Knowledge sharing and lesson learning: consultants' perspectives on the international sharing of political marketing strategy

Abstract

Political marketing consultants who offer specialist skills and experience in political marketing – polling, strategy, voter profiling, segmentation, micro-targeting, voter-responsive product design – travel around the world sharing ideas from one campaign to the next, raising concerns that these unelected advisors wield global power; that political products will become all the same, and political leaders are prevented from offering an appropriate vision geared to the needs of their individual country. Whilst previous literature on political consultancy generally debated whether such global activities represented Americanisation or globalisation this article presents new qualitative interview data with consultants that suggest alternative perspectives. Political marketing strategy and tools are shared, but not just from the USA but between all countries, and they are adapted to suit the particular situation of each country, or indeed, each election. Politics is truly being marketised all over the world but each election remains a unique exercise.

Keywords:

• political marketing
• elections
• strategy
• practitioners
• consultants
• Americanisation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Lees-Marshment

Jennifer Lees-Marshment is Senior Lecturer in Political Studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and a leading researcher in political marketing. Her books include Political Marketing: Principles and Applications (Routledge 2009), Global Political Marketing (Routledge 2010), The Political Marketing Game (Palgrave Macmillan 2011), The Routledge Handbook of Political Marketing (Routledge 2012) and Political Marketing in Canada (UBC 2012). See www.lees-marshment.org for further details. [email protected]

Darren G. Lilleker

Darren G. Lilleker is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Public Communication Research in the Media School, Bournemouth University, UK. He is Chair of the PSA Political Marketing Specialist Group and Convenor for political communication for the ECPR. Dr Lilleker has published widely on the professionalisation and marketisation of political communication including the textbook Key Concepts in Political Communication (Sage 2006) and Political Campaigning, Elections and the Internet (Routledge 2011), and has co-edited The Marketing of Political Parties (MUP 2006), Voters or Consumers (CSP 2008) and Political Marketing in Comparative Perspective (MUP 2005).