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Political Marketing and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Primary Elections

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Political Marketing and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Primary Elections Department of Business Administration Title: Political Marketing and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Primary Elections Author: Veronica Johansson 15 credits Thesis Study programme in Master of Science in Marketing Management 1 Title Political Marketing and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Primary Elections Level Final Thesis for Master of Business Administration in Marketing Management Adress University of Gävle Department of Business Administration 801 76 Gävle Sweden Telephone (+46) 26 64 85 00 Telefax (+46) 26 64 85 89 Web site http://www.hig.se Author Veronica Johansson Supervisor Maria Fregidou-Malama, Ph.D. Date 2010 - January Abstract Aim: Over the years, marketing has become a more and more important tool in politics in general. In order to campaign successfully – and become the President-elect - in the U.S. Presidential Election, marketing is indispensable. This lead to enormous amounts of money spent on marketing. The aim of this research is to contribute to existing knowledge in the field of political marketing through the analysis of how marketing is done throughout a political campaign. The 2008 U.S. Presidential Primary Elections, together with a few key candidates have served as the empirical example of this investigation. Four research questions have been asked; what marketing strategies are of decisive outcome in the primary season of the 2008 political campaigning, how is political marketing differentiated depending on the candidate and the demographics of the voter, and finally where does the money come from to fund this gigantic political industry. Method: The exploratory method and case study as well as the qualitative research method have been used in this work. Internet has been an important tool in the search for, and collection of data. Sources used have been scientific articles, other relevant literature, home pages, online newspapers, TV, etc. The questions have been researched in detail and several main conclusions have been drawn from a marketing perspective. Correlations with theory have also been made. Result & Conclusion: In the primary season, the product the candidates have been selling is change. The Obama campaign successfully coined and later implemented this product into a grassroots movement that involved bottom-up branding of the candidate. This large base allowed 2 for a different marketing strategy that implemented earlier and better organization in the caucus voting primary states resulting in an untouchable lead for the Obama campaign. The successful utilization of the Internet and social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube led to enormous support, not least among the important group of young (first time) voters. It also served as the main base for funding throughout both the primary and the presidential season, effectively outspending the Clinton, and later, the McCain campaigns. This study has shown that there are differences in marketing when it comes to different presidential candidates even within the same party. Marketing activities and efforts also look different for different marketing groups. Suggestions for future research: This study was limited to the primary season; it would have been interesting to include the whole U.S. Presidential campaigning process from start to finish. In future research projects, it would also be interesting to see comparisons between political marketing in the U.S. and political marketing elsewhere, in Europe for example. Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes to increased knowledge when it comes to understanding the role of social media, grassroots movement, and bottom-up branding as a political marketing strategy. It also contributes to increased knowledge about political marketing in general. Furthermore, it shows the importance of marketing - and money - in American politics. Political parties as well as individual candidates may also find the results of this research useful for future campaigning. Keywords Political marketing, marketing, presidential election, primary election, strategy, grassroots movement, social networking. © Veronica Johansson 2010. All rights reserved. 3 Table of contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................2 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 8 1.1. Purpose/Aim .................................................................................................................. 10 1.2. Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 10 1.3. Limitations .................................................................................................................... 10 2. THEORETICAL DISCUSSION ..................................................................... 11 2.1. Marketing in General .................................................................................................... 11 2.2. Marketing in Politics or Political Marketing ................................................................. 12 2.2.1. Definition of Political Marketing ........................................................................... 16 2.2.2. “The ABC’s of Marketing” .................................................................................... 18 2.2.2.1. Similarities & Differences between the Markets ............................................ 18 2.2.2.2. Same Principles ............................................................................................... 19 2.2.2.3. The Selling of a ‘Product’ ............................................................................... 20 2.2.2.4. The Voter as a Consumer ................................................................................ 20 2.2.2.5. The Politician’s Unique Service Obligations .................................................. 21 2.2.2.6. The Exchange Process ..................................................................................... 21 2.2.2.7. Marketing Research ......................................................................................... 22 2.2.2.8. Focus Groups ................................................................................................... 23 2.2.2.9. Needs & Wants ................................................................................................ 25 2.2.2.10. Market Segmentation & Targeting ................................................................ 25 2.2.2.11. Positioning ..................................................................................................... 25 2.2.2.12. Importance of Ideology ................................................................................. 26 2.2.2.13. Continuous “Product Development” ............................................................. 26 2.2.3. The Political Marketing Process & Planning ......................................................... 27 2.2.3.1. The Political Marketing Process & the “4P’s” ................................................ 27 2.2.3.2. The Political Marketing Planning Process ...................................................... 30 2.2.4. Political Marketing Guidelines ............................................................................... 33 2.2.5. A Political Marketing Model – The MOP-SOP-POP Model ................................. 35 2.2.6. Weaknesses & Criticisms of Political Marketing .................................................. 41 2.3 Summary & Reflections ................................................................................................. 47 3. DATA COLLECTION .................................................................................... 51 3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................................. 51 3.2 Research Method ............................................................................................................ 51 3.3 Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 52 3.4 Reliability & Validity ..................................................................................................... 53 3.5 The Process of Data Collection ...................................................................................... 54 4 4. EMPIRICAL STUDY ..................................................................................... 56 4.1. Marketing Strategies of Decisive Outcome .................................................................. 56 4.1.1. The Message ........................................................................................................... 56 4.1.2. Grassroots Movement ............................................................................................ 56 4.1.3. Bottom-up instead of Top-down ............................................................................ 57 4.1.4. Barack Obama’s Goldmine .................................................................................... 58 4.1.5. The Power of Young Voters ................................................................................... 61 4.1.6. The Internet Era of Politics .................................................................................... 62 4.2. Marketing Differentiation ............................................................................................. 63 4.2.1. Caucus Focus .........................................................................................................
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