The political marketing planning process: improving image and message in strategic target areas

TLDR

The study argues that national parties should better coordinate campaigns to strengthen their image among key voter groups by targeting resource allocation, and calls for further research on party positioning and media placement. The authors built the planning model through a hypothetico‑deductive and inductive process, drawing on recent US and UK campaign practices and interviews with UK strategists. They developed a marketing‑planning framework that promotes long‑term, coordinated campaigns, yet found that national coordination often omits local research, telemarketing, and post‑election analysis.

Abstract

A marketing planning framework to aid political parties in improving their image and co‐ordinating election campaigns has been developed to reflect the changing nature of electoral campaigning in the developed world towards the need for more long‐term planning; together with the development and implementation of marketing models in a wider sphere of social situations. The planning model has been developed using both a hypothetico‐deductive and an inductive approach, incorporating recent developments in US and UK political campaign management and depth interviews with political strategists in the UK. Suggests that national political parties need to co‐ordinate their election campaigns more effectively in order to strengthen their image among key citizen and voter groups by determining which target areas are most in need of resources. Further research is needed to determine how to position the party and to select and place advertising in the relevant media. Concludes that local election campaigns are becoming more co‐ordinated by national parties but that such co‐ordination neglects to provide local area research and telemarketing campaigns, and post‐election analysis exercises to monitor strengths and weaknesses in party strategy and campaign plan implementation.