1. How does the use of music in a political campaign play a role in establishing a candidate’s brand?

As political advertising becomes increasingly big business, the branding that accompanies a campaign has come to rely heavily on music. This is not surprising, according to neuroscientists, whose research on the brain reveals that music has the power to infuse itself into our nervous system, triggering feelings and responses and, hence, our behavior.
While the earliest political marketers may not have known the scientific benefits of music, they recognized that music has power.
Presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt used the song “Happy Days Are Here Again” during his 1932 campaign, when America was caught in the grip of the Great Depression and the nation’s mood was desperate. The song’s message enabled voters to envision a better day on the horizon and transfer that emotional response to their feelings about the candidate. After Roosevelt won the election, he reinforced the song’s message in his inaugural address with the famous words, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”