Brent Buchanan is an international pollster, messaging strategist, and author based in Washington, DC. Buchanan, who was recognized by the American Association of Political Consultants as a “40 Under 40” and by Campaigns & Elections as a “Rising Star,” has served in numerous polling, comms, and strategy roles for governors, presidents, legislative leaders, and major corporations. He serves on the board of the International Association of Political Consultants and was formerly its treasurer. Brent is founder and president of Cygnal, an award-winning international polling, public opinion, and predictive analytics firm also based in Washington, DC, whose clients include Fortune Global 500 companies, foreign heads of state, presidential campaigns, U.S. senators, congressmen, dozens of state legislative caucuses, and trade associations. The company was recognized by Inc. 5000 as the fastest growing private research company in the U.S. and in the top 15% of growth for all private American companies.
Buchanan helped create Cygnal’s proprietary Emotive Analysis which quantitatively analyzes voter emotions, allowing campaigns to bypass the logical brain and tap directly into the heart of what voters are feeling, not just thinking. He presents around the world on how to determine and then speak to voters’ and citizens’ values and internal drivers that drive behavior and choice. Brent does not have any free time because his most important priority is his wife of 15 years and five children ranging from age 9 to age 16.
My first real job was working as a waiter at Steak ‘n Shake. There’s not much better than a SnS patty melt. Best story while working at the restaurant…I was serving milkshakes to full table of really cute girls. As I took the milkshakes off the tray, they got unbalanced (rookie mistake!) and I dumped one on a girl at the table. Talk about feeling dumb! Years later my wife was telling me a story about this goofy waiter who dumped a milkshake on her friend when she was at Steak ‘n Shake. 🙄
President John F. Kennedy. He wasn’t the chosen son. His dad meddled in his career. He had immense physical challenges that he worked hard to hide from the public. Moral of the story is that challenges build us, and Kennedy had more than his fair share of obstacles.
Flying. Is there another choice? Patience isn’t a virtue of mine, so being able to fly anywhere, any time, in no time would be incredible. Now I take that back–teleportation.
Why. Too often people focus on the “what” without seeking to understand the “why.” Answer “why” is much more powerful. Take for example a message testing question. The “what” is that 52% of people believe X. But understanding the “why” behind the 52% is how you move that number to 72%. This is where Cygnal excels!