2016 is the America's First Branded Election:Brand Trump vs. Brand Bush vs. Brand Clinton

Anyone watching MSNBC's focus group on Donald Trump couldn't possibly mistake that the qualities people were giving to Donald Trump had nothing to with the man, but had everything to do with the brand image that Trump has created in the media over the last 3 decades.

His success as a political is directly tied to his perception as a brand.

It might be useful to review a definition of branding at this point:

...Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from that of your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be... http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/branding

Trump has tapped into just that. However, there are two other candidates that also benefit from this phenomenon as well: brand Bush and Clinton.

The big difference is that in 2016, Trump is shiny new towers and Bush and Clinton are wars lost and won, scandals, and more.

Is Bernie the anti-brand? Only time will tell.