We decided to test a message that simply stated, “You might not agree, but at least you know where I stand.” That way, even if people thought his position was crazy, at least he could turn it into a predictable and ordered kind of crazy. We convened focus groups, online panels, and digital ad tests to try out the slogan, and it outperformed all the other messages we tried—even though it was essentially meaningless. This was a big realization: We were able to sway voters’ opinions by tailoring the candidate’s message to match their psychometric tests. And because so many Republicans display
...more
