JD Vance‘s “self-promotion backfired remarkably” during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, according to a personal-branding expert.
The Ohio senator went head-to-head with his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, yesterday, in what is likely to be the last debate before Election Day.
Marina Byezhanova, co-founder of a personal-branding agency, evaluated Walz and Vance’s personal brands based on her own metrics of perception, relatability, influence, self-marketing, and managing criticism.
Pre-debate, Byezhanova gave each candidate a score of two out of five, with Walz scoring on perception and relatability, and Vance on influence (which includes storytelling and perceived strength of conviction) and self-marketing.
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Post-debate, both vice-presidential hopefuls’ scores increased to three, Byezhanova said, each gaining a point for managing criticism.
Vance “responded effectively to Walz’s interruptions, incorporating comments into his responses, which displayed ease under pressure,” she said, while Walz “appeared tense initially but grew in confidence, managing criticism better as the debate progressed,” by “emphasizing his experience, values, and commitment to the community.”
Byezhanova told Newsweek after the debate that Walz’ brand “shone significantly brighter.”
“Vance’s propensity to self-market backfired against him and his brand in this specific context,” she said.
Explaining her reasoning, Byezhanova said that despite tying in her overall evaluation, Walz was “the clear winner of the personal branding game,” as he successfully built the perception of a team player, which she said was “crucial” in the context of the debate.
“[Vice presidents] are running mates—their goal is to show a strong, united front with their presidential candidate, to make the candidate look better, and to focus more on promoting the team rather than self-promotion.
“Walz’s brand as a supporter, second in command, absolutely shone.
“In a fascinating twist, Vance’s talent at self-promotion (typically a key pillar in personal branding) backfired in this context.
“When they talked about abortion, Walz focused on giving emotional, specific stories as examples, whereas Vance again centered his response on himself: ‘everything I have ever said on this topic,’ ‘I want to help young moms.’
“By contrast, Walz said, ‘what we are saying is…’ In this debate, Vance’s self-promotion worked against him, and Walz’s approach as the ultimate team player carried the day.”
Newsweek has contacted Vance and the Trump campaign for comment via email outside of standard working hours.
Although Walz may have come out ahead in Byezhanova’s estimations, several analysts, experts in debate, and professors of political science told Newsweek Vance had the upper hand.
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