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Political Marketing http://www.diva-portal.org Postprint This is the accepted version of a paper published in Journal of Political Marketing. This paper has been peer-reviewed but does not include the final publisher proof-corrections or journal pagination. Citation for the original published paper (version of record): Simons, G. (2016) Stability and Change in Putin's Political Imageduring the 2000 and 2012 Presidential Elections: Putin 1.0 and Putin 2.0?. Journal of Political Marketing http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15377857.2016.1151114 Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Political Marketing on 16 Feb 2016, available online: http:// wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15377857.2016.1151114 Permanent link to this version: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-277000 Journal of Political Marketing ISSN: 1537-7857 (Print) 1537-7865 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wplm20 Stability and Change in Putin's Political Image during the 2000 and 2012 Presidential Elections: Putin 1.0 and Putin 2.0? Greg Simons To cite this article: Greg Simons (2016): Stability and Change in Putin's Political Image during the 2000 and 2012 Presidential Elections: Putin 1.0 and Putin 2.0?, Journal of Political Marketing, DOI: 10.1080/15377857.2016.1151114 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15377857.2016.1151114 Accepted author version posted online: 16 Feb 2016. Submit your article to this journal View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wplm20 Download by: [Uppsala universitetsbibliotek] Date: 16 February 2016, At: 22:58 Stability and Change in Putin’s Political Image During the 2000 and 2012 Presidential Elections: Putin 1.0 and Putin 2.0? Greg Simons Swedish National Defence College and Uppsala University, Sweden Address correspondence to Greg Simons. Abstract There has been a lot of research done on ‘Western’ politicians and the political systems with regards to political marketing. But what about other countries, and especially those that possess a different political standard? This article seeks to address one particular Russian politician – Vladimir Putin. He rose from obscurity to become Russia’s second president (after Boris Yeltsin). Two presidential elections form the focus of attention, 2000 and 2012. The aim is to try and discover the consistencies and breaks in the manufacturing of Putin’s political image and Downloaded by [Uppsala universitetsbibliotek] at 22:58 16 February 2016 reputation. A number of breaks and continuities were discovered in terms of how Putin is marketed. This seems to be a reflection of the changes taking places in Russia’s political environment, which then needs to be taken into consideration when political marketing is conducted. Keywords: political image, political reputation management, President Vladimir Putin, presidential elections, Russia 1 INTRODUCTION Political marketing is becoming an essential tool in politics around the globe. It is an indispensable informational tool to present the image and reputation of political figures to the general public. Understanding how this is achieved is an important skill in understanding or at least trying to make sense of the formalities of a democratic system, especially when political marketing is combined with elections. In spite of arguments concerning the level of democracy in Russia (the strength and viability), it does hold elections, which heightens political competition and risk, and the search for a competitive edge over rivals. This paper shall look at and analyse the aspects of consistency and change in the projected political image of Vladimir Putin from his first presidential election campaign in the year 2000 with his most recent election campaign for the 2012 election. A fundamental question shall be analysed in the paper: does a Putin 1.0 and 2.0 exist or not? Political marketing shall be used as the lens with which to view and to make sense of the collected empirical material. In the first election campaign Putin was an unknown figure thrust in to the public light at the end of President Boris Yeltsin’s chaotic rule. What were the projected images of this new comer to Russian politics, and how did these connect with public expectations/hopes? How did he Downloaded by [Uppsala universitetsbibliotek] at 22:58 16 February 2016 interact with the Russian public and what were the narratives and slogans he used to carry his message? By 2012, Putin was a well-established figure in Russian politics. He had served two terms as President and one term as Prime Minister. Yet there were some new challenges to face when he ran for office in the presidential elections, not least of which was the growing voice of political protest in major urban areas. Additionally, he now had a legacy as a political figure, which included 2 his serving eight years as President of Russia. The results were mixed, carrying different meaning for different groups; the decrease in the level of individual freedoms versus a stronger and more assertive Russia on the international stage. POLITICAL MARKETING Before moving to the subject of political marketing, it is necessary to differentiate between two broad categories within the sphere of marketing in general. The first category is transaction marketing, which focuses upon singular purchases and does not build a relationship with its audience. In this scenario, the communicator tries to win the target audience over repeatedly, without regard to any previous contact and/or transactions. The other category is relationship marketing, within the Nordic School the customer is seen as an active participant in the process and a potential adder of value. Thus the communicator and the audience have a joint responsibility for the final result (Johansen 2005, 88). The distinction between transaction marketing and relationship marketing is the later centres on value creation and not solely value distribution of the former. “Products are only facilitators of value. Instead, value for customers is created through the relationship and interactions between the customer and service provider” (Johansen 2005, 88). Thus, for the Downloaded by [Uppsala universitetsbibliotek] at 22:58 16 February 2016 purposes of this article, relationship marketing provides a more appropriate variant for understanding the process of communications between domestic audiences and Vladimir Putin. As an initial point of departure, stock needs to be taken of the current debate and understanding of political marketing. There is an inconclusive debate as to whether political marketing is something new or that has existed for some time. Arguments by scholars are divided on the issue. However, what is clear is that political marketing has become an integral part of the 3 political process only recently (since the 1990s) (Wring 1997; Egan 1999; Henneberg and O’Shaughnessy 2007). The discipline is linked to the issue of electioneering, and there has been criticism of the role played by political marketing in the process. One of the primary concerns is the belief that it “is responsible for reducing important messages to glib phrases or soundbites and, potentially, removing rationality from the electorates’ decision-making” However, Egan argues that “successful politicians have always recognised the importance of image over issues” (Egan 1999, 496; Henneberg 2004, 229). Therefore, the situation is dependent upon the perception of the images and the rhetoric, rather than the substance. An example of a definition that is used within political marketing is provided by Wring (1997, 653), who conceives it as “the party or candidate’s use of opinion research and environmental analysis to produce and promote a competitive offering which will help realise organisational aims and satisfy groups of electors in exchange for their votes.” The hook for the communicator is to create something that is attention grabbing, and then draws the audience in to a relationship with the messenger. From an organisational perspective, with the focus being on the audience where the central significance of intellectual capital being a major asset is stressed on a continuous basis, means that a strong organisation should be a decentralised one that is in close proximity to the market. In Downloaded by [Uppsala universitetsbibliotek] at 22:58 16 February 2016 doing so, this brings the audience closer to the ‘production process’ and shall determine the success or otherwise, of the communication (in meeting organisational objectives) (Johansen 2005, 91). In some regards, political marketing is an attempt to project belief to the voting public in the politician’s or political party’s ability to govern (by creating the image of competence and trustworthiness – highlighting intangible assets), something that is emotive in nature and not a clear cut policy platform, but there is a need to remove the perception of risk among sceptical 4 target audiences’ (O’Shaughnessy 2001, 1048; Butler and Collins 1994, 20). Certain issues come to the fore during periods of political tension (such as during elections), which is tailored to the public’s perception in its value symbolism (O’Shaughnessy 2001, 1050; Lock and Harris 1996, 17). One of the mechanisms that are used to highlight key issues is language. However, whilst language is a good tool for directing perception it simultaneously limits it (O’Shaughnessy 2001, 1056) by narrowing the perceived choices in options and opinions. Indeed, politicians and political parties attempt to ‘brand’ policies and ideas, then they try to create barriers in order to ‘own’ certain issues (Butler and Collins 1994, 22). This is a means to try and lever the perception of political product differentiation in order to increase the attractiveness and distinctiveness of the political brand to the electorate.
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