Newsletter # 7
Why Hillary Cliton LOST in 2016
Published on: May 10, 2026
Recently I was talking to my BRILLIANT friend Christopher Lochhead. If you’re not familiar with Chris, he’s a modern day Marketing-Pirate!
Let me explain…
Chris’ website has bright pink branding. A bold choice for a straight man working as a consultant to some of the biggest companies in corporate America! You can find his website here: https://lochhead.com/
The first testimonials you’ll see on his website says “Off-Putting to Some!” - “The Worst Business Podcast EVER!” - and “Absolute Crap!” He leans into his haters because he realizes that his advice isn’t for everyone! But for those who understand & hire him, he charges a mint… and is worth every penny!
Chris is a prolific writer, having co-authored 20+ books on marketing. He’s one of the top business and marketing podcasters on the internet.
He’s been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups, is a venture capital limited partner, and is a former three-time, Silicon Valley CMO - Chief Marketing Officer - with Mercury Interactive, Scient, and Vantive.
However, most importantly for this conversation, Chris OWNS the space in the subject of Category Design. He helps businesses design their “category” and connect with their clients at a deeper level.
When it comes to category design, think ‘IPod’ versus ‘digital music machine.’ Think ‘wealth manager’ versus ‘stock-broker.’ Think ‘dream manager’ versus ‘loan officer.’ Think ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’ versus ‘fast cars made by Germans!’ Think ‘immersive gaming’ versus ‘Final Fantasy 7!’
In a recent interview we did, which you readers can access here, Chris did what he does…
We started chatting about California politics (something near and dear to us both), meandered into a conversation about AI, and talked about Chris’ favorite topic - Category Design. It was during this exchange that I got some pointed and aggressive feedback from Chris… which I appreciate.
When talking about this very newsletter you’re reading right now, Chris told me to “Rename that fucking Scott’s Thoughts newsletter right now!”
To understand why… we have to go back and look at the 2016 Presidential election, and why Trump, an outsider with no relevant experience, was able to upset Hillary Clinton at the ballot box.
Let me ask you, as Chris asked me, what was Hillary Clinton’s campaign slogan?
Do you remember?
I bet my bottom-dollar that unless you were a Hillary Clinton super-fan (which is different from being a Trump hater), you cannot remember Hillary’s campaign slogan. Think about… do you recall what Hillary built her entire campaign around?
Wherever you stand politically, Hillary’s argument to the American public was that she was “the most qualified candidate to ever run for President.”
She was objectively & subjectively more qualified than her reality-star, real-estate developer opponent.
As it pertains to her political resume, this is factually true… she was way more qualified!
So why didn’t that argument resonate with independent voters who swung the election in 2016 for Trump?
Chris would argue, and I would tend to agree, that it all went wrong with her branding and her campaign slogan.
Hillary’s campaign was centered around the slogan of “I’m With Her!”
I’m sure that some mutli-million dollar consulting agency thought it was catchy! Hillary agreed. The “H” in “Her” signified the “H” in Hillary, and it was designed around the idea of creating momentum to elect the first ever female President.
It was all about Hillary, who she was, who she could be, her credentials, and why YOU should care about electing the first female President.
I’m also sure that the consulting agency who sold Hillary on her campaign strategy also knew it would play into the egotistical nature of anyone willing to run for President.
It was all about “Her!”
The problem is this slogan, and the campaign built around it, wasn’t memorable. But the reason it wasn’t memorable isn’t because it’s intrinsically hard to remember. It’s because it didn’t connect voters to a candidate who they perceived as willing to do something for them!
The campaign slogan was about the candidate, not the people who she was trying to convince to vote for her. The slogan was about what you could do for Hillary, the woman, the first to be a female President. It wasn’t about what most voters ended up caring about… THEMSELVES!
Conversely, what was Trump’s campaign slogan in 2016? Before you even finished reading that sentence, you already knew the answer.
‘Make America Great Again!’
Everyone knows, and remembers Trump's campaign slogan.
NO ONE remembers Hillary’s.
Whether you agree or disagree with Trump’s politics…
Whether you agree or disagree with whether or not America is not currently ‘great.’
Whether you agree or disagree with whether or not America was ever ‘great.’
Whether you agree or disagree that Trump actually wants to make America ‘great again’...
IT DOES NOT MATTER!
What matters is that the slogan, and the movement created around that slogan, convinced enough people that Trump was trying to solve THEIR problems. Enough independent and first time voters believed (rightly or wrongly) that Trump cared about Americans more than he cared about himself.
As egotistical as Trump is, and I don’t think that’s up for debate, his campaign team knew that Trump would have a tendency to make the campaign ALL about him… just like Hillary was doing.
So, what was the counterbalancing approach?
A better marketing team than the one running Hillary’s campaign created a slogan, a bumper sticker, a movement around the perception that Trump was solving YOUR problems, not his!
Trump’s team effectively created a new category of politics. Yes, he could ramble on about himself, talk about his greatness, and get away with insulting opponents at a level we had never seen before in national politics.
However, the category that his slogan conveyed, felt new. It let him get away with a lot of hubris, and covered for his deficiencies as a candidate.
It wasn’t about specific promises, or about the candidate himself; it touched an emotional lighting-rod in voters that made them want to make the place that they loved, GREAT… again!
For the purposes of marketing & this conversation, I don’t care whether you believe that or not. What’s important is that enough voters did! And that's why Trump got elected in 2016 and again in 2024.
So back to the relationship between you and I.
Back to my intention of growing a newsletter in the hopes that it’s read by sales leaders and sales professionals around the country.
What is the problem with ‘Scott’s Thoughts’ as a brand?
The problem is that anyone who doesn’t already know Scott doesn’t really give a shit about ‘Scott’s Thoughts!’ No one wants to give up 20-minutes of their Sunday morning to read a newsletter, unless the branding tells the story of what problem I’m solving for you, the reader!
If my goal is to help sales professionals navigate the current changing markets, then I need to convey that in all my branding, my messaging, and the title of this newsletter.
I’m working on a new name for this newsletter… have any suggestions?
The problem is that I’m falling into the same personal branding “trap” that I’m consistently trying to coach AGAINST with my clients.
For years, us sales professionals have been told to ‘build your personal brand!’ Talk about YOU! Post everything YOU do on social media.
To be clear… I still think there is a place for some of this. People need to know your name before they will work with you.
There is still some wisdom in the old adage that people work with people who they ‘know, like, and trust!’
Especially if you’re a loan officer, Realtor, or sales professional who works for a large corporation.
I still believe people work with YOU, not Compass Real-Estate, Guaranteed Rate, or a number of other company brand-names.
You are still the brand. Referral sources & clients getting to know you, and seeing your name is still important.
People still work with people, and your social media strategy can be a big part of solving the problem of getting ‘you’ in front of ‘them!’
AND… not BUT… AND, we also need to be more intentional about how we market ourselves.
How are we letting the consumer know what problem we solve for THEM?
How is your social media marketing conveying the problems your clients encounter, and how you are the answer to solving those problems?
I highly recommend you watch this hour long interview with Chris & me! Even if you don’t agree with our politics, you will get a better understanding of how to actually do this.
You will have a better understanding of how to design the category of the business you want to be in, not the business you’ve been told that you are in!
You might also learn a thing or two about California politics, Metallica, and how to take your intellectual property and turn it into an AI-bot that generates leads for 24/7, 365!
Don’t forget to share this newsletter with someone who might be interested, and connect with me on social media if you want to see the changes I’m making in 2026.
Instagram is probably best www.Instagram.com/ScottLGroves
If you got forwarded this email, you can subscribe at www.ScottsThoughts.com - although that name will probably be changing soon!
My Invitation to you is this: If you’re feeling disconnected from your clients right now, or feel like you and/or your company have focused on the WRONG messaging as it pertains to solving problems for our clients,find me on social media, shoot me a message and give me your thoughts.
I personally read each and every response. Hearing from you would not only mean the world to me, but it would also help me shape the upcoming issues of this newsletter.
And as a bonus, I will be doing my best to individually respond to each email I receive to this brand new “Scott’s Thoughts” newsletter!
Till the next time I have 2 hours to think,
Scott :-)
P.S. - None of this was written by AI, my assistant, or a ghost writer. Just me, a real person who probably made a few typos in the newsletter above. Please forgive me!
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