Choosing a Mode of Political Marketing Strategy: Voter or Brand Identity Orientation

No entity has as much impact on as many lives as a government. Through social programs, taxes, military use, and many others, every life is affected every day by public sector entities. This power, influence, and relevance to public life is acquired through the means of marketing, with candidates, parties, and interest groups spending billions of dollars each cycle in hopes of “winning” the democratic process, allowing them ultimately to exert their policies upon the public, changing the political and policy landscape of their country, city, state, or nation. Despite the enormous importance, utilization, and impact of marketing on politics, very little thought within marketing research literature has been given to understanding how political marketing strategy is developed, functions, or the antecedents for its success. This paper aims to be a starting point in changing this. It proposes a testable conceptual framework of political marketing strategy modes, using extant research and examples from political campaigns to develop a parsimonious model for what types of campaign modes exist, and how campaign strategies are chosen. Further, this paper lays out an agenda for future research, aiming to help marketing researchers move forward in researching and understanding political campaign strategy.