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president and CEO of Hershey Philbin Associates Topic: What Can Business to Business P.R. Bring to a Political Campaign?
They can learn to focus on the benefits the candidate brings to the office and to the public. For an incumbent this is an easy job if the candidate has had any kind of career at all. If you view the candidate as a product or service with positive benefits to lots of people, you get very targeted about which public you are talking to and what your message really is. You know, this sort of fake charisma we're seeing in political advertising this season shows a real disconnect between the candidate, the message and the target audience, I think. You can't manufacture charisma; you can only catch it on film. Can you give us an example of a campaign you have in mind? Of course I can; and of course I won't. It will only offend my friends. You have said that politicians live in an insular world that extends to only certain segments of the public - what do you mean by that? Politicians, legislators, staffs, etc., operate in an insular world quite apart from the world of the public. Everything they do is reinforced by that insular world. The public is instinctively aware of this disconnect and people resent it much more deeply than the candidate understands. Certain segments of the public -- those who directly benefit from an election like public employees, and businesses -- are part of that insular world; but the vast majority of the public, in most instances, is not. I think that's why voters don't vote, and the public often appears apathetic. This is probably not a good thing. I think it ultimately fragments society and from a public relations perspective this breeds a fickle, critical and dynamic public, likely to change direction and opinions for often misunderstood reasons. You've talked about the need to do interim public relations after the primary and before the election? Right. Not in every circumstance, but many campaigns could use a public relations element as part of the overall election campaign. How does this public relations approach work? Let's take the "challenged incumbent" scenario, for example. The candidate typically goes into a political campaign mode that will have little or no effect on the public perception of the candidate. That public perception has actually been shaped by the incumbent's actions over the past. If that perception is weak, the voter just needs a reason to show up and vote for the challenger. So a public relations campaign, based on image research, should be undertaken much earlier in the election cycle to correct negative perceptions and build positive perceptions before the election season. I'm not talking about advertising campaigns. I'm talking about stories that demonstrate what the incumbent has accomplished for the district over several years. What a profound influence he or she has had on the quality of life in our community, etc. Look at these accomplishments! This is the stuff that defines "image" in the public's minds.
Political advertising is what it is. We all know what it is and we all act as if we know how the ad is playing with some "electorate" out there. I suspect the electorate out there realizes it is looking at a political ad and reduces the ad's informational content immediately. Political advertising is rarely credible to anyone. If you're lucky, it builds awareness but it usually doesn't successfully build image does it? Image takes time, and layer upon layer of accurate "positive perceptions" established in the voter's mind. This is best and most economically accomplished by public relations activities likes speeches, conferences, feature articles, press releases, etc. Why is timing public relations so important? Once the campaign is underway, everyone knows nothing is credible anymore. Everything is up for grabs, and everything is related to winning a campaign. The time to build image is before the campaign and right through the campaign by carefully planning and scheduling activities around those few fundamental communication points inherent in the campaign itself. What do you mean by "fundamental communications points?" Why do we vote for someone? Because we think he or she will do a better job, and be more effective, than the opposition. What do we mean by "better job and more effective?" The candidate solves social problems and helps build better communities. Each constituency and community defines these issues for themselves. The candidate needs to demonstrate effectiveness and the ability to build community. Of course this performance has to be real, or it won't change perceptions. What do you mean by the illusion of control? Some people think that the political process -- and the electorate -- can be controlled. This is an illusion fostered like a security blanket by that insular political world we talked about. When this 'illusion of control' spills into the world of public relations, the campaign seems false and off-message. I can win this race; all I have to do is control the way you see. Of course the electorate always controls the process, even when it looks like everything worked according to plan. CapNews Guest Speaker: Archives |
What
can politicians and campaign managers learn from the world
of business public relations?
You
don't think political advertising works, do you?