"If you don't have anything nice to say..."

My mother always said, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” 

Sometimes, I really think my mother was right on the money.  In an age where consumers and critics are one in the same, we find a great deal of negative engagement on social media to brands.   What happens when the brand is representative of a person?  Namely, Trump – brand, person, product, and service. 

While this post doesn’t seek to spark a political conversation, I want to bring to the discussion of how the negative engagement of Donald Trump on Twitter could potentially affect his brand (and potentially the credibility of our government) in response. 

The President of the United States is charged with many responsibilities – Commander in Chief, Chief Executive, authority on foreign and domestic policy, and ultimate advocate for the American people.  Each president, from Gerald Ford in 1975 has been parodied on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.   While some have probably expressed their disdain for the parody in private, Donald Trump has taken to social media to blast the show – and the news division of its parent company, NBC. 

(Twitter.com, 2017)

To me, this raises a few questions.   Why does the President, with all of his responsibilities, feel the need to comment on the quality of a comedy program?   Are there not more pressing issues that should garner more of his focus?   Why mention NBC News?   Is the offense caused by a comedy program anyway reflected in the integrity or journalistic standards of the corporate news division of a network to which he executive produces a show?  Yes, many questions.  

If the parody on SNL was seen as an attack on the person (or the brand), how could/should Trump have engaged social media to protect what should be a dignified person (or brand).   Generally speaking, and not in defense of SNL, the parodies of Trump are satirical characterizations of comments or events that have played out in public, or completely fictional situations.   Instead of responding with a gracious, self-deprecating tone, Trump essentially tried to turn the table to damage two hallmark components of NBC’s brand.   By not doing that, does Trump run the risk of appearing petty to an engaged public on social media? 

According to our text, key in brand management on social media is harnessing authenticity.   “If you are real, authentic, and human in your interactions, customers and prospects will trust you, buy from you, and most important, share you with their friends” (Kerpen, 114).    I don’t believe Trump, the man or the brand, is anything less than authentic – but sometimes confrontational in tone.   If the new rules of social media apply, and he is reacting quickly with authenticity – maybe the tone doesn’t matter.   Are his personal and political successes attributed to both following the rules of engagement but bending the rules of decency?  Or is it time for the rules to change once again?   My guess is that the success of the Trump brand can only be measured by the success of his associated businesses that carry his name after his presence on social media is fully absorbed by the public.   My other estimation is that the success of the Trump brand (as a politician) will be measured by the length of his term, and any continued support of his constituency.  

Some days, I wish we all listened to our mothers a bit more carefully. 

Kerpen, Dave. Likeable social media: how to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand,

      and be amazing on facebook, twitter, linkedin, instagram, pinterest, and more. New York: 

      McGraw-Hill Education, 2015. Print.