The U.S. Department of Defense® : A New Brand?
Recently, the Rand Corporation (America's biggest collection of evil geniuses bent on world domina--uh... "policy-oriented think tank") published this monograph detailing how a number of practices from the civilian advertising world could be integrated into the U.S.'s current counterinsurgency operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, not just to improve the military's image but also its actual success.
It's really not a terrible idea. Nike, Coca-Cola and the like have been winning the hearts and minds of people the world over for generations. Advertisers know their stuff.
So the concept of "branding" could make its way into security operations. It's not to say that the groundworks for such a thing haven't already been placed, but the concept of actually focusing on image generation rather than reactionary attempts to mitigate negative perceptions hasn't actually made its way into counterinsurgency doctrine or practice (handing out water doesn't count).
Screw you, Friedman and Co., even if you are right.
It's really not a terrible idea. Nike, Coca-Cola and the like have been winning the hearts and minds of people the world over for generations. Advertisers know their stuff.
So the concept of "branding" could make its way into security operations. It's not to say that the groundworks for such a thing haven't already been placed, but the concept of actually focusing on image generation rather than reactionary attempts to mitigate negative perceptions hasn't actually made its way into counterinsurgency doctrine or practice (handing out water doesn't count).
Screw you, Friedman and Co., even if you are right.
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