As a marketing guy, I can’t help but apply that lens when observing the shitstorm that is sweeping our southern neighbours, and that is the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. While everyone is trying to figure how it is possible that a disastrously spray-tanned xenophobic, misogynistic racist is leading the GOP field, it’s pretty obvious why.

It’s all about marketing. More specifically, Trump is a direct reaction to a remarkably effective, all-encompassing branding strategy run by the Republican party for the past eight years.

Coming off the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush, and the ascendant election of Barack Obama, the Republican party had a choice; work with the new president to help the country recover from the worst economic disaster in nearly a century, or work against him in an effort to discredit him and make him appear an incompetent fool.

They, as we all know, chose the later, and the branding exercise was born. It was pretty simple really. Anything Obama did, proposed or tried, they would be against. No matter what. The idea being that they would show him to be the most ineffective president in history, therefore proving they, the GOP, where the better option. Mitch McConnell explained it this way – quite openly: The public looks at DC warfare and sees that Obama broke his post-partisan promises.

Cynical – yet effective.

They called Obama $787B stimulus plan socialism in action, yet facing the country death spiral voted for a nearly identical $715B package.

They labelled the Affordable Care Act a “Government takeover of healthcare” which would lead to “death panels,” yet it was based on a GOP health care model and a virtual copy of Mitt Romney’s health care plan for Massachusetts. Not a single Republican voted for “Obamacare,” but they did turn the moniker into a pejorative.

They voted against small business tax cuts, despite the fact that tax cuts are all they ever vote for. They voted against Obama’s war authorization against ISIS, despite the fact that the GOP loves war, a lot.

At every turn, regardless if it were good policy, they would obstruct, obstruct, obstruct. Then they would blame Obama for what was, in essence, their ineffectiveness.

They broke Washington and placed the blame on the black guy.

And it worked. The Rs took back both houses of Congress and a lot of statehouses, and they were poised to sweep into the White House, now that their nemesis’ term was finally up.

But then along came reality TV star and renowned vulgarian Donald Trump.

The Donald isn’t even close to being a conservative, or, at least, is what is considered a conservative today. Nor does Donald care about actual policy. However, one thing Donald is is, he isn’t Obama. He’s the anti-Obama.

And that is precisely the brand the GOP has been setting up the past eight brutal bruising years.

Trump isn’t cool. Donald Trump isn’t thoughtful. Nor is he nuanced, knowledgeable, reasonable, tolerant, empathic, technocratic or “no-drama,” which are all the things that Obama has come to personify.

And everything the GOP has told their constituency to despise.

What Trump is is everything Obama isn’t, and that, due to effective marketing and a consistent message, is what conservative voters have been taught to want.

Eight years ago the GOP stopped worrying about policy and went all-in on branding, marketing, and brawling.

Now they are about to nominate someone who has one true skill; he is awesome at branding, marketing, and brawling.

Thinking about it this way, the rise of Trump isn’t a surprise. Rather is a testament to how an effective campaign can change the world.

And proof that sometimes, marketing really sucks.