Eeducational program: What is political marketing?

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    Political marketing is the process of organizing electoral candidates and all their ideas into separate campaigns and directing these formations to the electoral contingent. The idea is to create a further political position of a particular candidate in order to gain the support of the masses. As in conventional marketing, there are concepts of a seller, a product, and a buyer. A political candidate offers voters products in the form of ideas that should improve the economic transformation of society. The elementary unit of such “marketing” is the voice of the voter.

    политический маркетинг

    Consumers are the center of political marketing. Without them, no campaign and no vote can exist. They are incentives for campaigns to make optimal use of their resources and move in the right direction. As in commercial marketing, the consumer market is studied and taste (in this case, ideological) preferences of a person are taken into account. Creation of all new concepts changes outlook of the consumer. Such influence can be both all-encompassing and more specialized.

    Political marketing uses the concept of segmentation of the market and target groups in order to increase their success in voting. Segmentation occurs by dividing the market into separate sections according to the criteria:

    • age,
    • gender
    • race,
    • mental features,
    • financial situation
    • etc.

    Then the parties choose a segment suitable for themselves and lure it with specific methods of influence. Common to each of these methods is that aspects such as law and order, employment, foreign policy, etc. are taken into account. Advertising and agitation become the means of this influence.

    Candidates’ political marketing is all about creating a flashy label and a catchy name, just like any other product. The wrapper is created in various ways and presented to the public in perfect form. Studies have shown that addiction to a particular brand is the same as addiction to a particular political party. The main task is to select the qualities that inspire confidence in the voter, and endowing the candidate with these qualities.

    политический маркетинг и политическая реклама

    Political campaigns are built for a reason. They are based on a detailed study of ideology and effective influence on a person, as well as the definition of the main factors that guide people when voting. The success of a brand (in this case, a political candidate) is the pinnacle of a proper political marketing campaign.

    Key definitions, goals and objectives of political marketing

    The main goal of politics as a state activity is the capture and subsequent control over the previously conquered market. The market in this case is considered as the power market.

    Political marketing is carried out through the impact of the media system on the selected political market to ensure the support of the electorate.

    Concept 1

    Political marketing is a set of processes such as planning, development and practical implementation of developed ideas, goods and services on the political market in order to increase their sales turnover and further implementation.

    For the first time, political marketing technologies were put into practice in 1952, during the election campaign of US President Dwight Eisenhower. It is he who holds the lead in using an advertising agency to promote a politician’s election campaign.

    This was to some extent a turning point in the organization of the political race for power. All marketers (both theorists and practitioners) have identified a trend that the means and methods of marketing in the fields of trade and banking can also be used to “sell” politicians. In other words, to promote the candidate and take him to the desired position on the board.

    Remark 1

    The subject of political marketing research is not only the election campaign of a candidate, but also, in turn, a number of political communications that he uses to develop a promotion plan and provide specific political services.

    The main goals of political marketing:

    • adjustment of behavior patterns that are inherent in certain social groups and negatively affect the organization of the social system (for example: alcoholism, drug addiction, substance abuse, etc.)
    • instilling positive behavioral models into social practice (for example: age tolerance, social integration of people with disabilities, health, labor, environmental protection, careful attitude to the use of natural resources, etc.)

    The tasks solved by political marketing are divided into three main categories:

    • development of a system of political communications to promote the put forward ideology;
    • analysis and evaluation of the degree of adequacy of ideas and their acceptance by society or part of it;
    • determining the required position for which the candidate is applying, depending on his personal qualities, the situation in the political market and opposition from competitors.

    Functions and types of political marketing

    Remark 2

    Political marketing is aimed at initiating and further increasing the demand for certain products. During elections, political parties often resort to exchanging these goods for the purchase of electoral support in return. It also has a positive effect on the recruitment of party members during political campaigns.

    Political marketing is characterized by the following functions:

    • analytical;
    • communicative;
    • marketing;
    • coordinating.

    The analytical component is manifested in the study, analysis and evaluation of the current state of the political market. Then comes the process of direct communication with the selected electorate through the organization of meetings, advertising campaigns, etc. The sales function consists literally in the “sale” of the candidate. It is divided into several stages:

    • image formation;
    • maintaining and popularizing the created image among the masses through PR campaigns.

    The last function, coordinating, is one of the most important, because its task is to establish contact between the candidate and his electorate. Thus, the candidate acts as the product itself, and his voters are the final consumers.

    Below are the more specific functions of political marketing:

    • formation of the required ideological component of the political market through the implementation of activities, programs, projects, etc.;
    • selection and further support of the candidate in his political promotion, as well as the abolition of the activities of his competitors;
    • encouragement and artificial creation of competitive confrontation between political parties on the basis of their programs;
    • unification of the opinions of several groups/parties/movements regarding a certain state interest;
    • promotion and implementation of the principles of a democratic society.

    Based on the chosen object of marketing activity, the following types of political marketing are distinguished:

    • candidates;
    • organizations;
    • put forward ideas and concepts.

    The most popular type of political marketing is candidate marketing during an election campaign. Taking into account the aims and objectives of the electoral process, all forces are mainly directed to the formation, preservation and, if necessary, adjustment of the candidate’s image in order to create the required attitude of the electorate towards him. The main task is to obtain the required number of votes for the candidate to be elected and receive a deputy’s mandate.

    Organizations in political marketing refer to political parties, associations or movements. Their goal in marketing activities is to form a favorable image of the promoted political force for the public. If there is a negative reputation, they should make every effort to neutralize it and further positive transformation.

    The last type of political marketing, marketing of political ideas and concepts, is the coordination of voters’ attitudes towards the ideas put forward in the election campaigns of the respective political parties. The key task is to convey this information to the masses and get support for the ideas that are recorded in the political programs of the candidates.

    Political Marketing Technologies

    Concept 2

    Political marketing technologies are a set of methods and methods of influence that are used to achieve effective results in resolving political issues.

    Various political organizations use in practice the following types of political technologies:

    • generation of rumors (popularization of slander, false and fabricated information about the candidate);
    • “media forgery” (creation of a fake media, printed or electronic format, to publish false information on the part of a competitor);
    • political graffiti (influencing the subconscious of the masses by linking public local problems directly with the name of a competitor: poor transport infrastructure, high utility bills, etc.);
    • organizing rallies and protests (the technology of calling for the expression of dissatisfaction of the society regarding the activities of the local administration and socially significant problems);
    • telephone technologies, in particular, the technology of “late call” is used: its purpose is to outrage the electorate of a political opponent;
    • the method of “star lists” (famous personalities are registered in the forefront of a political party to create trusting public sentiment and attract citizens);
    • initiation of “self-assault” (deliberate use against oneself of information that does not correspond to reality, and presenting them as malicious intentions of opponents).
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