PM-Group 2 Political Strategy

Question 1

is about the forming of objectives and implementing the tasks necessary
to achieve those objectives with a pattern of consistency over time given the limitations of available resources. (Barber, 2005

Answer 1

Political Strategy

Question 2

is about how parties, candidates and governments think and plan in order to achieve their goals.

• It requires consideration of many different factors, including the nature of the market, its history and culture; structure of government; and the interests of internal and external stakeholders and competitors, as well as existing resources and goals

Answer 2

Political Marketing Strategy

Question 3

About strategic resource allocation and focusing on products where there is a market for them and where they will likely win the support necessary to achieve stated goals

Answer 3

Targeting

Question 4

Positioning invariably takes place in contrast to or in competition with other parties, policies, personalities or products.

• To confront these and other challenges, Bannon (2004) has proposed five principles for successful positioning

Answer 4

1. Clarity of the position:
2. Consistency of position:
3. Credibility of positioning:
   know what the competitive advantage is and what voters think of this a voter needs to know where they are; the organization needs to offer a consistent and sustained approach. the voter’s judgement of the quality of political proposals will always
   prevail.
4. Competitiveness: offer value that competing products do not.
5. Communicable: position must be easily communicated to targets

Question 5

Constraints
Has to appeal to a broad range of voters, and their interests conflict. Subject to continuous attack.

Options: Defensive strategies to maintain and/or expand market share.

Constraints:
Champions new issues which can make challenger appear to be out of step with public opinion; but otherwise has a similar product to leader and needs to convey differentiation or superiority.

Options: Characterises leader negatively (e.g as corrupt or incompetent), brand position on new issue early to gain support once the issue becomes more salient.

Constraints: Insecure position as follows the leader, but lacks the marketing resources to do so and is subject to losing their market support to challengers.

Options: Can use cloning and copy the leader; or imitate them by adapting product aspects so they still differentiate or seek support from distinctive segments. They also need to protect their market share and thus avoid too much radical change.

Constraints: Specialises in serving the needs of a niche better than other competitors.

Options: Can transform through radical strategic change and new product positioning but needs to communicate it effectively

Answer 5

Market Leader

Challenger

Follower

Nicher

Question 6

EXPLORED THE USE OF NICHE MARKETING BY THE CANADIAN AND SCOTTISH GREEN PARTIES.THEY ARGUE THAT EFFECTIVE PARTIES WILL FOLLOW NICHE MARKET-ORIENTED BEHAVIOUR WITH FOUR KEY PRINCIPLES

Answer 6

HARADA AND MORRIS (2012, 93)

Question 7

EFFECTIVE PARTIES WILL FOLLOW NICHE MARKET-ORIENTED BEHAVIOUR WITH FOUR KEY PRINCIPLES

Answer 7

1. Identify a focused area of specialisation.
2. Develop an organisation capable of forging a unique party reputation and
   fostering long-lasting relationships with supporters.
3. Utilise market research to inform a product that will maintain and expand
   support.
4. Actively resist niche incursions by other parties by adjusting the product in
   response to market research

Question 8

A broader strategic consideration is whether politicians and parties should adopt a sales or a market orientation

Answer 8

Market and sales oriented strategies

Question 9

Argues that for politicians and parties to win elections they need to use market
research to inform how they design their product and brand, thus creating something voters to support and reducing the need for communications.

Answer 9

Market Orientation

Question 10

Political market process for market oriented party

Answer 10

1 stage: Market intelligence
2 stage: Product design
3 stage: Product adjustment
4 stage: Implementation
5 stage: Communication
6stage: Campaign
7 stage: Election
8 stage: Delivery

Question 11

a traditional party, making the
case for what it believes in during
elections without reflecting on what
voters want or how they might react
to its product, even if it fails to gain
support.

Answer 11

A Product Oriented Party (POP

Question 12

Political market process for product
oriented party

Answer 12

1 stage: Product design
2 stage: Communication
3 stage: Campaign
4 stage: Election
5 stage: Delivery

Question 13

reluctant to change its product, but it uses market intelligence to identify persuadable voters and design more effective communication strategies to sell the party and its products to them

Answer 13

A Sales Oriented Party (SOP

Question 14

Political market process for sales oriented party

Answer 14

1 stage: Product design
2 stage: Market intelligence
3 stage: Communication
4 stage: Campaign
5 stage: election
6 stage: Deliver

Question 15

introduced by Lees-Marshment,
emphasizes aligning political strategies with voter demands through market
oriented tactics.

Answer 15

Market-Oriented Party (MOP) model

Question 16

the challenges and criticisms associated with the MOP model, using examples from the UK, New Zealand, Peru, Greece, Australia, and Japan

Answer 16

UK(TonyBlair’s NewLabour, 1997)
Blair partially applied the MOP model, which led to internal party dissatisfaction

NewZealand(NationalParty, 2008)
The National Party’s strategy lacked distinctiveness and clear vision

Peru (APRAParty):
The APRA party faced significant voter backlash after failing to deliver on campaign promises

Greece(NewDemocracy,2004)
New Democracy struggled to fulfill
its promises in government, resulting in voter discontent

Australia (Kevin Rudd’s Labor Party, 2007):
* Internal party debates and the challenges of maintaining a market-oriented approach in government

Japan(Liberal DemocraticParty, 1993):
The LDP’s application of the MOP model led to corruption and a loss of public trust,