Backlash Against Donald Trump Takes a Toll on Ivanka Brand

Ivanka Trump’s brand is taking a hit, because of  the visceral backlash her father’s Presidency is causing, especially among women. Demonstrations against Trump have spawned the creation of the #GrabYourWallet campaign and it’s creeping north into Canada,according to the CBC.

Controversy has dogged Donald Trump, after his inauguration as President of the United States. Protest after protest has followed revelation upon revelation of sexual harassment and boasts of groping women with impunity. The Ivanka Trump brand is definitely suffering serious collateral damage as a result.

According to the CBC report, one San Francisco woman decided she’d seen enough and had to act. Shannon Coulter, a marketing expert, founded the #GrabYourWallet boycott last October, as a way to bite back. The name, of course, is a defiant reference to the infamous quote made by Trump some months ago, about grabbing a particular part of a woman’s anatomy. Coulter found herself amazed at the deeply felt reactions shared by women who shared their experiences upon Ivanka Trump merchandise in their favorite department stores.

“The responses are visceral. I’ve actually been keeping a collection of the physical responses people are describing to encountering her products… and a lot of them are physical: the word recoil is used quite a bit. Flinching. Running in the other direction. Feeling as though they’d just touched fire in fact, or spiders.”

Like the protests that followed Trump’s inauguration, the #GrabYourWallet campaign has also gravitated north, crossing the US-Canada border. Canadian companies such as Hudson’s Bay are getting enormous pressure from savvy consumers to drop the Ivanka Trump product line. It makes sense to John Pylypczak, president of Concrete Design Communications, who says consumers are more knowledgeable now than ever. They know where their products are produced and how they’re made.

“This plays into all the brands, but especially in Ivanka Trump’s brand,” he said. (when we have a quote we put period and we start a new sentence.) “So much of her brand is tied into her name and her name is so much tied into the personality of her father. That is a challenge, especially with what he is becoming known to stand for. Her [brand identity of] ‘women who work’- that seems at odds with how her father perceives women” he added.

Last week Nordstrom made a formal move to terminate their business dealings with the Ivanka brand, prompting a very personal reaction from the President. Senior advisor, Kellyanne Conway, found herself in hot water and possible legal territory for openly encouraging the public to buy Ivanka products during a live interview on national television.

As for Canadian reaction to the whirlwind, Susie Erjavec Parker, Canadian consumer and marketing strategist, saw the #GrabYourWallet campaign and felt inspired. “As Canadians, we can’t vote in the election, but I can vote with my wallet and I can decide not to purchase products that have the Trump name or brand on them, ” she said.

The three major Canadian stores carrying the Ivanka Trump line are Hudson’s Bay, Nordstrom and Winners. Out of the  three only Nordstrom, responded to the CBC’s request for comment. “We have heard feedback from some customers. Right now, we don’t have plans to stop carrying the brand,” said Emily Sterken, Nordstrom spokesperson.

Protestors and the #GrabYourWallet campaign aren’t going away any time soon. According to founder Shannon Coulter, “It’s heartening to see women flexing their consumer power.”

Source :Morocco World News