Political brand identity: An examination of the complexities of Conservative brand and internal market engagement during the 2010 UK General Election campaign

Abstract

This paper seeks to build an understanding of the importance of internal communications when building a strong political brand. Using Kapferer's brand prism as a conceptual framework, the paper explores UK Conservative Party members' attitudes towards the development of the Conservative brand as personified by David Cameron. There are clear implications for political strategists as the findings suggest that it is crucial to engage the internal market in the co-creation of the marketing communications strategy for as brand evangelists they interpret the brand promise at the local level.

Keywords:

• political communications
• internal market
• political branding
• Conservative Party

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher Pich

Christopher Pich is a lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. He completed his PhD thesis at Hull University Business School and has published in a number of journals including Qualitative Research: an International Journal and the Journal of Political Marketing.Dianne Dean is a senior lecturer at Hull University Business School. She has written extensively on political marketing publishing in journals such as the Journal of Political Marketing, Journal of Marketing Management and European Journal of Marketing.Khanyapuss Punjaisri is lecturer in Marketing at Hull University Business School. She is a PhD graduate from University of Strathclyde. Her research interest is in services marketing, corporate branding, and internal brand-building. She has published in different journals, namely European Journal of Marketing and Journal of Marketing Management.