An unclear message punishes your brand in ways you can’t see.

Welcome Patrons. 🥃

Today’s pour is slightly different than what I planned. I’ve shied away from discussing politics even though messaging takes center stage in every political campaign. However, today, I’m going to talk about politics through the lens of messaging. Last week’s newsletter was about using the Mere Exposure Effect and repetition to build familiarity and trust with your audience; this is exactly what political campaigns do but with a twist. The Illusory Truth Effect is a psychological phenomenon where people believe something just because they’ve heard it too many times—even if it’s not true. And while repetition is crucial for making your message stick, repeating an unclear or bad message quietly kills your brand. Let’s go.

Why Repetition Works

Repetition is the backbone of good marketing. When your message is on point, repeating it consistently builds trust, recognition, and authority. When your message is off, repeating it quietly turns people away.

In my opinion, VP Harris lost the election because she did not have a core, overarching message. Instead, she had multiple messages for multiple people and repeated them over and over, potentially confusing her audience.

And while her individual messages resonated with particular people, she did not have a core message to tie them together.

If you asked 100 people what VP Harris’ core message was, you’d get many different answers. If I had to guess, her core message was, Don’t Pick Trump, which is not strong enough to tie everything together.

By contrast, President-elect Trump won the election because his core message was clear—Make America Great Again, a tagline ​used initially by Ronald Reagan​.

Yes. Trump had multiple messages as well, but all of them had one core message they could be linked to and repeated to great success.

Regardless of your political affiliation, the truth about political messaging and business messaging is that people will believe a message just because they’ve heard it so much, the Illusory Truth Effect in action.

When you combine this sneaky psychological phenomenon with the Mere Exposure Effect, whether your message is right or wrong (right or wrong, depending on your view, values, and vantage point), you will at some point start to believe what you see and hear.

When not clear, your message can damage your brand in ways that are hard to recover from, something Democrats are wrestling with today. They may have had the right message for individuals, but they lacked something bigger that more people could get behind.

I see this with entrepreneurs I work with, too. They create multiple messages without a core message to align them. The following happens when you try to message multiple audiences without a core message.

Erode Trust: An unclear message may work initially, but once the audience catches on, your credibility comes into question. Trust is the most expensive thing to lose—and the hardest to rebuild.

Misaligned Brand: If your unclear message is repeated and doesn’t have a core message that aligns with what you offer, your audience won’t know what to expect, leading to a disconnect that’s tough to fix.

While VP Harris’s message was aligned with individuals, it was not with ALL of her audience. Trump’s, on the other hand, was and still is.

Confusion: A confusing or contradictory message leaves customers unsure about what you actually do or how you will help. Repeating multiple messages only multiplies the confusion.

The Difference Between Repetition and the Illusory Truth Effect

Let me be clear here: repetition (the Mere Exposure Effect) works to build a strong brand. But your message needs to be simple and clear to be easily understood. The more you repeat this core message, the more your audience trusts you and understands what you’re about. For example:

Trump: Make America Great Again.

Harris: [Insert the message that resonated for you]

Repeating something that’s unclear, misleading, false, or doesn’t reflect your brand, trust starts to crumble.

Repetition Done Right

There are two main reasons many of my clients come to me.

1 They know what they want to say but struggle to say it in a way that makes sense to others.

2 They have multiple messages for multiple audiences and do not know how (or are tired of trying on their own) to pull it all together to create one message and offer that resonates.

​The Brand Messaging System™️​ ensures my client’s message is clear, consistent, and aligned with your brand.

Once you’ve uncovered your core message, you can then, and only then, leverage the Mere Exposure Effect and the Illusory Truth Effect the right way.

Clear, Consistent Messaging: Clarifying your message ensures you are not repeating some vague idea. Instead, you’ll have a finely tuned statement reinforcing your value and expertise.

Building Trust: Repeating an honest, aligned message builds trust with your audience. They’ll know you can deliver on your promises whenever they hear you say it. And eventually, they will begin to parrot your messages back to you. When that happens, you know they trust what you’re puttin’ down.

Becoming Known for Your Expertise: The key to getting repetition right is to repeat the right message. With the Brand Messaging System, you’ll create a playbook that ensures your messaging is clear and consistent, so every time you show up, your audience knows exactly what you stand for.

Final thoughts.

Every campaign has a hero. Some campaigns make the audience the hero; others make the candidate the hero.

When the audience is the hero, you put them center stage and talk about their hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Unfortunately, multiple hopes, dreams, and aspirations muddle your overarching message, the one that ties all of your promises (value propositions) together into one core message that reflects the essence of your brand. This is what was lacking in VP Harris’s campaign.

When the candidate is the hero, they talk about multiple issues but must always go back to their core message: something simple, clear, and memorable enough that the audience can infer what it means to them personally, their hopes, dreams, and aspirations.

You know you’ve got their attention when they repeat your message: Make America Great Again.

The clearer your message is, the easier it is for people to repeat it back to you, and the greater the benefit you get from the Mere Expose Effect and the Illusory Truth Effect. The two work in tandem to maximize your marketing efforts, but only if your message is memorable.

I will note here that Harris was thrown into this race with only 100 days till the finish line. She faced an uphill battle from the start. But, had her campaign focused on an overarching, core message encompassing all of her messages, the outcome may have been different.

Messaging matters that much.

That’s why I focus on helping my clients find their core message so they can take advantage of both the Mere Exposure Effect and the Illusory Truth Effect to get their message out confidently.

Last note on politics to prove how this works. Can you name the core message for the candidates of the 2016 election?

Trump:

Clinton:

I know you’ll get one correct. But do you see the pattern?

The Last Call

Before we close the tab on this week’s newsletter, here’s a summary to remember:

The Illusory Truth Effect relies on one core, simple, and clear message to align your messages so you build trust and align your brand to your offer.

The Mere Exposure Effect uses your core message and repetition (critical in marketing) to get your message out there so more people see you and your brand, but only if you’re repeating the right message.

The Brand Messaging System clarifies and refines your message, so the Truth and Exposure Effects establish your expertise and build trust, not confusion.

Repetition can be a powerful tool—make sure you’re using it wisely and with the right message.