1.2 The Interest of the Political Brand Concept
Secondly, it is necessary to show the interest of this
conceptualization: what interest can represent this transposition of the
concept of brand to the political domain?
We believe that this conceptualization of both the candidate and
the political party as a brand can enable them to effectively manage their
political brand vis-à-vis voters. The concept of a political brand can
help them develop their reputation, build, manage, measure and control their
political brand capital (in particular through a specific measurement tool),
convey a strong and positive image, determine their strengths and Their weak
points ... It is also a question of knowing the perception that the voters have
of the political brand. The ultimate goal is to put in place a real branding
strategy.
1.3 The specific features of the political brand
In a third phase, it is necessary to identify and highlight the
specific features of the political brand that make its management unique.
Indeed, the political brand has specific characteristics in relation to a
trademark, which must be taken into account in its management.
These similarities / differences exist between the trademark and
the political trademark as such. They also exist between buying behavior and
political choice. With regard to political choice, it should be made clear
that, if there are different political systems and different voting systems,
the particularities identified here are specific to the political choice made
by a voter in a first-past-the-post system. That is, when the elector chooses a
single candidate, which is the case in France for presidential, legislative or
cantonal elections). Given our research area - the 2012 French presidential
elections - we do not mention other forms of political choice such as
proportional list voting (which is the case in France in regional elections for
example).
The specificities of the political brand are first of all linked
to the political product itself, in particular the fact that most voters choose
on the basis of the "packaged global concept or message" because the offer of
service proposed by the brand Policy is a "complex intangible product" (Lock
and Harris, 1996). In addition, the service offer chosen by the voter on voting
day is more likely to evolve over time than other types of services (eg O'Cass,
2003, Butler and Collins, 1994): Candidates and parties can in fact reverse
their promises once in power (which is true for any service but even more so in
the case of the service proposed by the political brand) 4. Another difference
is that, unlike a voting is not tied to a price concept (Lock and Harris,
1996). The specificities of the political brand are also linked to the
political choice in relation to the act of purchase. How is the political
choice specific to buying behavior, consumption of a product or service?
Compared to many goods and services that are often bought, "purchase" is done
here at times separated by time (all five years, for example in the case of a
presidential election). Moreover, political choice is a more forced choice than
the act of purchasing a product or service. Moreover, the elector can only make
a political choice when he can make several choices of consumption (for example
to buy several goods in the same category of products). Finally, there is no
"buy-back" in an election because all voters must choose on the same day (Lock
and Harris, 1996) and on a fixed date. Procrastination does not exist in the
case of a political brand. The only alternative is not to "buy", that is, to
abstain from voting.
The specificities of the political brand are also linked to
"consumer-voters". On the one hand, if a product is marketed with precise
positioning to be sold to specific targets, the political brand is addressed to
different and relatively heterogeneous audiences. While respecting a necessary
position, a political brand aims to attract as many voters as possible. On the
other hand, the different targets to which the policy brand is addressed are
not all of the same level of interest and certain targets are given
priority.
The political brand is also distinguished from a classic brand by
its brand architecture. On the other hand, if 1it is possible to
change the orientation of a party, it is very difficult to launch a new party
(a new brand)
(Lock and Harris, 1996). On the other hand, there is really no
international brand in the field of political marketing (except, perhaps, as
Communism was) (Lock and Harris, 1996).
Finally, the specificities of the political brand are linked to
communication. Although voters may have direct contact with candidates and
parties, communication is mostly indirect through the media (O'Shaughnessy and
Henneberg, 2007). The perception of the candidate and the party by the voter is
thus most often mediated.
The political brand thus presents a number of specificities, and
more generally political marketing (eg Lock and Harris, 1996, Butler and
Collins, 1994, O'Shaughnessy, 2001, Henneberg and O'Shaughnessy, 2009, Dean and
Croft, 2009 ). Beyond the impact of these
1 Two remarks can be made to complete this idea. On
the one hand, before the exercise of power, in relation to the choice made by
the elector in the first round, agreements are possible between the various
political offers between the first and second ballots, which can lead to
Revision "of the promises made to the voter in the first round. On the other
hand, there is a difference between a classical service that will try to
satisfy every consumer best, and the reality of the exercise of power.
In the work of Keller (1993), research based on the perceptual
approach is based on work on the
particularities that we have just studied on the management of
the political brand itself, these differences have two major consequences for
political marketing as a discipline: it is wise to transfer concepts and
Methods of "classic" marketing to the political domain, while adapting them to
the specificities of the political brand to develop theoretical frameworks and
models specific to political marketing (Lock and Harris, 1996).
To conclude this first part, it can therefore be considered that
the concept of a brand is effectively applicable to both candidates and
political parties. However, if this assimilation is conceptually valid, it is
now necessary to consider what constitutes the political brand in the voter's
memory.
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