The central thesis is that political marketing isn’t just about slogans and posters in the lead-up to an election, but is instead an approach that should permeate every aspect of a political organisation.
Lees-Marshment combines 100 interviews (over five years of research, across five western liberal democracies) of heavyweight political marketing practitioners with her keen understanding of the wealth of existing academic literature on the subject.
Undoubtedly, the highlights of the book are the musings of communications directors, political representatives, pollsters and strategists including (among many others) Alastair Campbell, Iain Duncan Smith and Philip Gould, on their various electoral battles. Indeed, one wonders if the transcripts of the interviews would be worth publishing in their own right.
The author breaks down what it takes to successfully market a modern political party or candidate into its component parts, and her findings are as relevant to a candidate fighting a local council seat as they are to a team of people who covet the highest of offices.
She sets out the relatively simple principles behind what it takes to win the political marketing game: effectively communicate a clear, motivating brand proposition that is credible and differentiates you from the competition. Sounds simple. But case study after case study reveals just how difficult it is to arrive at, and stick to, a strategy that fulfils such principles.
The multiple pitfalls include the ‘tyranny of the urgent’ created by the 24-hour news cycle, party disunity, pandering to polling, ignoring polling, being overly negative towards the opposition, disregarding the opposition and many, many more.
The book reaches a slightly unnecessary and unrealistic conclusion by proposing that we are on the brink of entering into a ‘partnership democracy’, whereby political elites and the public reach mutual understanding and respect via a virtuous circle of democratic participation and open decision-making. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a hugely informative study on an important field that is changing and developing at an extraordinary rate.
The Political Marketing Game is written by Jennifer Lees-Marshment, and published by Palgrave Macmillan, 288pp, £57.50