This is how the populists are winning.

They spent the last fifteen years researching their audiences and finding out what works for them.

They mapped out their maximum optimal audiences by segment (families, conservatives, religious groups, struggling working class, patriotic and so on) and they did polling and focus groups to understand how they were feeling, what they were thinking and what they worried about.

They learned who they should talk to and how to talk to them.

Meanwhile, the rational, centrist parties didn’t do anything like that.

This is the difference between old media and new media.

Rational centrists believe that, because their ideas are smart and beneficial, they just need to say them straight – people will get it in the end.

The populists win every time because they’re using media strategy to win people’s interest, connect with their concerns and bring them over to their side.

Centrists and CSOs can do this too and it doesn’t mean they’ll sacrifice any of their integrity. Their ideas offer most people way better outcomes than the populists’ do. But if they want people to listen to them, they have to learn to create messages people want to listen to.