Marketing Through a Political Glass. Polish Experiences

POLISH POLITICAL SCIENCE VOL XXXVI 2007 PL ISSN 0208-7375

MARKETING THROUGH A POLITICAL GLASS. POLISH EXPERIENCES

by Marek Jeziński

INTRODUCTION

In this paper, the issues concerning the relationship between political marketing and commercial marketing are presented. !e main concern of the study is the usage of the commercial economic marketing categories in the political domain. As a result, phenomena coming from the economic "eld as market; a customer, pro"t, product brand, or advertising are presented as the elements of the marketing techniques employed in the public game played in the speci"c market of politics. Political marketing should be perceived as a sphere of the special exchange between the sender of information or a product (mainly it is related to the political parties and their candidates for the public o#ces) and the receiver (that is, a voter who supports or does not a political organisation), it penetrates the "elds of interdisciplinary character, that embrace such phenomena as sociology, anthropology, economy, mass communication, linguistics, or socio-linguistics. As a part of the political science it crosses the borders of the sphere, and the techniques from the enumerated "elds are used in the political marketing analyses: political marketing is a phenomenon of interdisciplinary character from its origin. Political marketing takes a speci"c place in the political system of the countries that underwent (or still undergo social, economic and "rst of all political transformation a$er the collapse of the communist system. Such countries as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary had to adapt to the Western democratic standards. !e usage of political marketing in the campaigns makes these systems more mature according to the Western stan- Marketing through a political glass. Polish experiences 199 dards, and more accepted by the USA and the EU countries. In the paper the examples of the political marketing solutions in Poland are delivered. Current Polish system is based on polyarchic oriented formal regulations and political marketing strategies are used permanently in the campaigns. In the study, political marketing is de!ned as a part of social communication process on one hand, and on the other as the behavioural system based on the free market regulations. "e phenomenon is rooted in the commercial goods promotion, and its main goal is to attract the new electors and keeping the hitherto convinced ones. "e maximalisation of political pro!t is perceived as a certain exchange in which the electors and politicians take part. Second ones try to sell their programme or ideology as they try to attract the voters who are ready to support them in the periodical elections. Attracting the voter, as an element of the political communication process, starts the sender of information , namely, a candidate, a party or other group of people related to politics witch whose aim is to get or keep the political power, such sender presents her or his political o!er , that embraces such elements as image, ideology, public relations sphere, advertising, promotion, publicity, sponsoring and distribution, to the receiver , who receives, decodes information and displays the attitude towards it and !nally presents speci!c political disposition. Such an attitude, however, is not always convergent with the intentions of the sender. "e support in the elections depends on various factors, among which both political marketing and electoral advertising take signi!cant place 1. Initially the main di#erence between political and commercial marketing should be pointed. If one takes the results of the marketing activity in those !elds into account, it is observable that the same results or e#ects (the process of selling ended up by the success: on one hand the washing powder, and on the other, a political candidate or a party) is a result that stems from di#erent bases that are rooted in the structure and genre speci!cs of a product itself. In commercial marketing the main root of every activity is the broadly understood market. A receiver is “bombed” by marketing activity that is supposed to bring the evident result: a person is supposed to undertake a particular decision and should spend her or his money on an adver- tised product. "e issue of the consumer’s need origin (is it of natural character or is it arti!cially created for marketing reasons by the goods producers or market regulations) is of secondary character. Politics, in turn, is based on symbolical activity driven by emotions. Its conditions are not always subjugated to the main prin- ciple, namely, a need perceived as a stimulus that brings about certain predicable reaction as it is in case of ful!lling the consumer needs. "e participation in social

1 For further study on political marketing see, e.g. Albouy: 1994; Diamond, Bates: Bates: 1992; Edelman: 1988; Gourevitch: 1998; Hart: 2000; Jamieson: 1996; Lees-Marshment: 2001. 200 Marek JEZIŃSKI life and taking part in rituals satisfy mainly the needs of psychological character. !erefore, it should be assumed that politics is driven by di"erent conditions as it is in case of consumer goods market. To simplify the problem, the latter satis#es the needs of biological and natural character [see in e.g.: Maslow 1986: 151]. Political advertising, public relations, publicity and other methods of in$uencing the client lead the consumer-elector to realise a certain psychological imperative that should bring about a particular result, namely, taking part in community life. Simultaneously, by satisfying this demand a typical human need of social acceptance, especially by the groups of reference for a particular person is satiated also. !e di"erence pointed above is of genetic character and seems to have further consequences in perceiving both phenomena holistically. Both are recognised as speci#c structural coherent phenomena of dynamic character. !e dynamics stems mainly from the institutional and political context and on the other hand from culture in which the marketing strategies are implemented. Both phenomena concentrate the activities on an individual as a primary receiver of every activity of marketing character. Generally, individuals are supposed to invest their money in buying a product, or their political emotions in supporting a certain political party or a candidate. Symbolical stigma attached to a product or to a public person or organisation is supposed to persuade the consumers or the electors that this particular o"er is the most convincible one for them and by using that given proposition their needs are supposed to be satis#ed for a long time or at least their situation is going to be observably improved.

MARKETING AS A POLITICAL PHENOMENON

!e notion “marketing” is of an economic origin and it is related to the contemporary idea of selling the consumer goods. Consequently, behind all the activities undertaken in the sphere of marketing lies the natural desire to multiply the pro#ts of a particular economic producer by reaching and satis#ng the needs of the vast population as possible by selling the products. !is activity is occasionally accompanied by the attempts to discredit the competitors. !e de#nitions of marketing underline various aspects of the marketing strategies, since they underline the problems related to the selling methods, competitiveness, costs of a product or selling strategies. Contemporary marketing orientation is related mainly to the needs of a client, who is perceived as the initial and last element of the marketing chain. Such an initial step, that is, market research, market segmentation, SWOT analysis and recognising the real or arti#cially created consumer needs, is mainly identi#ed with the process of buying a particular product. Moreover, the marketing strategy should Marketing through a political glass. Polish experiences 201 bring about the situation in which a customer – a!er the particular or similar need arises again – is ready to buy the same product, since the user is convinced about the brand quality of the used and trusted o"er, since the latter should provide the feeling of stability, safety and predictability. In the marketing vision of politics the ideas taken from the marketing of the consumer goods are transferred into the political categories and applied to the analyses of the political game. Consequently, the market is treated as the whole body of politics relating to the public activity rooted in the run for power game, a product is understood as a political party, an individual or general ideas, a #rm penetrating the market is recognised as a political organisation, transaction is identi#ed with the elections, and the pro#t is perceived as the political power. $e relationships among those elements of marketing domain, are of dynamic nature. $e latter one is characterised by the high level of unpredictability which is one of the main distinctive features of market itself. Such tendency to unpredictability, however, should not be identi#ed with the lack of institutionalisation, structural uncertainty or with the amorphous character of marketing as a whole. From this perspective, the high level of unpredictability should be recognised as the tendency towards creativity and the adaptative disposition of a particular actor, especially in the context of changing political conditions. Undoubt- edly, amorphous character, the lack of institutionalisation and uncertainty of market- oriented processes are the factors that counteract the stagnation and stabilisation of the market as a sphere ruled by relatively clear rules accepted by all (or almost all) actors taking part in the market-game. $ose rules are acceptable because the principles of acting are predictable to a greater or lesser degree. $e above remarks concerning the problems of market in the economic sense in the #rst place are applied to the political domain also. $e public forum of a particular society is shaped in the form of a speci#c market sphere, which is supposed to give the actors creating and promoting their programme, ideas, image, etc ., a place where they can perform their activity in relatively safe way. $e formal regulations (e.g. the law restrictions) that impose a certain level of formalisation and institutionalisation to the political movements or actors (as is in the case of the law acts concerning the activity of political parties) provide them stable and dependable certainty that on the basis of the law all the actors and organisations are treated equally and are subjugated to the same law rules during their public activity. Repeatability, in turn, stands for the deep institutionalisation of the political system: the periodical political rituals (in democratic systems one should point at the free elections in the #rst place), in which public actors can take part, determine the sphere of rivalry among the parties and other organisations. $ese groups have the right to stand in the elections when they are convinced that their ideas or programme are ready to be positively recognised and trusted by a certain group of people or they act for the 202 Marek JEZIŃSKI purpose of gaining decent pro!ts de!ned by such actors 2. "e reward in this competitive game is related to widely understood gaining or keeping the power, that is the possibility of substantial in#uence the political decisions undertaken on the certain level of organisational hierarchy. Moreover, regardless of social support gained in the elections, the parties enjoy the right to take part in the next elections. Creativity and tendency to adaptat to the changing system conditions, perform important role in the political sphere. "ey are the factors that make politics more vivid, colourful, attractive, and surprising to the electors, especially to those, who consciously interpret the political game. "e implementation of the new patterns of political behaviour (mainly electoral behaviour), creative reproduction and reactiva- tion of the patterns hitherto existing in a particular society, make the politics attractive as a part of broadly understood popular culture. Taking advantage of the experiences that come from the latter phenomena is an usual process in contemporary politics. "e discourse as such becomes a kind of postmodern patchwork, identi!ed with the gathering of attractive formulas and ideas “dressed” up in an attractive form. Moreover, they are worked out as the means applied by political marketing. From this perspective, the speci!c interlace of the form and the substance, the unconstrained #ow of ideas, and the creative usage of the hitherto existing ideas are not identical with impulsively or unrestrainedly practising politics, as the activity intuitively adjusted to the current political game. It should be labelled as the one of the electoral strategies cumulating experiences of political marketing with relation to the recycling of tradition processes 3. Although one cannot predict if the described model will prevail in the political marketing domain in the !rst half of the twenty !rst century, the tendency of applying the political marketing strategies and means manifested by the Polish political parties seem to be an irreversible process, and the

2 It should be pointed at the example of the candidates who do stand for the general elections, although social support they enjoy is of survey bias character. "ey stand in the run in order not to win in the game or to gain the power and in#uence but to promote their ideas, their name, organisation or a !rm they own. "is category of candidates could be exempli!ed by such “exotic folk-like” politicians who take part in the presidential elections in Poland as Leszek Bubel, Stanisław Koźluk, Bogdan Pawłowski, and Andrzej Lepper in 1995, Dariusz Grabowski, Piotr Ikonowicz, or Jan Łopuszański, in 2000, or Leszek Bubel, Jan Pyszko, Henryka Bochniarz, and Liwiusz Ilasz in 2005. 3 "e new image of the British Labour Party (or New Labour) under the leadership of Tony Blair should be treated as an epitome of the tendency. Traditional ideas of social- democratic movement and socialism were combined with the Right wing and Centrist ideas. Such ideological patchwork, the leader (that should be labelled as distinct, suggestive and prevailing over the party), supported by the e&ective work of professional spin doctors and intensive usage of political marketing consist the factors that backed the Labour Party success in the second half of the nineties. Marketing through a political glass. Polish experiences 203 majority of the main parties in Poland will join the West oriented political marketing stream of practising the public activity. Such an attitude, based on modern technologies and applying the new tendencies in real political practise is not convergent with cutting o! the traditional solutions in the public sphere or leaving behind the hitherto existing techniques used by the parties in order to in"uence the electors. It is rather the process of a speci#c inclusion of the new means that were employed in di!erent political systems, or the new ideas of gaining the attention of a political customer on the basis of marketing oriented strategies. Moreover, it is the manifestation of the incorporation of modern solution applied in the advanced democracies into a particular society and the political culture model prevailing in it, especially in the case of the new, post-communist democracies in the Central Europe. Taking the Polish case into consideration, it should be noticed that political marketing is a relatively new phenomenon, similarly to unrestricted democratic elections. It should be perceived also as the indicator of the level of Polish society modernisation and the e!ect of the acculturation processes that accompany the systemic transformation. Taking the advantage of the foreign solutions (mainly of those coming from the United States) and their long-term usage are treated as a kind of certain desirable standard in politics, which Polish organisations aim at. Such standards embrace in the #rst place the disposition towards the implementation of the long-term carefully planned strategies in the elections. Moreover, the strategies rely more and more on special trainings provided by political spin doctors and on hard work on the image of a party or a candidate, managing the symbolic pro#le and shaping its social reception. $e example of the Akcja Wyborcza “Solidarność” coalition (“Solidarity” Electoral Action; AW“S”) seems to prove the above problem. AW“S” won the parliamentary elections in 1997 (it defeated the Democratic Le' Alliance; Sojusz Lewicy Demokra- tycznej – SLD, who led the governing coalition during the 1993–1997 parliamentary terms of o*ce) and local-government elections in 1998, however, they did not man- age to cumulate and use e!ectively the political capital of the 1997/1998 victories. $eir candidate was defeated in the presidential elections of 2000 (Marian Krzak- lewski) and the coalition disintegrated shortly before the parliamentary elections of 2001 (as a result of the ine!ective governing style and personal quarrels among the leaders) and as a result it did not enter the Parliament. Comparing their campaign with the one of SLD or the Citizens Platform (Platforma Obywatelska – PO) it was non vivid, non colourful, there were some general mistakes made, as far as de#ning main campaign issues or target group research are concerned. Two aforementioned parties, namely PO and SLD, were ready to apply the modern techniques of political marketing to their campaigns to create positive image of their candidates and the 204 Marek JEZIŃSKI parties as a whole, as if they were modern, vivid, experienced, responsible and e!ective in the political "eld. Furthermore, in the 2001 campaign the parties drawn carefully the line between the past and the present, using the advantages of their ideology and the political roots for shaping the present political programmes and indicating the future changes that should be undertaken in Poland in the years to come. As it was observed, such categories as “product”, “price”, “promotion”, and “place”, known from the marketing MIX 4P model and the ones known from 4C model, namely, “customer value”, “cost”, “convenience” and “communication” have their equivalents in the political sphere. Similarly, main questions concerning the economic model of marketing, which are the issues: where one buys a product, what is the purpose of buying, how one buys, who pays and how one pays, are perceived through the political perspective. #e act of “buying” should be identi"ed with the support that an elector gives a particular party. Such buying, however, takes a special form, since at the electoral ballot-box one buys not material goods but the pro"t of an expected and future character. #e problem if such support will be transformed into real political goals is of secondary character. A speci"c political investment, that one undertakes at the ballot-box, should be viewed as a transaction distributed and delayed in time, as it is in the case of four year terms of o$ce of the political institutions (the Parliament, local government) in Poland. Moreover, one cannot be sure about the "nal result of such transaction (that is identi"ed with ful"lling the electoral promises) and possible disappointment about the public service and this could result in withdrawal of the electoral support during the subsequent campaign. Regardless of the theoretical approach, the phenomenon of professionalisation of the activities in both political and electoral market should be viewed as a process of constant and permanent adaptation of the ruling class aimed at meeting the new conditions imposed by the changes of the political sphere. Political environment in which such a change takes place should be understood in a very broad manner, as a phenomenon embracing the actors of the political game, the electorate, and institutional and formal solutions characteristic for a particular political system. From this perspective one is confronted with two general processes that are fundamental for politics as social activity. On one hand the electorate faces the problem of adaptation of broadly understood politics to changing technological conditions and to the context in which public activity is performed. New technologies induce certain innovations in the functioning of political institutions. Moreover, technology in%u- ences the new law and formal solutions related to the processes of technologisation in the new spheres of citizens, everyday life. On the other, one observes the phenomenon of changing the men’s lifestyle, induced by new technologies. Among such changes the new forms of communication (digital and computer revolution, new telephony), the new forms of leisure time and changes in the traditional areas of Marketing through a political glass. Polish experiences 205 human’s activity as the disposition towards natural environment, eating habits, health and social policies, etc . are considered. !e problem is supposed to be applied to the political sphere, since the political organisations should meet the new conditions and try to be active in new environment, respecting current rules and regulations. Consequently, the politicians try to adapt to the changed conditions in order to gain the electoral support more e"ective. !e electors, in turn, generate new needs and they demand the satisfaction of such needs in a contemporary and modern manner. !erefore, the need of creativity in politics and the innovative adjustment of political broadcast to the new conditions to meet the needs of contemporary political receiver are the features widely shared by the political class. !e emergence of the group of professional advisers who work with the political parties and candidates (the political spin doctors) is characteristic for last three decades of the twentieth century. Generally, political advisers as a certain group always accompany the groups of political decision-makers and their function is as old as politics and the competition for power. However, the period of last three decades brought about the separation of advisers-experts group on the scale not met before. More importantly, such advisers treat their duties in making a living terms, they earn money from politics and relatively o#en do not identify themselves ideo- logically with the candidates or the parties. !e tendency towards taking the advantage of the spin doctors advices increased particularly in the most developed democracies of the West, namely, in the United States of America and Europe (France, Great Britain, Germany). It seems that the saturation of the market with the services of image creators and political advisers is the greatest in these countries. According to Ziemowit Pietraś [1998: 404], there were almost 35 000 of such “political technocrats” managing the electoral campaigns in the US in the nineties of the twentieth century. As Frank Esser, Carsten Reinemann and David Fan [2000: 211] observe the level of dependency of the electoral strategies of the British Labour Party in the 1997 general elections to the House of Commons and German SPD in 1998 elections to the Bundestag on professional marketing advisers was so high that the elections could be labelled as the spin doctor elections . !e goals ful%lled by the groups of professional advisers are labelled by Philippe J. Maarek [1995: 187–199] as: e"ective promotional activity and organisation of public relations sphere, managing various types of the resources in the campaign, control over the law and administrative campaign aspects, organizational activity providing e"ective run of the electoral activity (coordination of the electoral meet- ings, public performances, etc .) 4.

4 It should be pointed at the opposite phenomenon. As Nicholas O’shaughnes O’shaughnessysy [1990] points, the political market is saturated with the electoral advisers, image makers, etc . and 206 Marek JEZIŃSKI

e peaceful alternation of political power, as one of the distinctive features of the democratic system (democracy as competition), is the "rst aspect of the discussed problem. e second one is related to periodical support for a particular ideology as a speci"c fashion in politics. e phenomenon seems to be observable best in the case of the political movements of extreme character. e Right wing nationalism, anar- chism, communism, radical le# or other forms of extreme ideologies gain social support usually in the times of crises or, paradoxically, in the span of political stagnation as a reaction for static way of performing politics. ey also come into existence as a result of a certain political fashion in the international area. e mass media turmoil accompanying to the "rst term of voting for presidential seat in France in 2002 is the manifestation of the problem. Jean-Marie Le Pen was the symbolical winner of electoral spectacle, although he did not achieve presidential success. Simi- larly, one faced the same situation (however, on the smaller scale) in Poland in 2001 parliamentary elections, when the Right-wing nationalist Liga Polskich Rodzin (Pol- ish Families League, LPR) supported by the Catholic fundamentalist radio station Radio Maryja (Virgin Mary Radio Station) and the commander-like party “Samoo- brona” Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej (“Self-defence” of the Polish Republic) led by the authoritarian leader Andrzej Lepper entered the Parliament. e parties seem to be the contradiction of the democratic ways of practising political activity. Both instances, the French and Polish, indicate that social phobias, based on the prejudices and ste- reotypes, when skilfully fanned, could be transformed into the electoral success in proper circumstances. Following the results of the public opinion polls, it is observable that waves of political support for ideologies are usually of sine/con-sine character, with smaller or greater deviations re$ecting the level of social trust for a particular ideological option or a party. e support of the electors is not given once and forever, and the rule is remembered by the parties leaders employing the numerous image makers applying marketing strategies to promote a particular political force.

POLITICAL BRAND

e issues of the product brand, similarly to the problems of choice or the usage of a product are embraced by the sphere of psychological dependencies. In the study, broad psychological implications that accompany the choice, planning, spin doctors seek for proper candidates to advise and to create their image. Knowing the political demand in a particular society advisers try to create an image of a candidate that will meet such social demand. In this vision of politics a politician is perceived as a kind of a puppet invented, created, and managed by the spin doctors. Marketing through a political glass. Polish experiences 207 decision-making practices and foreseeing the consequences that follow such a decision should be underlined. !e phenomena are related to the political decision making processes as a particular elector regards, especially if one considers peri- odically led elections in which a person takes part (as an elector or as a candidate). !erefore, one chooses and votes for individuals or parties that are familiar, known or experienced that provide an elector a feeling of being rooted in the system as a whole and deliver a sense of predictability desired by almost every voter. !ese aspects make a candidate a proper representative of a special political milieux , a person shaping her or his image as the one foreseeing the future on the basis of long-term problems solution. In other words, a politician is supposed to be perceived as an individual that guarantees the realisation of the electoral promises. Conse- quently, such a candidate gives political satisfaction to her or his political customers. !e political brand trusted in the past is supposed to provide a particular consumer experiences to its customers, since a candidate is presented in a proper way during the campaign (distribution and packaging of a product). Moreover, by the usage of a particular brand, a politician provides realistic and trustable programme (warranty, design, and pricing of a product), and acts as a representative of a particular group of people in the public o"ces (identi#ed with a pro#t for a customer). !e electoral success reinforces the brand that becomes a special trade mark or an institution that possess real chance to stand and win in the next elections. As it stems from the above, brand in politics is identi#ed in the #rst place with a famous, well-known name of a leader or a public person or a name of a party. A man-institution, giving her or his name marks the political o$er, acting on her or his own behalf or on behalf of the organisation supported by her or him. !e instance of Lech Wałęsa is an interesting con#rmation of the above phenomenon. Wałęsa in the eighties was a kind of a charismatic leader, chimerical but e$ective commander, a man-symbol for the whole “Solidarity” movement that was #ghting for the independence of Poland and taking o$ the communist regime. !e brand “Lech Wałęsa” was used to the e$ective promotion of the “Solidarity” part of the Parliament in 1989 5: the candidates were photographed with the opposition leader as if he stigmatised his people. One faced similar situation in 1990 and 1995 when

5 As a result of the Round Table agreements the semi-free elections was called onon July, 6th of 1989 in which 67% of the seats in the Sejm (the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament) was ascribed to the communist party ruling in Poland and its allies, while 33% of the seats were under free political competition. !e “Solidarity” team led by Wałęsa won all 33% in the lower chamber and the communists were forced to seek for the compromise with the democratic opposition a'er the elections. As a result of the elections social, political and economic transformation from the authoritarian regime (identi#ed with the communist party) to democracy and free market economy begun in Poland. 208 Marek JEZIŃSKI the “Wałęsa” brand was positively recognised in Polish society and gave the “Solidar- ity” leader the presidential seat in 1990 and the second place in the presidential run of 1995 (he was defeated by the post-communist candidate Aleksander Kwaśniewski). #e name of a person-institution who achieved undisputable success in the political arena acted as a synonym for good-luck: Wałęsa was a symbolic personalisation of a successful political brand. #e instance of Wałęsa indicates also that the notion of the brand in the case of politics is not given once and forever and in the particular circumstances it could be devaluated easily. #e presidential elections of 2000 displayed clearly that the social demand for “Wałęsa” brand dried for good in Polish society, regardless of the his- torical advantages of the $rst leader of “Solidarity” social movement. In the elections Wałęsa was one of numerous candidates in the presidential run, and he enjoyed no real organisational support (his party Christian Democracy of the #ird Polish Republic was weak and non-visible in the campaign). As a result he gained less than 2% of social support. Similarly, the problem faced by the Freedom Union party (Unia Wolności, UW) instantiate the point. UW, including the former incarnations of the party, namely, Ruch Obywatelski – Akcja Demokratyczna (Citizens Movement – Dem- ocratic Action) and Unia Demokratyczna (Democratic Union), led by Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the $rst non communist Prime Minister a&er the break with communism, had become a successful brand in marketing sense during ten years of Polish political, social and economic transformation. Moreover, it seemed to be an indispensable part of the Polish party system. #e crisis over the leadership inside the organisation, the break of the party elite and the emergence of the Citizens Platform party (which pointed at almost the same groups of the voters), the unsuccessful governmental coalition with the “Solidarity” Electoral Action during the 1997-2001 terms of o'ce of the Parliament, and marketing mistakes during the Parliamentary campaign of 2001 made the “UW” brand disappointing for numerous voters and the organisation did not enter the Parliament in 2001. In the campaign of 2005 the party changed its name into Democratic Party – democrats.pl (Partia Demokratyczna – demokraci.pl) mainly to be attractive (especially for the young electors) and to underline its prospec- tive future-looking character. #ese political marketing moves did not gain the success back to the moevement: democrats.pl again did not enter the Parliament.

POLITICAL ADVERTISING AND POLITICAL PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

Political practice indicates that ful$lling the role of politician, similarly to the process of communication between the political game actors (the voters and the politicians), is a function of both current political practice and political culture Marketing through a political glass. Polish experiences 209 prevailing in a given system. Both factors in!uence the marketing strategies applied by the political organisations in the process of social support gaining. Simultaneously, they are shaped by the strategies chosen by the parties in a considerable degree. Looking from this perspective, one observes a certain feedback which seems to be one of the factors that determine the social perception of politics at the new millen- nium in Poland. Social reception of the political game is related to its presence in the mass media in the "rst place. #e latter apply “TV attractiveness” criterion to all the news and usually turn towards those political actors that are ready to sell their image e$ectively to the media. Consequently, parties or candidates who present themselves good on the TV screen win in the “media attractiveness” competition. More importantly, it should be pointed that they present themselves attractively mainly because of the marketing techniques and strategies used in their long-term political activities. Such strategies usually are based on recognised political needs existing on the electoral market. #e electors, in turn, are evidently in!uenced by the media and this feature of a political system indicates clearly that the real chances for gaining the acceptance of the electors wait for those politicians who sell her or his appealing image to the voters as a result of the political activities undertaken in the sphere of marketing. #e image of a candidate, mainly her or his media oriented image, worked out in the processes of political communication, is adjusted to the marketing needs of the electorate. More importantly, it is one of the most signi"cant factors in the shaping of the advertising strategies used by the public actors if they consider the character of the mass media. #e information speed is always much to high for a viewer to decode all the aspects of the broadcast: moving pictures, backgrounds, voices, commentaries and subtitles, used usually simultaneously in the TV broadcast, do not allow an individual to concentrate on every aspect of such transmission. Consequently, the elector estimates only the visual code in the "rst place, and concentrates on the visual aspect of the programme, and furthermore, she or he decodes the image putting the voice sphere (the verbal aspect of a political utterance) aside. #erefore, the political organisations undertake the e$orts in order to place and root a candidate or a party in social perception. #is process is usually achieved by the e$orts to place a public person in the media broadcasts. Such elements as TV debates, news programmes, public discussions or non-typical behaviour in the public arena are treated as the part of the combat for public presence undertaken in order to attract the electorate. #e main problem is to form and maintain the image of a politician as a popular, positively received, well-known and politically e%cient person. #e list of the adjectives that describe such e$ective political image selling to the media is long and the crucial character in the process of shaping the image is based mainly on the induction of the positive associations with a public person and her or his political activity. 210 Marek JEZIŃSKI

Forming the image of a politician as a marketing product should be identi!ed not only with advertising but also with all the indicated activities related to public relations sphere. As Ries and Ries [2004] indicate, this particular domain is supposed to play more and more important role in the contemporary promotional strategies. "e diminishing role of advertising in general is accompanied by the increasing role of public relations which is characterised by innovativeness, creativity, linear character and techniques of easy adaptation to changing aspects of the market. More importantly, the professional management of public relations sphere is less expensive than traditionally understood advertising in the !rst place [Ries, Ries 2004: 261–262]. "e case of image creation of Andrzej Olechowski, a centrist candidate for the presidential seat in Poland in 2000, instantiate the point 6. Generally, the politician was positively associated by the people who disposed an interest in the public sphere: his diplomatic career (in the UN and in the foreign a#airs o$ce) and ministerial service during the !rst years of political and social transformation a%er the fall of communism in Poland were associated a$rmatively by relatively small part of the electors. Positive programme, colourful but sedate strategy, deliberative avoidance of the negative campaign elements (although this factor was used or even abused by other candidates), careful public relations strategies, consistent creation of political image as an e#ective, good-looking, responsible and wealthy person allowed Olechowski to gain evident electoral success, regardless of the fact that he had no de!nite political background. A few months a%er the presidential elections during the parliamentary campaign, people who voted for him formed a new political organisation (Platforma Obywatelska) under his leadership which ful!lled a marketing process based on popularity (maintained skilfully also a%er the presidential run) of Olechowski among Poles. In Polish politics the Product Life Cycle category, in turn, is instantiated by the case of Electoral Action “Solidarity”. Applying marketing terminology it could be indicated that idea conceptualisation, and shaping a new product took place during the partition of the Polish Right a%er the parliamentary elections of 1993 and the presidential contest of 1995. "e period brought about such e#orts undertaken in order to overcome the crisis as the following political initiatives: Secretary of the Right-wing Groups (Sekretariat Ugrupowań Prawicowych), St. Catherine Convent (Konwent św. Katarzyny), the November 11 th Agreement (Porozumienie 11 Listo-

6 Andrzej Olechowski was situtated in the Center as a third candidate between Marian Krzaklewski on the Right and Aleksander Kwaśniewski on the Le%. Although the campaign was set to confront Right wing politician with the post-communist one (as a result of a “natural” political cleavage in Polish society), Olechowski, who was supported mainly by minor political organisations, gained support greater than Krzaklewski. "e fact was unex- pected by political analytics and by the electors. Marketing through a political glass. Polish experiences 211 pada), or the Alliance for Poland (Przymierze dla Polski). All the e!orts failed, and this span of time served as a stage of gaining the experiences, researching the market and seeking for the receivers of a new brand. It also served as a speci"c ideological and electoral basis for marketing strategies related to implementation of a new political phenomenon called AW“S”. #e stages of implementation and the rise of a product are identi"ed with the formal introduction of a coalition to a political market (July of 1996), followed by the start of an electoral campaign supported by the marketing strategies. #e crucial role in the process of consolidation of the Pol- ish Right in the mid-nineties of the twentieth century was the constitutional referendum campaign (the Spring of 1997) planned shortly before the parliamentary competition (the Autumn of 1997). Although the governmental project of the Con- stitution (outlined by the post-communists of Democratic Le$ Alliance) was accepted by majority of Poles in the referendum, the stage allowed the politicians of AW“S” to rede"ne the goals and to estimate their own political power and the power of the main rival from the Le$ (the post-communists). Moreover, this period allowed also to carefully plan and implement necessary decisions concerning the marketing strategies that were supposed to be used in the parliamentary campaign. #e stage of product maturity is identi"ed with the 1997-2000 period when the AW“S” gov- erned the country together with the Freedom Union under the formal leadership of the Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek. It should be remembered that the real centre of power within the AW“S” was in Marian Krzaklewski’s hands (he was the President of the “Solidarity” trade union). Krzaklewski’s decision to stand for the presidential elections in 2000 and the way it was decided made further splits on the Right wing of the electoral spectrum. #e candidate was accused of, "rstly, the rejection of pre-elections idea, and secondly, of avoidance the consultations among the AW“S” elite concerning the one candidate of the Right as a whole. #e picture should be supplemented by the poor results in the public opinion polls as regards the Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek’s popularity, the negative electorate of Krzaklewski himself (he was unpopular among Poles mainly because of the way he in%uenced the government, he was said to keep the “control over the driving wheel from the back seat”), and the high level of trust which was enjoyed both by Aleksander Kwaśniewski, the President in o*ce then, and by SLD as the le$ist party. Moreover, the third serious candidate Andrzej Olechowski joined the leading two (Kwaśniewski and Krzaklewski) and conducted the professionally planned and managed campaign. All the enumerated factors interfered during the campaign and doomed Krzaklewski to failure, although his campaign was relatively professionally organised and he tried to convince his supporters that he was able to "nish the run in the second place to get to the second round of voting. In fact, he was third with 15.57% of the votes (less than he expected). #is calamity coincided 212 Marek JEZIŃSKI with the disintegration inside the AW“S” that was manifested by the creation of the new political centrist party PO by the numerous leaders of the AW“S” coalition (for instance, Maciej Płażyński and Jan Maria Rokita) together with Olechowski and Donald Tusk of Freedom Union (UW). All the facts should be named as the decrease of AW“S” in its life cycle, since the party did not enter the parliament in 2001 a#er non professional campaign. $e lack of success in the parliamentary elections (a#er four years of governance) meant the political death of the party (they did not improved their election results in the local government elections of 2002), and can be labelled as the %nal stage of political life of this product.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Political marketing is supposed to induce the need of political participation in the electorate and to make the elector to vote for the political organisation that applied the marketing strategy and broadcast information. It operates in the speci%c sphere of human emotions that stem from symbolical background. $e political image of a candidate, public relations, advertising, promotion techniques used by a party, language employed in the campaign by the public %gures, etc ., are a kind of elements in a certain political jigsaw, that the party’s spin doctors try to %t one to another in the game for power. $e latter is perceived as a prism through which all the political actors are recognised during their activities in the public arena. $erefore, the intensive employment of the marketing strategies in the campaigns is treated as a natural and common practice in contemporary politics. Undoubtedly, marketing e&ectiveness, transformed into the votes of the electors, indicates that the escape from the application of marketing rules in contemporary politics is not possible. $erefore, political marketing becomes a trade mark of twenty-%rst century politics. It is expensive, time consuming, toilsome, sometimes it is hard to adjust it to the needs of a particular client, however, it is widely known, that without marketing strategies one cannot win in the competition for power. $e latter notion does not mean that political marketing is the only condition that makes a party powerful and success-achieving. As it was indicated by the instances of Mar- ian Krzaklewski in 2000 and AW“S” in 2001 one can lose the elections, although the marketing principles were applied in the campaign. $us, the suggestion “political marketing = electoral success” is a radical simpli%cation of the dependencies that play important role in the political game. Moreover, the electoral criterion allows immediately to estimate clearly the e&ectiveness of a particular strategy or the set of techniques used in a given case. Political marketing, public relations, negative campaigns, sponsoring, lobbying, advertising, publicity, etc ., are the means (more or less Marketing through a political glass. Polish experiences 213 e cient) by which a political actor tries to attract the voter to achieve her or his political goal. Each of the enumerated methods depend strongly on the context in which an election takes place: there are no methods that are e cient under every political conditions. Parties and candidates are sentenced to "ght for the votes in the successive campaigns and apply the means that seem the best for a particular place and particular time of the public competition. #e issues discussed above are related to the problem that lies at the basis of every political activity, namely, to the point of cultural symbolic relations that politics as such emerges from. From this perspective, political marketing is one of many forms of political communication associated directly with the anthropological sphere. Evidently, politics as a social phenomenon does not exist outside the symbolic domain, therefore, it is bound with the sacred sphere of every society. #e latter calls for myths, symbols and rituals as the pivotal axes of every cultural and social system. #ese factors seem to determine the deepest levels of political marketing to a considerable degree. Moreover, they in$uence the social reception of politicians’ activity preformed in the public arena. #e deep impact of symbolic sphere on the domain of politics is a universal feature of symbols and myths, regardless of place and time. As Ernst Cassirer, Mircea Eliade, or Carl Gustaw Jung indicate, human thinking processes are determined by symbolic forms in which mythical structures play the most signi"cant role. A metaphor of political market allows to look at the phenomena discussed in the study from perspective of competition (e.g. Joseph Schumepter’s idea of competitive democracy). #e needs of a political client are satis"ed by the goods delivered by the political class. A customer as a person who decides about the substantial distribution of political power is, therefore, in the centre of political marketing strategies: her or his needs are taken into account, and satiated by the public organisations. It could be assumed that politics, based on symbolic activities, is related to the context in which a particular activity takes place. #erefore, symbols are used in the market domain, that is, in the sphere where the main role is played by free and unrestricted competition (limited only by institutional and the law formal regulations). Such competition is manifested in advertising, public relations, promotion, image creation, and it is supposed to bring about the in$uence of the information sender over the voters. In this vision of public activity, the pragmatic electoral success becomes the ultimate goal. In contemporary politics that goal is supposed to be achieved mainly by the use of political marketing strategies and techniques. 214 Marek JEZIŃSKI

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