An approach considering the Brazilian and United States electoral process
Is there a marketing relationship with politics? Can marketing concepts be applied in a political dispute? Can you compare voters to consumers and buyers? These questions and doubts surround the minds of politicians and voters. Additionally, there is an infinity of marketing concepts and strategies applied in the electoral environment. However, marketing tools have evolved, and practically all the latest elected campaigns have anchored their actions in the use of tools and digital strategies. So, let's go to our four examples.
The year is 2009, and the historical moment is the presidential competition for the US, and the Barak Obama candidate's strategy in the use of digital communication tools in his "crowdfunding campaign" was notoriously known. Another piece of evidence was in the electoral campaign for the presidency in 2016, when the candidate Donald Trump, went far, he used data mining companies to trace voter profiles and use this information in the campaign and voting projections.
Another example, also to be observed is that of the then teacher and political militant, Guilherme Boulos, in Brazil, where he clearly developed a marketing strategy supported by content, focusing on a very specific audience (persona), with this content was fully adapted, employing “content marketing” techniques. In this episode the audience could notice the difference between political and electoral marketing, presenting a solid, continuous, and growing marketing plan, based on social networks. This good use of a solid digital marketing strategy led Guilherme to be one of the most-voted deputies in the 2022 elections.
Furthermore, another example of the use of social networks in political and electoral processes comes from Brazil, the current president of Brazil and federal deputy for six terms, Jair Bolsonaro. His media participation was not sudden, his presence in conventional media such as TV and radio dates to the mid the 1990s. However, what Jair and his team skillfully be able to do was much more than transit from traditional media to the digital environment, they had the ability to increase de Bolsonaro’s presence in the digital networks, as well as your engagement, speaking closely and constantly with an important part of the electorate.
The purpose of the article is not to issue value opinions over political and government platforms, the goal here is to show how digital marketing has been employed in different ways by different political agents, and in different locations. Show the power of marketing, and how it interferes with people's decision-making process around the world. Or you think your opinions are originally yours, that they have not been influenced by any media or communication strategy. Mass communication has been creating societies and shaping ideas and concepts for a long, long time.
