Michelle my belle…

The image of ex-president Michelle Bachelet has become the second-most valuable image in Chile and is only surpassed by Coca-Cola according to a study revealed today by Qué Pasa magazine.

The publication found that the Bachelet “brand” is stronger than those of over 1200 products including Nike, Google, and Nokia. The analysis- that in part looked at BrandAsset Valuator rankings- found that Bachelet’s image is stronger than other regional leaders “such as Obama in the U.S. and more than Lula in Brazil.”

Compared to other brands, Bachelet received very high marks in areas like sincerity, intelligence, and friendliness. Yet the key quality to the success of the ex-president’s “brand” according to Qué Pasa is her “relevance”:

The Relevance of a brand tells us the capacity it has to connect with the real needs of the average people. It is a human dimension…that lives in the consumer. It’s a pillar that shows if a brand’s value is relevant to people. This is Bachelet’s great strength.

Meanwhile, the magazine sees the brand of her successor- Sebastián Piñera- as one that does not connect well with all Chileans. He is “like Colo Colo (Chile’s most well-known soccer club)…but he is not the national team”, according to the analysis by Qué Pasa. Perhaps this (along with the “perceptions that he lacks the charisma” of Bachelet) explains in part why Piñera’s popularity slipped last month to 46%.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- Qué Pasa, Univision.com, Bloomberg