The marketing of political marketing

TLDR

The article questions whether political marketing is over‑marketed and argues that its impact differs from business marketing, urging scholars and practitioners to recognize contextual differences. The authors examine two case studies from Canada and Britain to illustrate how political marketing programs can sometimes cause harm. They conclude that marketing is less relevant in politics, both descriptively and prescriptively.

Abstract

Has political marketing been over‐marketed? This article – taking a definition of political marketing that (controversially) excludes news management and “spin” control – does not seek to “prove” that it has, merely to suggest that the impact of marketing in politics is not directly analogous to its effectiveness in business because of differences between a business context and a political one. We argue specifically that political marketing programmes can sometimes do harm, and two case studies – from Canada and Britain – are examined to illuminate this. The claim is that marketing is thus less relevant in politics, both at the level of description and prescription. The broader aim of the article is to sensitise students and researchers alike to the differences in commercial and political contexts, differences of which practitioners must be aware if they are to utilise political marketing to its best advantage.