So he is finally the President.   Now I can really stress the worth and importance of branding to my clients. Selling is all about branding; and the stronger your brand, the more you can price your service or product. Needless to say if it’s branded right and communicated to the right audience, it will sell. So the bottom line? He sold himself to the right audience to take the Oval Office.

So now that that’s been taken care of, which brand did you hear most about throughout the inauguration ceremony? In the studio commentary of all the media channels, which brand came up over and over? There was no logo flash, no subtle branding, and no advertising or symbols and billboards. If you have not guessed it yet, it was the American symbol of fashion designer, Ralph Lauren, from Nebraska who has probably never played polo.

So would you call this native advertising, as they say in digital advertising where in order to dodge ad blocking by sites you camouflage the actual advertisement to look like something else? Or would you call this a PR stunt — providing free fashion consultation and clothing to the president elect and his families? Or, better yet, is it just fluke combined with luck and years of hard work to become the symbol of the ultimate American fashion designer that obviously a patriotic first lady would choose to wear. Even Anderson Cooper of CNN, while discussing Ralph Lauren, mentioned that he wears the brand regularly. What an endorsement, from the first lady to a CNN anchor.

Usually we pay millions for product placements in movies, TV dramas to get the eyeballs without being an actual advertisement. This was the best free media Ralph Lauren could have gotten, with billions of people watching all over the world.

Now, people can say a zillion things about Melania Trump but the way she came in to the inauguration did take me, as well as others back to the Kennedy times. True, she plagiarized her look, her grace and even the way she walked. But who better to copy than Jackie Kennedy? Copying her is bringing old-time 60s style back into the Oval Office. At least she will compensate for the longish tie hanging behind the unbuttoned suit jacket.

To me the true winner in terms of branding in the inauguration broadcast was none but Ralph Lauren. A brand that the youth don’t relate to or even care about. Polo t-shirts have become a generic name for the collared t-shirt but whether it’s Ralph Lauren nobody really cares. This is a perfect opportunity for Ralph Lauren to rebrand and re launch and connect to the youth. Make the brand hip and cool again just like Donald is promising to make America great again!