How Zohran Mamdani won the New York City Democratic Primary – A Lesson in Branding

The brand-building power of leveraging social media at the micro level.

Zohran Mamdani was relatively unknown just a year ago, but he has emerged as a likable yet inexperienced candidate for mayor of New York City. As an avowed socialist, he advocates for defunding the police and has proposed establishing city-owned supermarkets to help lower food prices. Additionally, he supports free childcare for all New Yorkers and free MTA bus rides for everyone. While his ideas may initially attract younger voters, they ultimately reveal a lack of understanding and genuine problem-solving skills necessary to manage the largest and most complex city in the United States.

His unconventional approach has positioned him as a distinctive mayoral candidate and a total outsider. However, some of his proposals, such as freezing rents to address soaring housing prices, do not seem to consider that this could halt new development and most likely reduce housing supply further. Moreover, he lacks experience in managing an organization, let alone a city with a budget exceeding $100 billion and a $2 trillion economy.

Despite these challenges, he went on to win the Democratic primary in New York City primarily due to support from engaged and energized younger voters. The now question arises: how did he achieve this?

Winning is now much more about personality-driven, clever short messages that connect.

Today, perceptions of candidates and their individual qualities heavily influence voting decisions. It’s about relatability. When you see and hear someone, how they engage and what’s important to them, it defines your sense of connection. This is especially true for younger voters, who often form their opinions and beliefs through social media posts, including those on Instagram and TikTok. With carefully crafted messaging and clever videos, these campaigns generate views, shares, and validation from like-minded friends. Building a connected base of viewers, grassroots-style, through shared communities can generate enormous momentum and popularity with the right audiences.

Being relatable and social has a significantly more impact than any real policies.

There may be no explicit “policy-solution” statements—only beliefs and messages about what’s wrong that resonate with many, and these further boost viewership and convince people that this is the right candidate because “I feel good about them.” Not much more than that. When you compare this kind of “branded” candidate to someone like Andrew Cuomo, a traditional, older candidate with virtually no social media connection to younger voters, who is perceived as “the old white guy from the establishment,” there’s a clear divide in the political landscape.

Brands targeting younger voters are all about storytelling and connecting through likability.

You have to build campaign connections and expand reach through shared social media.

Brands aimed at younger adults rely on emotion, connection, and storytelling that relates to their lives. In this social media-driven era of communication, traditional policies and political leanings are becoming increasingly less significant in the voting process. Mamdani’s main rival, Andrew Cuomo, used traditional Democratic messaging and media to build his value. He didn’t connect with younger voters. This represents a significant shift in how these voters perceive and connect with political candidates. If you aren’t repeatedly showing up in a social media feed, you’ve already lost them.

Also, consider the re-election of Donald Trump. He spends hundreds of hours on podcasts and interview shows with key influencers who attract younger male audiences. He enters a world that they live in and exposes a younger audience to conversational and informal Donald Trump, his opinions, and his personality come through. These younger male voters may not have even voted in the previous election; however, this dramatically shapes the perception of his brand as relevant and relatable to them. And yet, he’s an older candidate by any measure, and far from being a socialist, he’s a conservative populist.

Sorry, folks – likability now outweighs ideology and practical policies when it comes to voting.

Surprisingly, ideological beliefs, extensive experience, and detailed policies are not as crucial as being likable in today’s political scene. This change means that brand building and visibility must adapt to remain effective. If you’re promoting practical policies and have the experience, you should be on social media, using short videos and informal events as a way to connect with people. This approach offers a personable way to share brief messages, highlighting a candidate’s personality as well as their policies.

Online persuasion and influence are more crucial than ever. If you’re running for office, it’s essential to engage with the voters you wish to connect with in their environments. You must be authentic, address their concerns, and be genuine. The era of the personality-brand has become a vital aspect of politics, especially in reaching younger voters. Watch how campaigns evolve in this new and dynamic environment.