Dr Elaine van Wyk, IMM Graduate School

Johannesburg

16 May 2024 This year is a record for the number of national election campaigns taking place around the world – not least of which is right here in South Africa. Amid the fervour of political campaigns, as politicians dive into their election strategies, it presents an opportune moment to explore what marketers can glean from politicians, and vice versa.

All over the world, and especially in the US and UK as they face elections, the electorate struggle to differentiate Democrats from Republicans, and Conservatives from Labour – as all parties today effectively have the same policies. With the plethora of political parties in South Africa, few voters know what any stand for.

Like marketing seeks to differentiate themselves from other brands, political parties can learn much from marketers about how to differentiate themselves. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s Budget speech showed that the upcoming national and provincial elections will not come cheap, as billions of rand have been set aside for the May 29 polls.

Both domains revolve around the art of persuasion and meaningful engagement with people to achieve specific goals. Politicians excel at persuading voters to support a cause. Marketers can learn from their techniques, tailoring messages to resonate with their target audience and drive action. By understanding the target audience and tailoring one’s messaging to address their needs and aspirations, marketers can create a powerful connection that drives action.

Successful politicians are skilled storytellers, understanding that their narrative leaves a lasting impact. Marketers can harness this power by weaving compelling stories around their brand, telling a story that creates emotional connections with consumers.

Just as politicians cultivate their public image, marketers should focus on personal branding. Trust, authenticity, and relatability matter—whether you’re running for office or promoting a product. If they are to win over voters, politicos need to be seen as approachable, trusted, and reliable – a person able to advocate the constituency’s concerns in a larger forum like national or local assemblies. Marketers can apply this same principle - establishing a clear and consistent identity for their brand that resonates with their target audience.

Since elections are fought ’on the ground’ politicians and their parties spend much of their time rubbing flesh with voters and addressing rallies. Marketers can take a leaf from their book by spending as much as time as possible with customers understanding their pain-points with a brand. There is no substitute for customer immersion and time in the field fostering community involvement, and building authentic relationships that drive brand loyalty – though in the case of marketers it has to extend beyond just election time.

Politicians often cleverly use influencers - both the social media ones and the traditional ones like local community leaders. Such influencers have credibility and can help marketers to build support at the local level, while shifting control from established media.

On the other hand, what can politicians learn from marketers? Top of that list is the use of independent research to understand consumers/voters. Most marketers make good use of research tools like focus groups to mine consumer insights and track changing behaviours and attitudes. While many politicians believe they understand their voters’ minds, they are often blinded by their own biases and political mandates that paint a rosy picture. Third party research is more accurate.

Genuine insights typically emerge from unspoken desires – and many brands have learned that reorienting their product is often far more effective than changing the messaging. Sadly most politicians choose to ignore this, though many would be challenged to switch from a socialist to capitalist stance.

Important to politicians and marketers alike is consistency in communication and messaging. Political messaging is often diffused and inconsistent as they run ‘blind’. This is especially the case with ‘populist’ politicians who simply parrot what their followers want to hear. Brands specialise in tight messaging and clearly articulated guidelines with clear and inviolable campaign collateral. This approach to messaging should become part of a politician’s dossier.

Marketers frequently conduct A/B testing and experimentation to test variations and so refine their strategies and tactics. Politicians can apply similar methodologies to test different campaign messaging and policy proposals to determine what resonates best with voters.

Politicians can learn from marketers the importance of objectively measuring success - not just in terms of votes but in terms of socio-economic impact and long-term outcomes. By setting clear metrics and goals, politicians can assess the effectiveness of their policies and make informed decisions for future actions. Losses need to be analysed objectively, beyond standard introspection via committees of like-minded cadres.

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF IMM GRADUATE SCHOOL

For more information contact:
Lunice Johnston Communications
Lunice Johnston
Mobile: +27 82 824 6384