Discussion Paper on Political Marketing
In the internet article “5 Political Marketing Tactics That Really Work” Nick Gibson
describes five marketing tactics that politician use to get more publicity. The article of Mr
Gibson proofs the statement of the article of Philip Kotler1, that regardless of a different
application field, product marketing is applied in politics, to get more voters. I took an article
of Mr Gibson as a basis for this discussion paper. Most common and effective tactics
according to Mr Gibson are:
1. Developing a narrative
According to Mr Gibson the narrative is the most important aspect of any political
campaign. The narrative is basically the story behind the candidate, his personality as well
as his beliefs. The narrative should make the voters vote for the candidate, very important
requirement is the authenticity of the entire narrative so the relevant voters group could
relate to it. Ceating a narrative is a branding strategy like it is used for branding of normal
consumer goods, instead of the consumer good however there is a candidate.2
According to the information available: Hillary Clinton builds her narrative on her positive
experiences in politics as well as her lawyer careers during which she helped people in
Arkansas, she also stresses her marriage with the former president Bill Clinton.3
Trump tries to appear as a successful businessman who can manage the economic policy
of the country, and can solve the problem of illegal immigration into US as well as the
problem of global terrorism.4
2. Social media marketing
Social media is one of the most effective platforms for raising awareness for a specific
candidate. Since social media is mostly used by young people social media marketing is a
great way to get additional votes from this group which is usually not interested in politics.
Social networks pages for the candidates are created. Honest as well as manipulative
strategies are used to attract potential voters. Creating an organic viral video can attract
additional voters. (Source: Footnote 2)
The social media pages of both candidates are up to date, the updates are made every
hour so there is a professional image creation team which is working on this “political
products”. Both candidates also actively use the negative campaigning to get more voices
1 Source: http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=5800
2 Source: https://blog.udemy.com/political-marketing/
3 Source: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/
4 Ource: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/
than a competitor as visible on the pictures below. The potential voters are also very active
and comment every post.
