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Tyson Fury Branding Donald Trump

Fuelling Fury: Can Trump and Tyson successfully build their brands on outrage?

By Manfred Abraham, managing partner

December 9, 2015 | 5 min read

“A woman’s best place is in the kitchen and on her back.”*

Fury by name... the boxer's comments have sparked protest

“We need a total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”*

(*These are not the views of the author!)

Two very emotive comments which are currently causing a stir. The first, combined with negative opinions on homosexuality and abortion, was uttered by overnight boxing sensation Tyson Fury, and has resulted in a petition signed by over 82,000 people for the removal of his name from BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year shortlist. The second is Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s latest wheeze to win the presidency.

Whilst Fury's uncle has been quick to try and smooth over the offence his nephew's comments have caused, Trump is completely unabashed: "I. Don’t. Care." was his response to the criticisms levelled by other candidates, the media and millions of people around the world. And this attitude seems to be working for him. Instead of killing his campaign, as logical reason might suggest, his more outrageous comments seem to be winning him even more favour. He remains ahead in the polls and is greeted by hysterical ‘fans’ wherever he goes, reminiscent of scenes at a One Direction appearance.

Likewise, while Fury’s opinions are at odds with the majority, he appears to have garnered much support on social media from a macho demographic, which has been quashed over the last few years with the rise in popularity of metrosexuality. And it's not just men… women too are coming out in support of the boxer.

Katie Hopkins, the Marmite contestant from series three of the Apprentice, has also made a career for herself through her often noxious views – on everything from overweight people through to only letting her children be friends with kids with certain names. She often crops up on Loose Women or in the pages of the Daily Mail with ludicrous new beliefs; whether these are real or manufactured designed to up her profile is unknown. But what is certain is that it pays the school fees.

Negative branding has also long be used by aspirational organisations as a mechanic to convince customers that their product or service is exclusive. Some of the world’s most powerful brands do their best to show consumers that only a select few will measure up to their brand standards. Some mainstream brands such as Yorkie (which doubled sales with its long running ‘It’s Not for Girls’ campaign) have also successfully torn up the branding rule book to great success. But it’s a risky strategy.

Everyone loves to hate an anti-hero. So does this all mean that we’re going to see a rise in upcoming personalities subjecting us to their less than wholesome views or a heap of brands telling us that they don’t want our custom?

Discrimination is of course completely different to negative branding and something that should never be condoned. But it remains to be seen whether such divisive views will ultimately enable Trump to win the world’s most aggressive job interview or for Fury to build a successful personal brand whilst being so offensive.

In the case of Fury, I think that whilst his opinions are extreme, they are not manufactured but part of who he is. Consequently, there will be people that respond to this honesty and he will generate a cult following. While he will definitely divide opinion, his forthright approach will work for him but it will limit his earning potential from some of the largest brands in the world.

As for Trump, he must win the first round of interviews to be selected as the Republican candidate. However, those of you with a longer memory will recall he used to be a Democrat. Fear is a basic human emotion which Trump is dipping into. It might win him the election but while America might feel reassured by his ruthless lingo, brand USA would take years to recover from such an election result and the impact on the US economy is likely to be incredibly negative. Remember the times before Barack...

Manfred Abraham is managing partner at BrandCap

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