PR experts opine on how Trump conviction will impact his comms & marketing strategy

It was a stunning outcome of a tense six-week trial, which wrapped up as three additional criminal cases against Trump are still pending.

On Friday, Trump spoke to a small group of reporters and supporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan, where he deemed the trial “rigged” and made a handful of false claims about the trial, The New York Times reports.

Trump’s base has proven its unwavering loyalty in the face of scandal time and again – through two impeachments, in the wake of the January 6 insurrection, amid allegations of sexual misconduct and more. But what kind of impact might a felony conviction have on the former president’s reputation?

The Drum surveyed marketing and public relations experts on the PR impact levied by the case’s outcome – and how Trump might adjust his communications and marketing strategy in response. Here’s what they had to say.

David Triana, public relations consultant at Triana PR

This conviction will only elevate Donald Trump’s brand in the eyes of his base. Those that are with him will be even stronger in their support, and those that are not will see him as nothing more than a convicted felon and threat to democracy in America. In essence, his marketing strategy will only get bolder, as evidenced by his remarks today that have triggered threats and calls to dox jurors online.

At the end of the day, his remarks during his initial presidential run where he said, “I can shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any votes,” have proven to be true. Donald Trump, a convicted felon, is still the favorite to win the 2024 presidential election.

Dr. Calvin R. Coker, an assistant professor at the University of Louisville specializing in political communications

The interesting thing about the conviction is that the amount of folks who are willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt is increasingly shrinking to just the hardcore, would-always-vote-for-Trump base – it’s hard to pin down the exact number, but some put it at less than half of Republicans. A consistent strategy of the Trump camp – from the 16 campaigns, through both impeachments, and continuing after the trial – has been flat denial, alongside delegitimizing strategies.

Though those strategies were persuasive to wide swaths of voters initially, we may be nearing the floor on folks willing to continue to trust Trump’s camp just based on the sheer weight of hard-to-spin ramifications being visited on the candidate. Put simply: a historic criminal conviction will likely break truly undecided, Trump-curious, or Biden-irritated voters away from Trump and towards either a third party or Biden. However, we can and should expect the broader Republican Party, and Trump, to continue insisting that this decision and the three subsequent trials as ‘politically biased,’ and that will be sufficient for a meaningful amount of voters to go for Trump in November.

Richard Laermer, chief executive officer at RLM PR

Trump is now looking vulnerable for the very first time. He really imagined nothing would touch him, but alas, he also went a few steps too far. I imagine a prison sentence of any kind will stop his campaign from succeeding – and may embarrass him in the end with a Biden landslide – because we live in a prurient nation and being on the inside is seen as ‘dirty.‘

I’m sure his PR image shot down last night, and I am thinking it won’t come back to where it was anytime soon.

The facts are that he got caught, he is now a felon and Americans are now wondering if the ‘show‘ was worth it.

Trump could come back from it and become a carnival barker – but not anytime soon. Even martyrs need good PR. This isn’t it.

Dustin Siggins, former political journalist and founder of Proven Media Solutions

Trump’s conviction will dramatically increase his fundraising. It will also accelerate the campaign’s narrative that he is fighting against injustice on behalf of those who are not part of the ‘power structure’ – media, academic, political [and other] establishments.

The PR hit will be minimal, because people are largely decided on whom they will support, and Trump’s legal challenges have been front-and-center for years. He may gain good PR if wealthy Democrats and moderates publicly and financially support him, and if polling continues to show black voters trending away from Biden.

Tim Lim, a political strategist, PR consultant and partner at creative agency The Hooligans

Whether or not this changes most voters’ opinions, it’s going to be a major problem for Trump. His sentencing date is four days before the Republican Convention, so there’s a good chance he will be accepting the Republican nomination from a jail cell.

Kara Schmiemann, senior director in crisis communications at Red Banyan PR

If we’ve learned anything about Donald Trump since he first began flexing his political muscles, it’s that traditional rules do not seem to apply to how he campaigns and how he’s perceived, regardless of what he does and says. At this stage in the game, as an American, you either love him or hate him, and there’s very little that he and his campaign team could do or say to sway someone’s already predetermined and fixed viewpoint.

That being said, even though we are a far cry from seeing the end of this saga – with sentencing, appeals, additional criminal cases to try and the campaign ahead of us – this conviction is certainly not going to help his image, and will undoubtedly make the jobs of his PR and campaign team harder.

But like we’ve seen countless times, we should expect the messaging to lean into claims of innocence and disparaging those who are attempting to uphold the law. And unlike any candidate before him – whether or not those claims ring true, or there’s any proof in the pudding – receptivity is exclusive to the message receiver.

Dr. Robert Passikoff, founder and president of brand consultancy and market research firm Brand Keys

The only discernible impact will be a change in how he opens his rallies. Instead of complaining the last election was rigged, he’ll substitute the New York trial!

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