Palin power recharges GOP ticket

(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain's campaign rebranded the Republican ticket by putting Sarah Palin in the VP spot, but it's up to voters to decide how much staying power the new product has.

The McCain-Palin combo is an example of what good marketing and brand-building are all about, according to John Quelch, a marketing professor at Harvard Business School.

"He is steak and she is sizzle," said Quelch, co-author of "Greater Good: How Good Marketing Makes for Better Democracy."

With Palin by his side, McCain has seen an increase in numbers and energy at his campaign stops. Palin has stolen the headlines from Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden, showing up on the covers of news magazines and tabloids.

"It's a remarkable tribute to the vulnerability of American citizens to anything that is new," Quelch said.

Palin is like a fresh brand on the supermarket shelf -- one with lots of pizzazz that generates a tremendous amount of curiosity, Quelch said. "But the question is -- in the supermarket, 60 days, 90 days later, is the brand still selling?"

Quelch, a registered independent, said he thinks her "staying power and resilience is actually going to surprise a lot of people."

The shelf life for Palin's buzz has already caught Democrats off guard, according to Candy Crowley, CNN's senior political correspondent.

"I don't think they quite know how to deal with the fact they didn't expect this kind of splash to last this long, and they're struggling to get the headlines back, as well as to try to figure out how to go after her," she said.

Obama has been quick to brush off the new Republican image. Last week, the Illinois Democrat accused the duo of repackaging themselves and making things up.

Speaking about Palin's claim to have told Congress "thanks, but no thanks" for Alaska's infamous "bridge to nowhere," Obama said, "She was for it until everybody started raising a fuss about it; and she started running for governor, and then suddenly she was against it!

"You remember that?" Obama continued. "For it before you were against it? I mean you can't just make stuff up. You can't just re-create yourself. You can't just reinvent yourself."

But that's exactly what McCain said Republicans needed to do.

At the beginning of the summer, he predicted that if the election were held in June, Republicans would lose seats in the House and Senate because "we've got a brand problem."

McCain said he was confident his party would bounce back and win with the "restoration of the trust and confidence of our base."

Republican strategist Alex Castellanos said that while it will still be a tough year to be a Republican, "Republicans are becoming more popular. We've closed the gap."

Independents and swing voters will ultimately decide the election, and for that group of the electorate, Quelch said, "the party brand is irrelevant."

"What is relevant is the brand image of the candidate," he said. "I don't think that there is a GOP brand issue relevant to the outcome of this presidential election. It is going to be a matter of McCain-Palin, Obama-Biden. Those are the brands in play for the swing voters, regardless of party affiliation."

The teams have just seven weeks to stake their claim as the best brand, and in the political marketplace, Quelch said, it's a "rough and tumble" world.

Consumers in the political world have just two viable choices, and they also have a deadline -- November 4.

"Come Election Day, there will be a winner and a loser, and that's the end of it. So there is an action-forcing deadline that means that the closer we get to that drop-dead Election Day, the more desperate the candidates may become," he said.

Palin, who holds similar views as McCain but has a different presentation style and different appeal, could cause some voters to give the McCain ticket a second look.

Quelch said it's not likely that Obama will be able to recapture the headlines before the debates start later this month.

"The question is did Obama peak too early. At the moment, there is no new news emanating from the Obama campaign. They have to believe that the debates ... are where their candidate will have a chance to re-establish their lead," he said.

The Democrats have had a bit of a reprieve this week with news of the country's economic woes. The fallout on Wall Street has given Obama an opportunity to spend a few days on the offensive.

But until the real test comes with the debates, the candidates will have to balance pointing out shortcomings in their opponents' image while keeping their own brand intact.

Palin, the newest player in the game, "will have to prove herself sufficient and capable." But, Quelch said -- barring a major gaffe -- at the end of the day, the addition of Palin could prove to be "a stroke of genius."

The public has had little opportunity to put Palin to the test, but that will change Wednesday evening when she fields questions from voters at a town hall meeting for the first time.

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