70. Book Review: Political Marketing: An Overview

Title –Political Marketing: An Overview

Author – Sudha V Menon
Publisher – The Icfai University Press
Year of Publication– 2009

Sudha V Menon’s “Political Marketing: An Overview” is an attempt to present an overview of the concept of political marketing, the various techniques of marketing in politics and its significance in the contemporary era of democratic resurgence. The book talks about the various dimensions of political marketing, its methods and strategies and also the role of mass media. The author attempts to present a holistic picture of the subject which enables readers to stretch their thoughts beyond the subject content of the book. Indeed, the book is successful in strengthening the understanding of Political Marketing.

The author is a senior research and documentation consultant with more than 16 years of proven experience in the areas of gender, labor rights, supply chain analysis, agrarian crisis, food security, SDGs, women empowerment and poverty eradication strategies. She has published several research papers and has also worked with international development organizations, academic institutions, and reputed consultancy firms across the world. The author’s book “Political Marketing: An overview” is a compendium of knowledge based on relevant and authoritative articles written by experts, ranging from research scholars and academicians.

The context of this book is very relevant. Political marketing is a new terminology in the political science literature and it is being increasingly used in political systems of the contemporary period. Hence we see a shift from traditional political campaigning to professional marketing tactics. Indeed, professional marketing has started influencing the workings of political parties all around the world. According to the author, this is mainly due to the information revolution and globalization. In this context, the author aims to analyze how the consent of the people is generated using marketing techniques in politics.

The book is divided into 3 sections: Section I: Overview, Section II: Methods and Strategies and Section III: Experiences. As the title suggests, the first sections lay down a conceptual framework to the understanding of political marketing. The section is divided into 3 chapters by Sudha V Menon, Wajid Ali Khan Panni and Shikha Singh. The first chapter delves into the meanings, definitions, and dimensions of political marketing. It also gives the origin and development of the concept and the chapter is largely theoretical in nature. The author also talks about the various functions of political marketing which sets the backbone for the preceding chapters. The next chapter by Panni highlights the role of branding, image building and campaign managers in changing the face of democratic values and ideology. Here the author presents us with examples, such as the American policies in Iran and Iraq. What I liked about this chapter is the author’s interpretation of manufacturing consent in the broader contexts of democracy. The third chapter of this section talks about the role of mass media in political marketing. The main argument of this chapter is the assertion that information published in the media is carefully chosen and designed in a manner that gives an exclusive picture of the candidate. The author talks about the various forms of mass media and their role in political marketing such as Print Media, Broadcast Media, Online Media, and Outdoor Media.

Section II of the book discusses specific tools and strategies used for political marketing. The section is divided into four chapters by Sudha V Menon, Hal Malchow, Micheal A Bassik, and Karen A B Jagoda. The first chapter by Menon talks about the various methods of political marketing, including political advertising, celebrity endorsements, the involvement of professional consultants and campaign managers, online campaigning, mobile phone canvassing, segmentation, micro-targeting, etc. The chapter provides examples from different countries including America, India, the UK, France, and Germany, that provides a comparative analysis of the use of these methods. The next chapter by Malchow explains the use of micro-targeting in an election campaign to get more accurate chances of winning. He explained the concept with the help of examples, especially the 2004 Bush Presidential campaign. The chapter by Bassik talks about the emerging trends of using Internet communication in election campaigns. The Internet is changing how candidates find and empower their supporters. Since the book was written in 2009, the author claims that TV is more powerful when it comes to persuasion. 10 years later, in 2019, this is not the case anymore. The final chapter of the section by Jagoda looks at two different groups of people: voters who use the Internet and political consultants who try to reach the voters. It talks about online activism at length.

The final section of the book provides examples of the use of political marketing techniques in various countries. The author talks about different contexts: US Presidential Election 2008, the situation in the UK and Taiwan, Ghana and Gujarat. This section is successful in providing a clear understanding of the practical approaches to the use of political marketing all across the globe. What I liked about this section is the fact that although different tools and strategies were used in different countries, at different points of time, we see some familiar strategy behind all these cases. The case studies indeed provide the success of political marketing.

Sudha V Menon’s book is a page-turner. It is a comprehensive book, which not only provides the theoretical framework that strengthens the basics of the subject matter but also provides real-life practical application of the strategies and tactics. What the book lacks, however, are the worst-case scenarios of using political marketing tools. The author fails to provide two sides to the subject matter at hand. Otherwise, the book is a must-read for anybody interested in politics, communications, and marketing. It is highly recommended to all communication professionals who have a knack for political PR.

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