Political marketing
Osama Siddiqui
Political marketing is relatively a new concept but a very significant terminology, while its cruciality cannot be ignored as it has the power to “make or break” an agenda. As no one can deny the importance of political science and all the political parties who are smart enough work on its marketing technique which either targets the fears or desires of the voters towards the party leadership.
This is the easiest way through which any political party can gain attention and become popular among its voters. However, it does not end here as one needs to have a strong political campaign on massive level with a lot of financial resources so that the message is reached from a small rural area to a metropolitan urban city.
Political marketing also requires a leader a charismatic one by nature so that his branding is done in such a manner that he or she is depicted as the public’s savior and without him/her, the state might be devastated.
Political parties do marketing research and statistical analysis where they get to see the voting trends of different areas. They use marketing tools to alter or form an opinion of the people who are potential voters. Political marketing is basically used to raise awareness about the critical issues but sometimes it can also be based on a specific agenda.
A political party can exploit the weakness of its rival party (competitor in business terms) through political marketing. However, every political party has its own restrictions as every party has its own voters. Only few parties are fortunate enough to attract the voters of the whole country. Religious parties or parties with ethnic nationalism have a specific market segment which they have to target in elections.
An evident example is of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) in Pakistan. The BNP can ask for votes in Balochistan where Baloch are in majority, and there is also a significant Pakhtun population in Balochistan having its representation. However, the BNP cannot ask for votes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as Baloch are not a majority in any constituency of the province.
Another example is of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in India, which has gotten a breakthrough in the Indian political system, where two political parties Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress (INC) had strong relation with the people of India was shaken in Delhi – the political center of India.
Arvind Kejriwal, who is the national convener of the AAP, was a civil servant who connected with the middle class and grasped the political environment and sentiments of the people. His party actually cashed on the slogan of anti-corruption, rejection of the VIP culture, and anti-dynastic politics in the country.
Hence, branding of a political party based on its product positioning is extremely important so that people know why they should vote for this political party, and that is the political ideology which distinguishes a political party’s members from its competitors and the ideas which are permanent to the party. So, this makes the party positioning very clear.
The way Donald Trump had to market his political positioning was based on “making America great again”. Trump had to sell the populist ideology where he had told the people how America was being ruined by immigrants which can be cross questioned. He was against immigration which was a populist view and it sold well as many conservative individuals think that immigrants have ruined their country. However, this is not true as immigrants have played a vital role in the economic boom of the USA.
In order to be more relevant in politics, ideology is of vital importance, however, political marketing is also a smart tool that can turn the tide. If one uses it in a smart way, it can be extremely helpful, as it can grasp the attention of the people and can change their decision making which lies on the thumbs of their hands. Technically speaking, in the 21st century, the game of politics mostly depends on political marketing.
The writer attended Cardiff University and completed his Masters of Science in Business Management. He has great passion for modern South Asian history, politics, political marketing and films. He may be reached at: osamasiddiqui21@yahoo.com. He also tweets @osamasidd97.
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Very relevant.