NIGORA Adizova

Prof. Dr. YAVUZ Odabaşı

Özel Pazarlama konuları
1 December, 2009
Political Marketing
Abstract
Political parties use marketing instruments as part of their electoral campaign
activities. These are usually analysed and categorised using the 4P and marketing mix concept,
perspective anchored in the ‘managerial’ school of marketing theory. This study uses an
alternative perspective, i.e. functional anlysis, to describe thr requirements for successful
political marketing activities that are fulfilled by using certain political marketing instruments.
Eight generic functions of political marketing are identified. the study will close with discussion
of the relevance of the eight generic functions of political marketing for different exchange
relationships and submarkets of the political sphere.

1.Introduction
Marketing is no longer just about selling. It is increasingly about providing the
consumer with the product they want, at the price they want, when they want it and how they
want it. Within the field of commercial marketing, from luxury items to fast moving consumer
goods, the consumer is ‘king’, thus the emphasis of marketing techniques is less focused on the
means to manipulate and entice than in the past. The focus is on satisfying the needs of the
consumer, and not just in the areas of basic survival and safety. Since the Second World War,
marketers have been interested in discovering how to satisfy consumers’ sophisticated needs, and
in order to fulfil those needs many would argue that it is vital to involve consumers in the design,
as well as the communication, of the product.
The public treating politics as part of its regular cycle of consumption – has changed
the nature of politics and that political parties are now redesigning themselves and their
messages to fit in with what the voter wants. They are adopting, in other words, a marketing
approach to politics.
Political marketing is not just about political advertising, party political broadcasts
and electoral speeches but covering the whole area of party positioning in the electoral
market(1). Political marketing is a set of strategies and tools to trace and study public opinion

1. Harrop M. (1990) Political marketing. Parliamentary Affairs, vol. 43, pp. 277-291
before and during an election campaign, to develop campaign communications and to assess
their impact(1).
Marketing is not a term that historically we associate with politics. Politics is
normally associated with ideas and ideologies. Political parties relied on a body of core ideas that
were subscribed to by a significant number of members of the electorate, that were employed to
demarcate themselves from their opponents and to gain support from their electorate. The real
battle was waged for the votes of the undecided, those without ideological predilections, but the
normative view is that this battle did not involve marketing; politics was about selling and
salesmanship and the only aspects of marketing involved related to its promotional tools (2).
Work on the application of marketing to politics stresses that the modern, or indeed
post-modern, voter needs a greater input into the political process and needs to feel satisfied with
the result of an election: particularly if their vote was for the winning party(3). This has led
politicians to recognise the need for adapting to this new environment and to apply marketing
concepts to both policy development and communication.
The party must use marketing research to discover what the voter /citizen wants, it
must then develop a product that is linked, or can be made to link, directly to voter concerns and
promote it in such a way as to appeal to the voter.
Party strategists should be conducting viability studies: ensuring that the figures add
up and that there is the minimum scope for criticism from the opposition parties. This will be
done within the context of the existing socio- political environment: parties will assess the record
of their competitors, in particular the party of government, and seek out weaknesses in their
arguments. Parties should also be canvassing their own supporters, particularly party members,
as well as identifying which sections of the electorate could be won over by their arguments.
While the production of a manifesto at this moment in time may seem premature, preparation is
the key. If parties are to make the connections with the voters that Popkin argues is so crucial,
the parties must show they are listening and responding. This may be more difficult for the party
in government, though all parties must be communicating directly to the public over the course
of any political session.

1. Kavanagh D. (1996) New campaign communications: consequences for political parties. Harvard International
Journal of Press and Politics, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 60-76
2.Wring, D. (2002) ‘Images of Labour: The Progression and Politics of Party Campaigning in Britain’ Journal of
Political Marketing. Vol. 1(1) pp 23-37.
3. Butler, P., and Collins, N. (2001) ‘Payment on delivery: recognising constituency service as political marketing’
European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 35 (9/10), pp 1026-1037.
 2. The Globalization of Political Marketing
Marketing developed out of the need to have a communication channel between
business firms and their customers: customers should be made aware of the products currently
available, and business firms able to persuade the consumers of the comparative advantages of
their products over those of their competitors. Kotler and Levy (1969) pointed out that classical
marketing tools could also be used in areas other than business, and called for the expansion of
marketing to embrace non-commercial entities, such as police, churches and public schools(1).
According to Kotler (1982), conventional campaigning is merely the art of attracting
voters by intuition, whereas political marketing is science in action. It developed from an art to
partial science because of the substantial growth of improved marketing research, sales analyses
and marketing organizations, and their resulting attraction to the political domain(2).
In conventional business marketing, there is a set of tools a business firm uses to
pursue its marketing objectives in the target market. These tools are usually classified into four
broad groups called the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. A mix of the
four Ps should maximize the profit. From a consumer’s view, each of the four marketing tools is
designed to deliver a customer benefit that fit to their four Cs: customer solution, customer cost,
convenience, and communication. In Political marketing, the four Ps and Cs exist, too. The
product includes promises and favors conveyed by political parties or political candidates. The
price is electoral support, and the voter is the customer. The promotion plan includes advertising,
rallies, TV debates, flyers, billboards, door-to-door canvassing, and other campaign activities
(Figure 1).
Figure 1: Business marketing and political marketing compared

Communications Communications

Goods and Services Promises and Favors

Saller Buyers Candidate Voters

Money Votes

Information Information

A. Business Marketing B. Political Marketing

Source: Philip Kotler(1975) , ‘Overview of Political Candidate Marketing’, Advances in Consumer
Research, vol. 2, p. 763

1. Kotler, Philip and Sidney J Levy (1969), “Broadening the concept of Marketing”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33 (January), pp.10-15
 2. Kotler, Philip (1982), “Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations” Prentice-Hall

Over the last 30 years, a new industry focusing on political marketing has emerged.
At the end of the 1990s, this new industry was estimated to have employed some 7,000 people
who worked for a living on campaigns.
3. Analysing Political Marketing Management
In analyzing political marketing management, the two different views of
‘instrumental’ and ‘functional’ perspective will merely collate present existing research on
political marketing(1) and provide some conceptual input, the functional discussion will provide
an innovative point of view.
3.1. The Instrumental Perspective
Many of the seminal contribution of the last fifteen years are devoted to a discussion
of the ‘4Ps of Political Marketing’. Besides being relevant to operational aspects of the use of
marketing instruments, such discussions also touch upon the essence of what political marketing
is, e.g. discussions of the notion of ‘product’ in political exchange clearly relate to more
fundamental questions about the ‘political market’ and the underlying interactions and value
exchanges.
As a result the product concept as a political marketing instrument and pivotal
element of a theory of political marketing has still not been defined in a generally accepted way
and constitutes one of the major stumbling blocs for further development of political marketing
theory (2).
3.2. Functional Perspective
Political Marketing functions as requirements or conditions for successful political
management are the(desired) ‘outputs’ of the organizational behavior. The following eight
functions can be classified as ‘generic’ (3), i.e. they are concerned with the main exchange
relationships of a political actor (e.g. political party) in the complex network of political
relationships.
Product function: The main condition for an exchange is the existence of the
‘offering’, i.e. something that is valued by a recipient (e.g. a voter or citizen) and ‘produced’ by
supplier (e.g. political party or candidate). In a further development, the product concept in
political marketing is related to the (brand) image of candidates (4).Candidate characteristics are
the ‘cues’ that voters assess when considering their voting decision.

1. Lloyd, B. (2003), “Can Marketing-based Concepts such as a the ‘Product’ and the ‘Marketing Mix’ have
a Useful Role in the Political Arena ?”, Paper presented at
the Political Science Association Conference 2003
2. Henneberg, S.C. (2002), “Understanding Political Marketing”, Westport, pp:93-171
 3. Henneberg, S.C. (2002), “Understanding Political Marketing”, Westport, pp:93-171
4. Kotler P., Kotler N., “Political marketing”, ed. Newman, 1999, pp:3-18

Political product is linked to the political candidate and the party itself, as well as
underlying ideology. Each of this element of a political product are interrelated and can therefore
be offered (and managed) separately(1). Political product comprises the activities of all relevant
actors in a party(2).
The main political ‘product’ can be perceived as a ‘service promise’. It comprises
certain personal attributes (the characteristics of candidates as representing the service delivery
personal), certain political issues (policy intention), and ideological framework (non-specific
umbrella of beliefs and attitudes that guide specific behavior). Parties need to bring all these
service elements together into a cohesive ‘political service brand’ to manage the expectations of
voters. As such the product function does not provide much more than a promise (to be delivered
in the future under uncertain circumstances through distribution function). However, this
promise has characteristics of ‘public good’, it is promised and will be ‘consumed’ by every one,
not only by target segments(3).
Distribution function: The distribution function is concerned with the conditions
regarding the availability of the exchange offer to the exchange partner. This function has two
aspects, namely the campaign delivery and the offering delivery. The campaign delivery function
provides the primary exchange partner, the electorate, with access to all relevant elements of the
‘political product’. This includes, for example dissemination of information regarding crucial
political policies on important agenda points, ‘placing’ the candidates in the right ‘channel’.
The offering delivery aspect of the distribution function refers to the ‘fulfilment’ of
political promises(4). This function comes into play when a political party or candidates has the
political and legal means to fulfil their promises.
Cost function: The cost function in political marketing refers to the management of
actual and perceived attitudinal and behavioral barriers on the part of voters. This suggest
redefining ‘price’ as an element of ‘cost or sacrifices’(5).
Campaign management can try to reduce the necessary efforts for voters to process
political information, from opinions, evaluate alternatives, and participate in political discourse
in the wider sense.

1. Wring D., “Conceptualising Political marketing: A Framework for Election-Campaign Analysis”,

Westport, 2002, pp: 171-185)
2. Lees Marshment, J. “Political Marketing: How to reach that Pot of Gold”, Journal of Political
Marketing”, 2003, Vol. 2, N.1, pp:1-31
 3. Wortmann M. “Political Marketing: A Modern party Strategy”, PhD Dissertation, Florence, 1989.
4. Palmer, J. “Smoke and Mirrors: Is that the Way it is? Themes in Political Marketing”, Media, Culture &
Society, Vol. 24, pp. 345-363
5. Henneberg, S.C. (2002), “Understanding Political Marketing”, Westport, pp:93-171

Communication function: Communication serves the function of informing the

primary exchange partner(s) of the offer and its availability. While communication is at the heart
of many campaigns, the fallacy of this restricted view of political marketing has been argued
elsewhere.
The communication function prescribes a dialogue with the exchange partner, a
multi-directional flow of information and shared agenda-setting. While this is often not fulfilled
within the set of existing political marketing instruments, the advent of more interactive e-
enabled media might bring this participatory aspect of communication function to the fore.
News-management function: This function represent a communication function too.
This ‘free’ communication activities which are concerned with managing publicity that is not
directly controlled by the political organization, public relations activities and what is commonly
called ‘spin’. However, the communication itself can not be ‘managed’ in the sense of
controlling it, it can be only influenced. The exchange partners of the news-management
function are mostly journalist and other opinion leaders.
Fund-raising function: ‘Fund-raising’ in the commercial world is integral to the
price/cost function. Within the framework of anon-economic primary exchange process in the
political sphere, no reciprocal pecuniary revenue arrangement exists. Therefore, in order to
provide the political actors with appropriate resources, a distinct fund-raising function needs to
be addressed. Political candidates and parties depend to a varying extent (depending with
arrangements of the political system) on membership fees, donations, free services and etc.
Parallel-campaign management function: This function describes requirement of
co-ordinating the campaign management activities of a political party with those of ‘parallel’
organizations such as single issue groups that perceive an overlap of their agenda with that of the
party (e.g. Greenpeace and many European Green parties, or unions and the Social Democrat
parties). The use of parallel campaign and the endorsement by other organizations can increase
the perceived trustworthiness of the political messages.
Internal-cohesion management function: Besides outside-oriented exchange
processes, the internal structure and cohesion of a political party needs to be managed as well.
This function is concerned with party members and party activists as well as all the ‘touch-point’
agents of the party, e.g. front-bencher, spokespeople. This internal marketing function serves a
critical role in securing internal stability and therefore the credibility of the party regarding its
outside image which has implications for their assessment by the voters.
4. Political Marketing Functions and The Political Markets
Function as antecedents of the use of political marketing instruments ought to cover
all necessary exchange relationships and their management by political actors in a variety of
different ‘submarkets’(1). taking the political party again as the focal relationship, one can
distinguish three submarkets of electoral politics:
Figure 2: The Political ‘supra-market’

Donors

Interes Legislative Gover

t n-
Group ment
s Party
Members
Party/
candid
Politica ate
l
Activist Electorate

Citizens

Media

Source: Henneberg, S.C. (2002), “Understanding Political Marketing”

The electoral market is characterized by the main exchange relation between parties
(and their candidates) and the electorate. However, parties also ‘connect’ with party members
and activists as well as donors in order to secure the necessary funds to compete in the electoral
market. The governmental market focuses on the main exchange relationship between the
government on the one hand and the citizens. This process is mediated through legislative
institutions. The third political submarket can be described as the market for political activism.
Interest groups compete in this market for the resources of political activists. Secondary
exchange relationships are formed with donors as well as the media, and governments and
parties.
Figure 2 depicts the political ‘supra-market’. It becomes clear that political marketing
management is more than merely managing the direct campaign interactions between political
parties and candidates on one side and voters on the other.
 Figure 3 depicts the association of generic functions with the main exchange
relationships in the politic markets. Several functions refer to multiple relationships, e.g. the

1. Kotler P., Kotler N., “Political marketing”, ed. Newman, 1999, pp:3-18
distribution function is associated with the party-electorate exchange but also with government-
citizens. This is due to the ambivalent role of parties and candidates as successful campaigning
transmogrifies them into a part of the executive (government) without loosing their attachment to
a political party.
Figure 3: Generic functions of political marketing management in the political market.

Donors

6 5
Interes Legislative Gover
t n-
8
Group ment
s Party
7 Members 1 2 4
Party/
candid
Politica ate
l 1 2
Activist Electorate
3
4
5 Citizens

Generic Functions
Media 1. Product function
2. Distribution function
3. Cost function
4. Communication function
5. News-management function
6. Fund-raising function
7. Parallel-campaign function
8. Internal-cohesion management
function

Source: Henneberg, S.C. (2002), “Understanding Political Marketing”

5. Conclusion
Political marketing has now established itself as lively sub-discipline of marketing.
However, a certain stagnation of knowledge development was noted. This paper links this
finding to the currently dominating tendency of focusing research on campaign applications of
marketing instruments, emphasising a reactive and managerial orientation. Eight generic
functions of political marketing and different exchange relationships and submarkets of the
political sphere was identified.
However, the dialectic of political marketing theory prescribes that both aspects of
theory building need to be done in a complementary fashion, giving each other relevance and
justification. This allows for the dialectic tension that will provide a rounded frame for political
marketing.
Over the last 30 years, a new industry focusing on political marketing has emerged.
At the end of the 1990s, this new industry was estimated to have employed some 7,000 people
who worked for a living on campaigns. At the mid of the 2000s this statistics reached 1,000,000.
And it continue growing...
 Reference list :

1. Harrop M. (1990) Political marketing. Parliamentary Affairs, vol. 43, pp. 277-291
2. Kavanagh D. (1996) New campaign communications: consequences for political parties.
Harvard International Journal of Press and Politics, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 60-76
3. Wring, D. (2002) ‘Images of Labour: The Progression and Politics of Party Campaigning
in Britain’ Journal of Political Marketing. Vol. 1(1) pp 23-37.
4. Butler, P., and Collins, N. (2001) ‘Payment on delivery: recognising constituency service
as political marketing’ European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 35 (9/10), pp 1026-1037.
5. Kotler, Philip and Sidney J Levy (1969), “Broadening the concept of Marketing”, Journal
of Marketing, Vol. 33 (January), pp.10-15
6. Kotler, Philip (1982), “Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations” Prentice-Hall
7. Kotler P., Kotler N., “Political marketing”, ed. Newman, 1999, pp:3-18
8. Lloyd, B. (2003), “Can Marketing-based Concepts such as a the ‘Product’ and the
‘Marketing Mix’ have a Useful Role in the Political Arena?”, Paper presented at the
Political Science Association Conference 2003
9. Henneberg, S.C. (2002), “Understanding Political Marketing”, Westport, pp:93-171
10. Wring D., “Conceptualising Political marketing: A Framework for Election-Campaign
Analysis”, Westport, 2002, pp: 171-185)
11. Lees Marshment, J. “Political Marketing: How to reach that Pot of Gold”, Journal of
Political Marketing”, 2003, Vol. 2, N.1, pp:1-31
12. Wortmann M. “Political Marketing: A Modern party Strategy”, PhD Dissertation,
Florence, 1989.
13. Palmer, J. “Smoke and Mirrors: Is that the Way it is? Themes in Political Marketing”,
Media, Culture & Society, Vol. 24, pp. 345-363