All we hear is the Palin Brand. The Palin Brand this the Palin Brand that. She is building up her Palin Brand. What Is the Palin Brand?

Guest Post by Dusty

Let’s start with "The Real Definition of Personal Branding."

The Definition:

Personal branding describes the process by which individuals and entrepreneurs differentiate themselves and stand out from a crowd by identifying and articulating their unique value proposition, whether professional or personal, and then leveraging it across platforms with a consistent message and image to achieve a specific goal. In this way, individuals can enhance their recognition as experts in their field, establish reputation and credibility advance their careers, and build self-confidence.

The Process:

Now let’s explore the process of developing a brand.

A well-executed personal branding campaign creates a strong, consistent, and specific association between the individual and the perceived value they offer.

The Three Elements of a Brand

• Value Proposition: What do you stand for?
• Differentiation: What makes you stand out?
• Marketability: What makes you compelling?

Now let's break down the Palin Brand into the 3 elements listed above. Let’s look at Palin’s Value Proposition, Differentiation and Marketability.

What does she stand for?

Sarah claims to stand for Pro-Life, the 2^nd Amendment, Small Government, Free-Market Principles and Energy Independence.

What makes her stand out?

She is an attractive middle aged Christian female, married once with “five” children who was the first female elected as Governor of the State of Alaska.

What makes her compelling?

She exploded onto the nation’s political scene in 2008 as a relative unknown endorsed by Senator John McCain and the Republican National Committee as the Vice President Nominee.

So in a nutshell the “Palin Brand” is that Sarah is an attractive middle aged former beauty queen contestant from Main Street America, who is still married to her high school sweetheart-whose main claim to fame is he is an Iron Dog Champion. They have “5” children together with 1 a special needs child. (her unique value) Sarah fought tooth and nail to climb the ladder of success and by god she deserves to be President of the United States. (her specific goal) She is just your ordinary, average middle class American which differentiates her from all the other political candidates. (what makes her compelling)

Now let’s take off the rose colored glasses and apply a little logic and reality to what the “Palin Brand” really is shall we?

What does Sarah Palin really stand for?

Two words- Sarah Palin. She really just stands for Sarah Palin. That is it. As we have learned she cannot clearly speak at any length on any topic with any credibility other than that of Sarah Palin and even then she still has trouble with the facts and continues to try and rewrite documented history.

She is only Pro-Life when it is convenient for her to be Pro-Life or if she is being paid to be Pro-Life. Giving birth to a special needs child does not automatically make you a Pro-Life advocate what it does do is make you a parent of a special needs child. The fact that Bristol also chose to continue her pregnancy is something millions of teenagers and their parents deal with every day. Sarah claims to be Pro-Life but signed a bill that forced rape victims to pay for their own rape kits. Sarah failed to act as Governor when a flood almost destroyed a village in AK. Alaska is the only State to have its Medicaid Program suspended due to complete and total mismanagement which resulted in the death of over 200 innocent people.

Sarah brags about being a life-long member of the NRA. She chants the words Don’t Retreat Reload and places gun sights over Congressional Districts and uses words like ‘targeted’ to make herself appear to be a 2^nd Amendment Advocate and an expert markswoman. However, she films a reality show which claims to be nonpolitical and spends 8 weeks showing that she cannot carry her own gun, she cannot load her own gun and it took 5 shots to down a caribou. She filmed a video in direct response to the Tuscon shooting which took the life of a 9 year innocent child and left a Congress Woman whose own district had been placed in Sarah’s gun sights, fighting for her life after being shot at point blank range and she used the words “Blood Libel”.

Sarah claims to be for small government but when the Deep Horizon Oil Rig exploded she didn’t hesitate to call out President Obama for what she perceived to be lack of support. However she implemented a plan in Alaska which taxes the Oil Companies. She uses the words Free Market Principles and Energy Independence. There is no such thing as Energy Independence. The words Energy Independence are just another talking point because she knows how much American’s value their Independence.

What makes Sarah Palin really stand out?

Three words- Good Looks & Charm

What makes Sarah really stand out is her looks. She is a former beauty queen contestant after all. This may have been the one area in her life where she actually applied herself to learning everything she needed to know. She wears expensive glasses that she no longer needs. She applies her make up in her words with a trough and she has many, many wigs in which to enhance her natural hair and we must not forgot the ever present Bumpit (If there ever was a fashion accessory that needs to be retired, this is it). She has the beauty queen smile and wave down pat. On the surface she appears to be quite charming. After all she fooled how many Alaskans into voting for her?

She claims to be a Christian. However she does not claim membership in any church or branch of religion. She has a potty mouth that reviles that of a sailor, a longshoreman or even an IT professional. There still and most likely will always remain questions as to who her high school sweetheart really was, did she really give birth to 5 children, do those 5 children all have the same father. However the one truth is she was the first female Governor of Alaska. Well, in reality she is the first female half term Governor of Alaska because she quit half way thru her first term as Governor.

What makes Sarah Palin really compelling?

What makes Sarah Palin really compelling is the fact that she exploded onto the political area in 2008 as a virtual unknown to most Americans. But behind the scenes she has been positioning herself for the national area since 2006 using her good looks and charm.

Sarah did not and still does not have any national political credentials. She was a first time Governor who had been the Mayor in name only of a tiny town in Alaska and who quit the Chairwoman Seat on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. She has a questionable education background, attended 5-6 colleges on her path to a BA in Communication.

Sarah thinks being unconventional is cool. She believes she can effect change while hiding behind Facebook and Twitter. Being unconventional can be a positive trait in the right place and at the right time. However, a nation at war, dealing with the after effects of a recession does not need to take a giant step backwards and gamble its future on an untested, untried unconventional individual who hides behind Facebook and Twitter.

It is time for Palin to realize that she cannot just show up and spew her hateful, dishonest word salads then get back on the bus to the next stop without realizing there are consequences for her words and actions. It is past time for the media to realize a good leader is not a leader who only shows up for the check and a Photo Op and then goes home. A leader leads through the good and the bad. We have yet to see Palin handle anything bad with any sort of competence.

The real “Palin Brand” is "Baffle them with Bullshit" (her unique value-no one and I mean no does a word salad or plays the victim like Sarah Palin) because the media and her fans do not really care that her willful ignorance of American History, Current Events & Social Issues is important. (what makes her compelling) Sarah will lie, cheat and stomp on anyone she believes to be in her way to the top. She is not your ordinary, average middle class American as most ordinary, average middle class Americans do not own two million dollar homes and believe they are qualified to be President of the United States of America (her specific goal).