In Mexico, we’ve just had a Presidential election, probably the most important one in modern times. On one side, our current government selected and promoted (often illegally) Claudia Sheinbaum as a continuation of their “movement.” On the other side was Xochitl Galvez, the embodiment of hope and change against our current president, Lopez Obrador. The election was an opportunity to avoid the comeback of a ruling party with all the power in the lower house and the majority in the Senate. It was a great chance to stop history from repeating itself, with Mexico facing what it suffered for over 70 years: a government with no real pushback, free to do as it pleases.
As a branding professional watching the election run-up, I couldn’t help but think of the candidates’ campaigns in branding terms. But first, some background.
There was extensive and far-reaching effort behind the selective information and disinformation the general public received for over five years by President Lopez Obrador during the run-up to the 2024 election. He had all the necessary resources to broadcast for an exhausting daily average of two hours to promote his and his team’s “accomplishments” and discredit everything he disliked or disapproved of. But this didn’t just start in 2018 when he took the presidency. He rode into office on a foundation of 18 years of constantly challenging the ruling party and bragging about having all the answers to Mexico’s problems. Even though he proved to be authoritarian, vindictive, and unknowledgeable, intellectuals, artists, and academics voted for him.
There’s a lot to complain about Lopez Obrador, but we have to acknowledge him and his team for a relentless campaign of austerity and polarization—he successfully divided our country between rich and poor. Does any of this sound familiar to my US friends?
In Mexico, with 36% of the population experiencing economic hardship, 7.1% in extreme poverty, and an almost 5% inflation rate, a politician proclaiming that ‘poor people come first’ and traveling our country in a Jetta sedan with windows down and shaking hands with ‘El Pueblo’ (equivalent to Middle America’) was set for a win. As expected, Obrador immediately traded his modest car for a luxurious and bulletproof SUV convoy after winning the 2018 election.
As in branding, election campaigns are about messages, meaning, affinity, and identity, all of which try to elicit a desired action (buy, sign up, vote). When creating a brand strategy for a company or products, we must deeply research and understand our clients and the stakeholders before creating clever and hopefully successful tactics to separate them from their competitors. President Obrador did that for almost two decades, as he understood that people, mostly people experiencing poverty, were fed up with the abuse, corruption, and negligence under previous administrations. An industry equivalent might be Nike cleverly using Colin Kaepernick’s pre-game kneeling protest during the national anthem to showcase that Nike cared about racial justice. It was there for everyone, but Nike was fast to own it.
When brands nudge us to buy something using scarcity and FOMO—that’s what newspaper polls did to Mexico’s middle class (the segment of the population with the numbers to challenge the ruling party). Non-partisan polls said that if 70% of the electorate went out and voted, the opposition could win the 2024 election. Unsurprisingly, we were bombarded for months with skewed newspaper polls showing an unbelievable advantage to the ruling party, so much so that the average opposition voter was discouraged, and many decided not to vote—another win for the ruling party.
On the contrary, the opposition couldn’t seem to leverage the anger and understandable deception of our people. For starters, the current administration canceled the development of what was touted to be one of the top airports in the world and the most important infrastructure in our country. Instead, they developed a smaller airport that very few use, and what’s worse, they built the controversial and corruption-stained Maya Train, a new tourist railway that is destroying our jungles, cenotes, and wildlife. When pressed on national television about the possible ecocide, without hesitation, President Obrador casually said that ‘no one single tree will be knocked down.’ It’s likely now the worst ecocide in Mexico’s history.
Images of Maya Train ecological impact courtesy of Sélvame del tren Collective
And that is only one of the many problems Mexicans experience as we face the highest rate of murders in Mexico’s modern history, the worst health administration (Obrador said we were going to be better than Denmark), an education crisis, one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, and one of the world’s highest femicide rates.
Despite all those lies and unkept promises from our current government, the ruling party managed to win by an embarrassingly large margin. This reminds me of people buying cigarettes knowing it’s harmful—telling people what they want to hear is the equivalent of a nicotine fix.
For me, the only explanation for this is that one political side capitalized on our country’s satiety by using polarizing rhetoric that a big chunk of the population requires social programs (handouts, distribution of wealth). Ironically, these social programs were initially implemented by previous governments.
Tropicana (2009), Gap (2010), and JC Penney (2012) rebranded and failed epically. Their rebranding efforts received a huge backlash from their customers and made them return to their previous identities (JC Penney returned to a refreshed version of its previous logo). My hope for the U.S. presidential election in November is that voters will do the same and raise their voices by voting. Tell those in power that you demand to be heard!
Images via thebrandingjournal.com
The best outcome of this polarized election is that Mexico has finally elected a woman as president, Claudia Sheinbaum. We had two women fighting for the presidency, both qualified to rule our country: one with a prolific yet controversial political career and another with solid political chops and a successful corporate background. This is something to celebrate. Mexico has set a great example and joined the 30% of global countries that have (or have had) female leadership.
But, Mexico, still has so much to learn and correct over the next six years. And, there is so much for our neighbors to the north to learn and correct now.
Viva Mexico!
Ricardo Saca is the US and Mexico Managing Partner for Cato Brand Partners, a Global Design and Branding Consultancy. He is a Master in Branding from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and has 20+ years of experience working with a wide range of companies, from startups to airlines. He is an animal lover and a plant-based cyclist.
Header image: Unsplash+ in collaboration with Wesley Tingey.