Kamala Harris’ Summer Yields $15.9 Million in Media Exposure

Kamala Harris’ Gen Z-focused marketing strategy is making significant strides, according to the latest data analysis from Launchmetrics.

Harris kicked off her presidential campaign on July 21, following President Joe Biden’s decision to step down from the 2024 election race. On the launch day, singer and Gen Z icon Charli XCX endorsed Harris by posting “Kamala IS Brat” on her X (formerly known as Twitter) account.

Capitalizing on this endorsement, Harris’s campaign released a new lime green photo resembling Charli XCX’s “Brat” album cover on its official X account. Within 48 hours, this “Brat” rebranding generated an impressive $15.9 million in media impact value. Launchmetrics’ proprietary metric quantifies the monetary value of marketing strategies across print, online, and social media to accurately measure ROI.

The “Brat” aesthetic refers to a distinctive fashion style and bold mindset resonating with Gen Z. Since July 21, TikTok videos merging moments from the Harris campaign with the Brat aesthetic have amassed over 64 million views. This innovative marketing strategy has been discussed on panels featured on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and more.

Continuing to engage with Gen Z, Harris’ marketing team released a “Harris Walz” camo hat influenced by Chappell Roan’s “Midwest Princess” merchandise. This was in conjunction with the announcement of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the official Democratic vice-presidential candidate. The camo hat quickly sold out.

According to Launchmetrics, this viral hat release garnered the campaign an additional $4.1 million in media impact value within just 48 hours.

Unionwear, the company manufacturing all the Harris-Walz campaign merchandise, reported selling 25,000 camo hats within just a few hours. “We were completely surprised by it,” said Mitch Cahn, president and founder of Unionwear. He added, “We’ve been in business for 32 years. We never had an instance where we made a sample in the morning and then sold a million dollars’ worth of hats by the next morning.”

Harris and Walz are currently on a five-day road trip across seven key swing states. They’ve already hosted rallies in Philadelphia, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and will continue their campaign in North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.

Source: Launchmetrics, Unionwear, WWD