
He doesn’t talk political speak. He speaks directly with language that people understand. You may not agree him, but you certainly know where he’s coming from. He has bashed everyone from Hillary Clinton to the establishment and has been completely brutal and candid in calling them out.
5. Dammit! He is supremely confident:
Trump has superhero-sized confidence. Extreme confidence.
He has unconditional confidence in his product, his cause, his business and above all, himself. In fact, he is so confident that even he has started believing everything he says however wrong he may be!
Donald Trump’s campaign has broken every rule in the public relations rulebook. The conventional public relations rulebook, that is. Essentially, he is redefining the rulebook even now. Watch this space for more, my friends. We may soon need to wipe out all our spokespeople training decks and possibly much much more than that, including the smirks on our faces!
Jaideep Shergill, Co-Founder Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting LLP is a PR and communication veteran and has always been contrarian about most things, drawing extraordinary amounts of irk and ire from industry peers. He can be reached on jaideep.shergill@pitchforkpartners.comÂ