FULLTEXT01

DOCTORAL THESIS IN INDUSTRIAL MARKETING
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2017
Political Marketing:
Understanding and
Managing Stance
and Brand
Positioning
ALESSANDRO BIGI
KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
Political Marketing:
Understanding and
Managing Stance
and Brand
Positioning
ALESSANDRO BIGI
Supervisors:
Professor Esmail Salehi-Sangari
Professor Leyland Pitt
Doctoral Thesis No. 2016:11

KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Division of Industrial Marketing INDEK
Stockholm, Sweden
ISBN 978-91-7729-203-6
TRITA-IEO-R 2016:11
ISSN 1100-7982
ISRN KTH/IEO-R-2016:11
Abstract
This thesis investigates the strategic stance of a
political brand and the factors that affect its positioning.
The question related to the positioning of a political
brand is complex. Nowadays, political leaders should be
able to define the characteristics of their political brand.
To succeed in the political arena, they must understand,
identify, and utilize the most appropriate mechanism of
communication to create an accurate perception of their
political image in the market that is strictly linked to the
characteristics of their brand and to reach these targets.
For these reasons, it is mandatory to have measurement
methods and comparable results over time.
It was decided to divide the overall research problem
into four different research questions to explore and
explain the mechanism of political brand creation and
the interaction between political brands and the
electorate and to do so through four different papers.
In paper 1, the political environment has been
observed and studied. Subsequently, a theory of
consumer and product orientation has been identified
and utilized to both understand and to strategize how
politicians can better position and present themselves to
the public and voters. Paper 2 proposes a methodology
to measure political positioning and constituent
perception. The specific aim of the research is to explore
interrelations between a political party‘s positioning in
two different periods to discover possible discrepancies
and changes over time. Paper 3 investigates whether the
negative impact of a political brand can influence a
country‘s brand. The fourth paper tried to measure how
the quality, readability, and frequencies of political
messages could provide insight into the effectiveness of
viral communication using a political blog.
This thesis contributes to the understanding that
influence in a political environment happens in a
bidirectional manner, where politicians are influenced
by voter sentiment and voters are influenced by
politicians.
The key strategic question then becomes not whether
the stance is right but if it is appropriate for the
environmental condition in which the party or brand
finds itself. If it is, then the party or brand must both
reinforce and maintain the mode of focus; if it is not
appropriate, then strategists need to identify a more
appropriate stance and engineer ways for the brand to
move in that direction.
Political marketing managers could find the results
of this thesis useful for revealing the difference between
a political party‘s positioning and its perceived
positioning as well as monitoring it in different periods
to discover possible discrepancies over time.
Keywords
Political marketing, political brand, brand
positioning, brand strategy, political communication.
Abstrakt
Denna avhandling undersöker den strategiska
inställningen till ett politiskt märkesnamn och de
faktorer som påverkar dess positionering.
Frågan som har att göra med positioneringen av ett
politiskt märkesnamn är komplex och politiska ledare
borde kunna definiera sina märkesnamns utmärkande
egenskaper och förstå, identifiera och använda de
lämpligaste kommunikationsmekanismerna för att
skapa en riktig uppfattning om den politiska profilen i
en marknad som är strikt kopplad till kännetecknenför
märkesnamn. För att uppnå dessa resultat är det
obligatoriskt att ha mätmetoder och jämförbara resultat
över tiden.
För att utforska och förklara mekanismen i
skapandet av politiska märkesnamn och den ömsesidiga
påverkan mellan politiska märkesnamn och väljarkåren
har det övergripande forskningsproblemet därför
bestämts och delats upp i fyra olika forskningsfrågor.
I första avdelningen observerades och undersöktes
den politiska miljön och därefter användes en
konsumtions och produktinriktning för att både förstå
och skapa en strategi för hur politiker skulle kunna
positionera och presentera sig själva för allmänheten
och väljarkåren på ett bättre sätt. Andra avdelningen
föreslår en metodik i syfte att mäta politisk positionering
och väljarnas perception. Forskningens bestämda
målsättning är att utforska det inbördes förhållandet
mellan ett politiskt partis positionering under två olika
perioder för att upptäcka möjliga avvikelser och
förändringar över tiden. Tredje avdelningen undersöker
om den negativa effekten i ett politiskt märkesnamn kan
påverka ett lands märkesnamn. Den fjärde avdelningen
försökte mäta hur kvalitén, läsbarheten och det ideliga
upprepandet av politiska meddelanden skulle kunna ge
kunskap om effektiviteten i viral kommunikation genom
användning av politisk blogg.
Denna avhandling bidrar till att ge kunskap om att
påverkan i politikensker på ett sätt som går i båda
riktningarna där politiker påverkas av väljarnas känslor
och väljarna påverkas av politikerna. Den strategiska
nyckelfrågan blir då inte om inställningen är rätt men
om den passar för det miljöbetingade tillståndet i vilket
partiet eller märkesnamnet befinner sig. Om
inställningen är rätt måste både partiet eller
märkesnamnet förstärka och behålla inriktningen på
metoden; om den inte är rätt, måste strategen hitta en
mer passande inställning och verka för att
märkesnamnet går i den riktningen.
Politiska marknadschefer skulle kunna tycka att
slutsatserna i avhandlingen är användbara för att visa på
skillnaden mellan ett politiskt partis positionering och
positioneringen som den uppfattas, likaväl som att
kontrollera inställningen under olika perioder för att
upptäcka möjliga avvikelser över tiden.
Dedication
To my children Riccardo and Zoe—and my love,

Michelle.
Acknowledgements
This is another step in my personal life, and it has
been surprisingly tough. Several special persons
supported me in this adventure. A few years ago, my
excellent friend Anjali Bal called me and, out of the blue,
asked me, ―Have you ever thought about getting a PhD?‖
I must say that Anjali is responsible for my decision.
Prof. Leyland Pitt is a great professor who patiently but
firmly supported me. Leyland has not just been
supportive, but he is and will be an example of how you
can enjoy life deeply loving your job. An important
column of my experience has been Prof. Esmail Salehi-
Sangari, who worked hard to create and develop the
program in which I am involved, welcomed me, and
pushed me towards the end, when it was necessary.
My classmates have been exceptional, and all the
professors I encountered on this journey have been
outstanding.
Finally, I have an enormous debt to my wife,
Michelle. She has trusted me since we were in high
school and never stopped, even during this adventure.
She has been a beautiful and strong supporter, and she
never lost an occasion to demonstrate her support. Last
but not least, I want to recognize my children, Riccardo
and Zoe. From the day he was born well before the
expected date, Riccardo demonstrated what a real
fighter is and that life is full of opportunities to explore.
Zoe never forgot to show up to kiss me at bedtime, with
the sweetest smile I imagined every day of this beautiful
journey.
My family is my strength.
Contents
Contents ...................................................................... 15
Chapter 1: Overview of the research......................... 17
1.1 Introduction ....................................................... 19
1.2 Widening the concept of marketing ................ 20
1.2.1 Political marketing ................................... 22
1.2.2 Political marketing vs. political science .. 24
1.2.3 Political marketing evolution .................. 30
1.3 Widening the concept of brand ....................... 31
1.3.1 Political Brand ......................................... 34
1.4 Development of research problem .................. 38
1.4.1 Formulation of research question 1......... 42
1.4.2 Formulation of research question 2 ........ 44
1.5 Methodology...................................................... 50
1.6 Layout of individual papers ............................. 53
Chapter 2: Individual papers ...................................... 55
2.1 Paper 1 ............................................................... 61
2.2 Paper 2 ............................................................... 99
2.3 Paper 3 ............................................................. 145
2.4 Paper 4 ............................................................. 179
Chapter 3: Conclusions ............................................ 213
3.1 Introduction ..................................................... 215
3.2 Major findings.................................................. 216
3.3 Theoretical contribution of the study ............ 227
3.4 Managerial implications ................................. 229
3.5 Future research and limitations ..................... 231
List of references ...................................................... 235
OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH | 17
Chapter 1: Overview of the research

18 | OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH
1.1 Introduction
What is political marketing? Who was the first to

talk, write, and think about this subject?
The first hints of political marketing began five

centuries ago, when Machiavelli formulated perhaps the
most effective definition of political marketing. «Niente
procura tanta stima a un principe quanto il fatto di
compiere grandi imprese e di fornire un‘eccezionale
immagine di se stesso. [..] Un principe deve soprattutto
sforzarsi di dare un‘immagine di uomo grande e di
ingegno eccellente. [...] Deve anche, nei momenti
opportuni dell‘anno distrarre il popolo con feste e
spettacoli» trad. ―Nothing brings such estimate to a
prince as making great businesses and providing an
exceptional picture of himself. [...] A prince must, above
all, strive to be a man of great talent and excellence. [...]
He must also, at the appropriate times of the year,
distract the people with festivals and shows‖
(Macchiavelli, 1992, pp. 199, 201, 207).
The research problem for this dissertation was

developed on the basis that marketing theories,
paradigms, and tools have recently been applied to the
political field and sometimes done so partially. In
particular, the research problem of this work focuses on
strategic positioning of a political brand and recognition
of factors that can affect desired and perceived
positioning of that political brand.
1.2 Widening the concept of marketing
Kotler and Levy proposed the possibility of

marketing for politics for the first time in 1969, arguing
that marketing, hitherto confined to businesses and
commercial organizations, could be extended to all
organizations. Bagozzi (1975, p. 180) saw marketing as
an exchange between parties. He argued that ―Marketing
exchanges often are indirect, they may involve intangible
and symbolic aspects, and more than two parties may
participate‖. Based on their interpretations of
marketing, political marketing is a part of the paradigm,
even though it is not focused on goods or services.
The American Marketing Association (AMA)

officially defines marketing (approved July 2013;
www.ama.org) as ―the activity, set of institutions and
processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and
exchanging offerings that have value for customers,
clients, partners, and society at large‖.
When comparing this definition to the previous

one—―Marketing is an organizational function and a set
of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering
value to customers and for managing customer
relationships in ways that benefit the organization and
its stakeholders‖ (AMA, 2004; www.ama.org)—it is clear
that, with the inclusion of ―clients‖, the definition
explicitly recognizes non-commercial marketing
activities and presents an opportunity to revisit the
interplay between commerce-derived marketing theory
and the application of political marketing (Hughes &
Dann, 2009).
Following the definition of traditional marketing,

political marketing is more precisely described as ―a set
of activities, processes, or political institutions used by
political organizations, candidates, and individuals to
create, communicate, deliver, and exchange promises of
value with voter-consumers, political party stakeholders,
and society at large‖ (Hughes & Dann, 2009, p. 359).
That is to say, the marketing aim of a political party or
candidate is to communicate, deliver, and exchange
offerings (policies for votes). Hence, traditional
marketing and political marketing have similar
objectives.
Passion and involvement seem to be the real

difference between this field of marketing and the
mainstream (Savigny, 2010). While classical marketing
rarely inspires heated discussions, politics often fuels
strong opinions. Therefore, political marketing
strategies aim to target not only ―voters‖ minds but also
their hearts. Studies have revealed that political
campaigns can elicit emotional reactions in voters
(Schemer, 2012).
Both passion and a passionate approach to politics

verify that voters have a clear image of the parties in
mind; therefore, the importance of incorporating what
constitutes value for the voter in the political brand can
be created for the voter-citizen, instigating a voter-
centric view of marketing. This is a priority political
marketers must consider.
Scammell (2007) studied how the utilization of

brands and brand identity provide a conceptual
framework to establish links between the functional and
emotional attributes of political parties. This provides

the ability to impart the positioning and communication
of policy clearly. Smith and French (2009) also
supported the theory of political parties as brands,
having identified the means by which a political brand
forms in consumers‘ memories and how, in order to be
successful, political brands must achieve meaningful
connection and a sense of community and authenticity
while maintaining core brand values that are relevant
and useful to voter-consumers.
This consumer-facing approach to value is one of the

core foundations of branding and is supported by Aaker
and Joachimsthaler (2000), Duffy and Hooper (2003),
Walvis (2010). De Chernatony and McDonald (2007, p.
144) identified the attributes of ―love and passion, self-
concept connection, interdependence, commitment,
intimacy, partner quality, and nostalgic attachment‖ as
necessary for a good brand relationship.
However, political marketing is a hybrid sub-

discipline that draws on the parent disciplines of
traditional marketing and political science. In this
chapter, the aim is to focus on the need to adapt and
adjust to changes in the parent discipline of marketing
given the developments in commercial marketing
practice.
1.2.1 Political marketing
Butler and Collins (1994, p. 19) stated that political

marketing is ―the marketing of ideas and opinions,
which relate to public or political issues or to specific

candidates. In general, political marketing is designed to
influence people's votes in elections‖. Notably, political
marketing employs many of the same techniques used in
product marketing such as paid advertising, direct mail,
and publicity.
Kelley (1956) is often credited with the first usage of

the term ―political marketing‖. In his view, political
marketing was virtually synonymous with propaganda
because its essential aim was persuasion. Lock and
Harris (1996, p. 21) said that ―political marketing is
concerned with communicating with party members,
media, and prospective sources of funding as well as the
electorate‖. In this narrower perspective, political
marketing is the process of communicating the value of
a product or service (policies, political programs, and
leader image) to customers (voters and non-voters) in
order to sell that product or service (gain votes and
trust).
However, political marketing is much more than

political advertising. Shama (1976) argued that many
terms used in conventional marketing, such as consumer
behavior, market segmentation, image, brand loyalty,
product concept, and product positioning, can be used
similarly in political marketing. The link between
politics and the marketing discipline was also reinforced
by Rothschild‘s (1978) study on political advertising
effectiveness, segmentation, social policy, and political
policymaking.
In a wider perspective, political marketing is the

process of applying tools developed for the commercial
marketplace into the political field (Egan, 1999; Farrell

& Wortmann, 1987; Harrop, 1990; Henneberg, 2003;
Lees-Marshment, 2001; Llyod, 2003; Newman, 1994;
Niffenegger, 1989; O‘Cass, 2001; O‘Shaughnessy, 1990;
Reid, 1988; Scammell, 1995, 1999; Wortmann, 1989;
Wring, 2002).
Political marketing offers systematic processes for

evaluating the desires and needs of the masses and
specific instruments used to influence large groups of
people as well as more focused target markets. Thus,
political marketing offers theoretical frameworks and
methodologies to study voters‘ behavior and parties and
candidates‘ positioning strategies (Blumenthal, 1980;
Nimmo, 1999; Sparrow & Turner, 2001) and also
addresses governments in modern democratic countries
(Butler & Collins, 2001; Henneberg & O'Shaughnessy,
2007).
In this sense, political marketing is ―marketing

designed to influence target audiences to vote for a
particular person, party, or proposition‖ (AMA, 2007;
www.ama.org).
1.2.2 Political marketing vs. political science
Therefore, as previously stated, political marketing is

the junction between marketing and political science
because it applies the specific marketing concepts
(product, customer, sales, etc.), marketing theoretical
frameworks and models, market-orientations, and
activities (market intelligence, market segmentation,
internal marketing, etc.) to political science and molds

them into an integrated theoretical framework.
In social science, political science includes the

foundations of the state and the principles of
government. According to Garner (1910), politics
initiates and finishes with the state. Similarly, Gettel
(1928) wrote that politics is the ―study of the state in the
past, present, and future‖. Laski (1935) stated that the
study of politics concerns itself with the life of men and
women in relation to an organized state. Thus, political
science focuses on those aspects of individuals that
relate to their activities and their organizational
affiliations associated with seeking power and resolution
of conflicts within an overall framework of the rule and
law, as laid down by the state.
The study of political science comprises state theory,

the concept of sovereign power, forms and functions of
government, the creation and execution of laws,
elections, political parties, rights and duties of citizens,
policy functions, and the study of welfare activities of the
state and government.
Marketing‘s application to politics and its

development are strictly correlated to the evolution of
political systems. Political scientists have been skeptical
in their acceptance of political marketing (Lees-
Marshment, 2001; Scammell, 1999). In contrast,
political marketing is often considered of limited value
due to its merely descriptive role. Political science
scholars are more interested in the consequences than in
how and why governments shape and mold public
opinion.
The transition from a political and electoral system

based on party affiliation to a system based on the
candidates has increased the use of technical support,
which has provided professionalism that is indirectly
related to the field of politics. Echoing comments on
political professionalism, Weber observed that, in his
professional definition, the one who lived for politics
was responsible for politics; new politicians are often
professionals in other fields who provide expertise that
was previously nonexistent within the political world.
The entry of new professionals into the political

arena has opened the door to the use of new
technologies, especially related to the media, electronic
processing, and the election polls. These new
technologies have in turn required additional technical
professionalism (even more with the growing use of new
media). Therefore, media coverage of politics induces
political professionalism and becomes linked to the
possession of different skills.
Many authors have studied election campaign

development. Norris (1997) proposed the division of the
evolution of election campaigns into ―pre-modern‖ (until
about 1950), ―modern‖ (up to the mid-80s), and ―post-
modern‖ (current). The differences between these three
phases concern not only campaign duration, which
passes from short to long and then becomes permanent,
but also other elements.
Firstly, electorate orientation changed; voting was

initially characterized as stable, then became floating,
and finally became intermittent (O‘Shaughnessy, 1987;
Wring, 1999). Indeed, once parties could count on
faithful followers, even after failing to keep campaign

promises, the need for immediate and concrete answers
to the problems of daily life prevailed (Lusoli & Ward,
2004; Mair & Van Biezen, 2001). Electoral choice tends
to reward the most credible and coherent personality—a
person who appears to be trustworthy and who will not
betray the electoral mandate.
Furthermore, campaign organization moves from

mainly local to exclusively national and finally to local
and national in tandem. The presence of political
consultants has changed. In particular, they have
increased in number and improved in their level of
professionalism. The type of prevalent political
communication has also evolved. It was initially
interpersonal, and then became national, and, finally,
integrated between the local and national. Campaign
costs have ascended from low to high to very high.
Meanwhile, many authors have revealed increasing
political disengagement and external members‘
disinterest in political activity in Western democracies,
especially among voters (Dermody & Scullion, 2005;
Miron, 1999; Spogárd & James, 2000; Teixeira, 1992).
Farrell and Webb (2000) constructed a similar

pattern of tripartite division of electoral campaigns. This
analysis includes a new exemplification of
professionalization‘s development and, more generally,
of election campaigns, which are divided into three
phases.
The first phase is characterized by low technological

and communication activities that are entirely managed
by the party. In addition, the party is the main agent
with regard to resources and fund collection; activist

volunteers are the main people involved. Still, the local
arena is predominant, with limited centralization and
coordination. Regarding themes, events are constructed
on the basis of a leader in direct relationship to an
audience, which is made up of groups from established
social origins. Hence, the will of mobilization is much
stronger than persuasion.
The second phase is firstly characterized by

technological developments of the mass communication
media, particularly the advent of television. This
determines a series of consequences including the
lengthening of election campaigns, the need for
professionals with specific skills and the ability to drive
candidates, and a greater need for funds. The campaign
is nationalized; hence, power and resources accumulate
in the center, and the party leader gains more
importance. Finally, it also changes the target audience,
which becomes large and socially diversified internally.
The third phase of professionalization lies in the era

of the latest technological developments of the mass
communication media such as satellites and the
Internet. The characteristics of this third phase are the
advent of a permanent campaign and the realization that
the election campaign is usually entrusted to a staff of
professionals. As for the message, it increasingly trends
toward targeted messages, with copious use of feedback
and subsequent adaptation of the message to the public.
During campaign evolution, particularly when

entering the third phase, analysis and management of
competition become technically complex new
commitments that require the professional approach

offered by political marketing. Consequently, political
campaigning has, over time, evolved from party-
centered, labor-intensive campaigns, which relied on
volunteers, to candidate-centered affairs with mass
media advertising, marketing techniques, and
professional campaign consultants (Gunlicks, 1993;
Rayner, 2014; Strömbäck, 2007).
Many types of political consultants can be involved

(Dulio, 2004; Dulio & Nelson, 2005; Kinsey, 1999):
campaign strategists or managers (Goldenberg &
Traugott, 1984; Rosenbloom, 1973); media consultants;
direct correspondence specialists, who prepare and
disseminate written reports; polls experts; and
fundraising experts. Thus, the professionalization of
political marketing has also permitted the application of
mainstream marketing trends in politics. Mass
customization started with the direct mass production of
customized services for each user (Peppers & Rogers,
2001). Experiential marketing, which aims to create a
complete experience for potential voters, has been
introduced, for example, in the organization of special
events (Schmitt, 1999). Real-time marketing aims to
provide services that adapt in real time to changing
preferences and needs of users (Oliver, Rust, & Varki,
1998).
1.2.3 Political marketing evolution
In this section, an overview of the evolution of

political marketing concepts and theories will be
provided.
The transactional approach, which focuses on the

model of the ―four Ps‖ (product, place, price, promotion)
(McCarthy, 1960) and constitutes the foundation of
marketing theory (Jobber, 2001; Kotler, 2003), was
initially applied, with necessary adjustments to political
marketing. Kotler and Levy‘s (1969) suggestion was that
political candidates could be marketed as well as soap.
From this perspective, political marketing, as well as
products or services marketing, must implement a
varied marketing mix while creating a connection with
the consumer.
The political product consists of the party and the

candidates together with their image and the electoral
program (Farrell & Wortmann, 1987; Shaw, 1994).
Distribution depends on the organization of the party
and the initiatives of the campaign at the local level.
Promotion includes communication activities with the
electorate. Electoral success is thus reached through the
payment of a price by voters, which is represented by
economic and psychological hope or insecurity (Wring,
1996).
However, some authors have outlined the difficulty

of applying the marketing mix model to politics (Baer,
1995; Henneberg, 2003; Scammel, 1999). Indeed, the
political product has a poor analogy to commercial
products (Baines, Brennan, & Egan, 2003;
O‘Shaughnessy, 2002) and is instead described as a

complex and intangible product (Egan, 1999)
comparable to services (credence qualities)
(O‘Shaughnessy, 1990). Long-term services in mature
markets can be more realistically compared to political
activity (Collins & Butler, 2003; Johansen, 2005; Lock &
Harris, 1996; Scammell, 1999).
According to the abovementioned new definition of

marketing and when considered with the radical shift
from the transactional theory, a new definition of
political marketing that focused on value creation,
communication, and delivery emerged. Political
marketing is ―a set of processes for creating,
communicating, and delivering promises of value to
voters and for managing voter relationships in ways that
benefit the political organization and its stakeholders‖
(AMA, 2004, 2006; www.ama.org).
1.3 Widening the concept of brand
Kotler et al. (2005, p. 549) defined brand as ―a

name, term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of
these intended to identify the goods or services of one
seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from
those of competitors‖. Kim (1990, p. 65) argued that
brand has no tangible properties, and it is a mental
translation—an abstraction of that object or service. It
exists solely as a ―mental construct‖, ―typification‖, or
―idea‖ in the minds of those who behold it‖ (Kim, 1990,
p. 65). This definition holds particular relevance when
examining the concept of the brand outside of
traditional marketing. A brand is a form of physical

stimulus harnessed by sellers to denote ownership. It
gives a means of differentiating products and provides a
guarantee of quality. Brands are often identified as
elements that influence consumer behavior and offer
shortcuts that enable faster and simpler choices
(Maheswaran, Mackie, & Chaiken, 1992; Park & Lessing,
1981).
Brand is now recognized as performing a central role

in business, and brand-related concepts underpin
research in customer value, market positioning,
consumer experience, and management performance.
According to Keller (1993, p. 1), ―In a general sense,

brand equity is defined in terms of marketing effects
uniquely attributable to the brand, such as when certain
outcomes result from the marketing of a product or
service because of its brand name, which would not
occur if the same product or service did not have that
name‖.
The expansion of the brand concept from its origin

in industry and commerce to a more complex and
greater number of subjects, such as universities,
churches, and political parties, indicates the potential of
applying brand analyses, ideas, and applications to
political entities (Speed, Butler & Collins, 2015).
From the perspective of the firm, Neumeier (2005,

p. 161) argued that brand equity is explained as the
―accumulated value of a company‘s brand assets‖. From
the perspective of the consumer, the study of brand
equity concentrates on the ethereal aspects, such as
thoughts, feelings, emotions and associations, which are

connected to a brand (Yoo & Donthu, 2001).
Branding analysis utilizes the associative network

memory model to conceptualize the way brand
associations are built in the minds of consumers
(Anderson, 1983; Keller, 1993). The model
conceptualizes memory as a network that consists of
several small pieces of information (nodes), which are
connected by associative links. Each node has a set of
pre-existing associations that relate to that object. The
connections between the nodes are established through
different kinds of experiences (direct, indirect) (Grunert,
1996), and the information is recalled when the node is
stimulated. The stimulus can be both direct (from an
external source) and indirect (from a linked node being
stimulated). This process is called ―spreading activation‖
because it spreads through the network until the
strength of the stimulus falls below the point of
activation of the next stimulus. Learning is the
modification of this structure, either by the creation of a
new associative link or by addition of a new concept into
an association set.
In business branding, research nodes can represent

any form of information, such as concepts, values, ideas,
and the concept of association sets, which have been
utilized to help understand the structure of consumer
knowledge about brands. Consumers have association
sets for brands based on their past experience and direct
or indirect knowledge. The association set can change
based on new information or experiences. The value of a
particular brand derives from its association set held in
the mind of consumers (Keller, 1993).
Strong and favorably evaluated brands are therefore

able to promise something valuable that competitors
cannot. Accordingly, consumer behavior will be different
and more favorable regarding negatively evaluated
brands.
Therefore, brand managers have two main tasks:

identifying the association held by the public and the
customers about their brand, known as ―brand heritage‖
(Speed, Butler & Collins, 2015), and favorably changing
the association set.
1.3.1 Political Brand
Short-term marketing campaigns, which were

intended to influence specific and limited targets at
particular periods of time, have gradually been replaced
by long-term activities, which instead seek to increase
the brand image of political parties. Candidates must
now remain active; image creation via online
communities must never stop. The key to governing and
policy success is permanent campaigning (Bennet,
2003). Shifting from short-term to long-term
communication enables the creation of a political brand.
Branding is increasingly used in non-traditional

social markets such as politics. Notably, several non-
commercial organizations are working on their brand
such as the London Metropolitan Police (BBC, 2005),
The Roman Catholic Church (Zinkin, 2004) and
universities (Jevons, 2006).
―Branding principles have been applied in virtually

every setting where consumer choice of some kind is
involved, e.g. with physical goods, services, retail stores,

people, organizations, places, or ideas‖ (Keller, 2002,
151). Political parties are therefore organizations where
people can exchange ideas and opinions and organize
strategies to reach a target.
Brand is defined as the following: “A name, term,

sign, symbol, design, or a combination of them, which is
intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or
a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of
competitors‖ (AMA, 1960; www.ama.org). If we extend
the definition of sellers from goods to ideas and values,
it is clear that political parties satisfy this definition. The
electorate have symbols, names, and finally leaders to
recall. All these elements, in the case of elections, are
elements that influence voters‘ behaviors by offering
shortcuts that enable electors to make faster and simpler
choices. Therefore, consumers have an innate
motivation to learn about and decide on brands, both to
know where and where not to spend their money
(vote/not vote) and to cope with the increasingly
complex and over-communicated world.
As stated previously, brand has been studied using

cognitive psychology learning theory, particularly via the
associative network model. Regarding political parties,
every party, every leader, and every symbol can be
viewed as an information node associated with other
nodes. Every time this information node is stimulated
(seeing the logo on television, hearing the name, reading
it in the newspaper), it activates association with other
nodes. The types of association held by political voters
may be vast, varied, and often different from what was
intended by the political parties involved.
Brand is therefore a multidimensional construct that

contains both functional and motivational aspects.
Motivational aspects result from implementation of the
party or candidate‘s policies, which potential voters can
judge in an objective and rational way. Motivational
aspects are emotions and desires that arise from the
subjective and interpersonal relationships of the
subjects with the situation (Schweiger & Adami, 1999).
Recent research has explored different aspects of

political brands: brand values (Lieb & Shah, 2010; Smith
& French, 2009), brand innovation (O‘Cass, 2009),
brand differentiation (Lieb & Shah, 2010; Smith &
French, 2009), brand positioning (Butler & Harris,
2009; Lieb & Shah, 2010; Smith & French, 2009),
segmentation and targeting (Butler & Harris, 2009; Lieb
& Shah, 2010), brand adaptability (Butler & Harris,
2009; Henneberg, Scammell, & O‘Shaughnessy, 2009;
Scammell, 2007), brand history and sustainability
(Scammell, 2007) and brand notoriety (Smith & French,
2009).
As one of the first authors on this subject,

Kirchheimer (1966) suggested that viewing parties as
brands is an inevitable response to the move from mass-
based to catchall parties. Voters are less influenced by
class affiliation and more likely to act as rational
economic actors when voting (Downs, 1967). In the past,
to win an election, the catchall had to become well-
known among millions of people, fulfilling a political
role analogous to that of a major brand in business
(Kirchheimer, 1966). However, this competitive
imperative for catchall parties to move toward the
middle ground created similar manifestos with rather

small differentiation and weaker elements of the brand.
Defining a political product is problematic because it

cannot be meaningfully divided into parts, and its nature
is complex and intangible. The political product
embodies a certain level of promise about the future,
where the satisfactions derived are not immediate but
rather are long-term, vague, and uncertain
(O‘Shaughnessy, 2001).
O‘Cass (2003) identified six key aspects of political

products from a party perspective: the political party,
policies, leaders, candidates, issues, and services. The
combination of these six elements represents the basis of
the brand of a political party or political representative.
In particular, positioning within the marketing

framework is the act of creating a unique identity for
your product or service in the eyes of the consumer.
Political positioning is the act of creating an identity for
a political entity. The perceived positioning of a political
party is an organization‘s members‘ collective
understanding of the political ideas presumed to be
central and relatively permanent to the party; these
ideas are what distinguish the organization from other
organizations.
While all aspects of marketing are important, in the

political arena, positioning cannot be ignored (Harrop,
1990). Politicians that portray a clear identity have an
easier time enticing potential voters. Political entities
inform constituents of their brand by stating their
stances on issues of concern to voters (Ansolabehere,
Snyder & Stewart, 2001; Baines, 1999; Mauser, 1983;

Smith & Hirst, 2001).
Campaign themes, which represent party policies

and key messages, are crucial to influencing voter
opinions. Themes are meant to be wide-ranging in order
to include a variety of ideas and thus appeal to a wider
range of voters; however, they are also determinant in
formulating or identifying clusters of supporting groups
because ―without a target, a campaign has no direction;
without a theme, it has no rationale‖ (Burton & Shea,
2010).
1.4 Development of research problem
Several areas in political marketing require better

understanding, including the stance and the positioning
of a political brand and the factors affecting its desired
and perceived positioning.
The question related to the positioning of a political

brand is complex. Although the nature of a political
brand is clear in previous literature, the processes and
reasoning that a political subject can face in the brand
creation process require further study because the
effectiveness of a political strategy is highly influenced
by the market realities of the targeted voting body.
Political leaders should be able to effectively define

the distinctive characteristics of their political brand and
subsequently understand, identify, and utilize the most
appropriate mechanisms of communication to create an
accurate perception of their political image in the market
that is strictly linked to the characteristics of their brand.
To reach these results, it is mandatory to have

measurement methods and comparable results over
time.
However, there are risks associated with creating a

brand because of the unspoken promise to consumers
that their trust in the brand will be respected. This
leaves the brand owner exposed to considerable
reputational risk.
Political leaders must be vigilant regarding their

brand‘s reputation and must understand that the effects
of their mistakes or bad behavior can reach beyond their
personal image. Political brands and political
communication are different from personal
communication. To understand the differences, it is
therefore useful to both study methodologies that
measure a political party over time and to identify and
underline the differences between political
communication and personal communication.
Based on the abovementioned literature review, we

identified a research problem, which is examined in this
thesis, in order to narrow the focus and deepen the
knowledge of the previous academic frameworks.
The overall research problem has therefore been

identified and divided into four different research
questions to explore and explain the mechanism of
political brand creation and the interaction between
political brands and the electorate.
Overall research problem
The political realm consists of three terms: policy,

party, and person (Speed, Butler & Collins 2015). All
three are subject to marketing communication designed
to either reinforce or change voters‘ perceptions; thus,
they can form a part of a brand‘s positioning. The parties
and candidates implement the design and construction
of the brand and the brand positioning in view of
internal and external variables (Prete, 2015). The first
variables relate to internal resources and party
characteristics; the latter are in relation to the political,
legislative, and competitive situation, to media, and
especially to the peculiarities of the electorate.
In particular, it is relevant to assess the expectations,

desires, and perceptions of potential voters (Pilotti,
Ganzaroli & Guido, 2007). Political parties should
determine the expectations of voters, the shared
knowledge, the image of parties and candidates, the
determinants of intention to purchase, the meanings
and symbols associated with the experience of voting,
and personal and contextual variables concerning
participation in political activity (Prete, 2015).
From this, the overall research problem focuses on

the comprehension of strategic positioning of a political
brand and recognition of factors that can affect both the
desired and perceived positioning of that brand.
Overall research problem: How can the strategic

stance of a political brand best be understood, and what
are the factors that subsequently affect the positioning of
a political brand?
On the basis of this research problem, the sub-

research questions in the following sections were
developed.
1.4.1 Formulation of research question 1
RQ1: Do political brands adopt strategic

archetypes/stances in the same manner
as conventionally branded products and
services?
Firstly, the aim to develop and strategically position

a political brand is strictly connected with the need for
marketing research. It is a subsequent consideration of
the expectations, desires, thought patterns, level of
involvement, and understanding of potential voters.
Within this approach, in which the voter is

compared to the consumer and the party and candidates
are compared to companies, is the transition from being
product oriented to sales oriented, and market oriented
(Lees-Marshment, 2001; Shama, 1976; Smith &
Saunders, 1990).
Therefore, the starting point for this research was

the exploration of political party strategic orientations.
Research question 1 was formulated as follows:
RQ1: Do political brands adopt strategic

archetypes/stances in the same manner as
conventionally branded products and services?
Parties and politicians should therefore use

marketing tools and communication to convey the
expectations and perceptions of voters toward their
political offerings and provide solutions to those

demands and problems.
RQ2: Does the positioning/stance of a political

party change over time, and how can this
be measured and evaluated?
Political advertising and all forms of communication

in general offered by the party or the candidate should
try to influence the perceptions of the electorate and be
measured through research activity (Baines, Harris &
Lewis, 2002). Because a political party is an
organization and not a firm, the relationship between
planned and perceived positioning is fluid and unstable;
thus, it can change over time.
Political parties and/or candidates that do not

consider possible discrepancies between planned and
perceived positioning and possible changes over time
could give rise to frustration and disappointment within
the electorate, both of which increase the perception of
political hypocrisy (Prete et al., 2015).
RQ2: Does the positioning/stance of a political party

change over time, and how can this be measured and
evaluated?
This research aimed to offer a systematic and

practical way for political party organizations and
researchers to learn from consumer feedback in order to
fill the gap between political party positioning and
perceived positioning when developing a consistent

political brand.
Therefore, this study will explore interrelations

between a political party‘s positioning in two different
periods, before and after the decision to run for the
election, in order to discover possible discrepancies over
time.
RQ3: Do adverse events and external elements

affect the positioning of a political
brand?
Both parties and candidates must design a political

brand that can differentiate and be easily distinguishable
from that of their opponents with the goal of being
preferred by potential voters, especially those who are
undecided or volatile.
The political party or candidate must be able to

personify the proposed values and issues and to
associate their name with the precise aim of creating an
orientation symbol (Schweiger & Adami, 1999).

brand because there is an unspoken promise to
consumers that their trust in the brand will be respected.
This leaves the brand owner exposed to considerable
reputational risk (Buer, 2002; Van Ham, 2001).
Specific brand value or brand equity is constantly

affected by its respective firm‘s actions. A
better‐educated and informed pool of consumers
demanding a higher level of corporate social
responsibility and ethics (Egri & Ralston, 2008) can
quickly detect any negative event and associate it with
the brand image.

RQ3: Do adverse events and external elements affect

the positioning of a political brand?
In this sense, political marketing can not only play

the role of providing guidance and assistance regarding
the general or merely tactical aspects of the political
campaign but also can exercise an important role in
shaping the strategy of the campaign policy (Bradshaw,
1995; Medvic, 2001, 2006).
RQ4: How do brand strategies affect the

frequency and quality of communication
used by political parties to position
themselves?
As to political brand building, even before actions

and political programs, political parties and politicians
should create the experience of political scenarios
through communication, which will help establish the
criteria and terms of comparison with which the
activities of the party or politicians are assessed (Guido,
2005, 2015). This will reduce rather than bridge the gap
between the perceptions and expectations of the voters.
Post-modern political campaigns are defined by the

use of new electronic and digital media (Norris, 2002;
Prete, 2007). New communication channels have
provided more opportunities for actors and
policymakers to disseminate news and information of
interest. This has made it necessary within the design of
political communication to choose the optimal form of
media to spread political messages.
The Internet is a highly effective channel for political

communication (Bimber & Davis, 2003; Norris, 2003)
because it requires the user (i.e., the consumer) to take
action in order to visit the websites and blogs of political
parties and candidates. Other more traditional media
(billboards, e-paper, and the presence of politicians on
television) are less targeted and can therefore be more
invasive, reaching people who are not interested in

politics. Although exposure to the majority of mass
media can be both voluntary and involuntary, exposure
to a website, a blog, or any web-related social media is
deliberate and requires a degree of interest and active
involvement.
Therefore, there is a risk of involving only restricted

groups of the population. A successful message needs to
be spread in several ways; a message that goes viral in
the fastest way possible is more likely to reach both
potential supporters and undecided subjects (Vaccari,
2008).
The complexity of the Web 2.0 approach does not lie

in technology: creating a website can be done quickly via
a variety of open-source platforms that are easily
accessible and free to all; however, the construction of a
network of active users and stakeholders is a much
longer and more complex process. Building a network
requires establishing relationships and trust between
individuals who often do not know each other before
they meet online (Coleman & Wright, 2008).
In particular, political blogs represent not only an

additional communication channel but also an
instrument for spreading editorial content and
messages, which can virally infect more traditional
media channels.
The extended reach and immediacy of new media

platforms have increased the ability of politicians to
communicate and spread political messages, especially if
readability and comprehension fit the target. A key task
for any political party or politician is to make a blog

understandable and easy to read to ignite and spread the
right viral effect. To reach this goal, writers must
consider both their content and their target audience.
RQ4: How do brand strategies affect the frequency

and quality of communication used by political parties to
position themselves?
Each research question was written after the

academic literature on political marketing was reviewed
to acquire pertinent and necessary data from the fields
of political marketing, communications, and
management for this study.
The four research questions have been examined and

addressed through my writing of four academic papers,
which have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
1.5 Methodology
Academic research papers use either the quantitative

or qualitative approach. With quantitative studies, a
deductive approach is used in which the researcher
ideally identifies a theory that relates to the topic being
studied, develops hypotheses based on this theory, and
then tests those hypotheses with data that either
confirms the hypotheses or debunks it.
The steps of a quantitative approach are generally

fixed and follow a classical structure including an
introduction, theoretical framework, conceptual model
and hypotheses, methods, results, discussion,
implications for future research, and limitations.
The qualitative approach is quite different and

follows an inductive approach, which is needed to
advance and build a theory. The process usually starts
with an observation within a specific interest or area of
research by identifying trends and patterns, formulating
a tentative hypothesis, and finally formulating a theory
or model.
Paper number 1 ―How customer and product

orientations shape political brands‖ follows this second
approach. The political environment was observed and
studied, and then a theory of consumer and product
orientation was utilized to both understand a different
way of communication and to strategize how politicians
can better position and present themselves to the public
and voters.
In the first paper, four strategic orientation

archetypes (as originally presented by Berthon et al.,
1999) were adapted and analyzed, with particular focus
on politicians and political brand. This paper presents a
theoretical framework by which political strategists can
use environmental understandings to better position
political brands. Further, it is proposed that influence in
political endeavors happens in a bi-directional manner,
where politicians are influenced by voter sentiment and
voters are influenced by politicians. By using a careful
analysis of the environment, politicians can better

manage this relationship.
Paper number 2 applied mixed research methods,

combining quantitative and qualitative methods, which
is increasingly recognized as valuable because it can
potentially capitalize on the respective strengths of
quantitative and qualitative approaches.
The research completed a content analysis of a vast

number of comments published by supporters of the
Italian politician Beppe Grillo, with a focus on the
theories of political party positioning and perceived
positioning. The analysis was conducted using a
Bayesian machine-learning technique utilizing
Leximancer software. The results were discussed and the
gap identified, which opened the door for future
research and models for understanding and measuring
the gap between political positioning and perceived
positioning.
Paper 3 is a qualitative paper. We wanted to

determine whether or not the negative impact of a
political brand can influence a country‘s brand.
To reach the target, we studied the impact of a

negative image of political leaders, especially the head of
a government or state. In our case, this was Mr.
Berlusconi (Italy) and the study of how his perceived
image could damage both public and private sectors. We
then paired the negative image with the fall of the Italian
country brand index over time.
The fourth paper tried to measure how the quality,

readability, and frequencies of political messages could
provide insight into the effectiveness of viral
communication using a political blog.
The blog under analysis was divided into two

different phases: the former entries were intended to
discuss political topics and were written by a non-
political contributor; the latter were posts written by an
active politician. We measured the results, and our
findings indicated that levels of readability of
communications might deteriorate significantly when a
blog becomes political and the communication becomes
more institutional.
1.6 Layout of individual papers
Following the research questions, this final

dissertation is composed of four separate papers, which
were published in international peer-reviewed journals.
Each paper aimed at exploring the political brand
positioning field.
In figure 1, the research questions‘ structures are

defined in order to explain the consecutio of the four
different themes observed.
Figure 1 Research questions’ structures
How can the strategic stance of a political brand best

be understood, and what are the factors that
subsequently affect the positioning of a political
brand?
Framework
• Paper 1 RQ1: Do political brands

adopt strategic archetypes/ stances like
conventional branded products and
services?
Internal analysis and methodology
• Paper 2 RQ2: Does the

positioning/stance of a political party
change over time and how can this be
measured and evaluated?
• Paper 4 RQ4: How do brand
strategies affect the frequency and
quality of communication used by
political parties to position themselves?
External link
• Paper 3 RQ3: Do adverse events

and external elements affect the
positioning of political brand?
INDIVIDUAL PAPERS | 55
Chapter 2: Individual papers

56 | INDIVIDUAL PAPERS
INDIVIDUAL PAPERS | 57
List of papers
Paper 1: How customer and product orientations

shape political brands
Published in the Journal of Product & Brand

Management, 2016.
Co-authors: Emily Treen and Anjali Bal
Bigi, A., Treen, E. & Bal, A. (2016). How customer and

product orientations shape political brands. Journal of
Product & Brand Management, 25(4): 365–372.
Paper 2: Evaluating political party positioning over

time: A proposed methodology
Published in the Journal of Public Affairs, 2015.

Co-authors: Michelle Bonera and Anjali Bal
Bigi, A., Bonera, M. & Bal, A. (2015). Evaluating political

party positioning over time: A proposed methodology.
Journal of Public Affairs, 16(2): 128–139.
Paper 3: When satire is serious: How political

cartoons impact a country’s brand

Co-authors: Kirk Plangger, Michelle Bonera and Colin L.
Campbell
Bigi, A., Plangger, K., Bonera, M. & Campbell, C.L.

(2011). When satire is serious: How political cartoons
58 | INDIVIDUAL PAPERS
impact a country‘s brand. Journal of Public Affairs,

11(3): 148–155.
Paper 4: Viral political communication and

readability: An analysis of an Italian political blog
Bigi, A. (2013). Viral political communication and

readability: An analysis of an Italian political blog.
INDIVIDUAL PAPERS – Paper 1 | 59
Paper 1
60 | INDIVIDUAL PAPERS – Paper 1
INDIVIDUAL PAPERS – Paper1 | 61
2.1 Paper 1
How customer and product

orientations shape
political brands
ALESSANDRO BIGI
EMILY TREEN
ANJALI BAL
Published in
Journal of Product & Brand Management, 2016, 25(4):
365-372
How customer and product

orientations shape political brands
ALESSANDRO BIGI
Division of Industrial Marketing, KTH, Royal
Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
EMILY TREEN
Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University,
Vancouver, Canada
ANJALI BAL
Marketing Division, Babson College, Wellesley,
Massachusetts, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a
theory of consumer and product orientation in the realm
of political branding to illustrate how politicians can
choose to position and present themselves to voters. It is
evident that some politicians play an active role in
shaping the beliefs and actions of their constituents,
while others are more influenced by voter sentiment.
The effectiveness of the political strategy is highly
influenced by the market realities of the voting body in
question.
Design/methodology/approach – A dichotomy
is presented to shed light on how consumer and product
orientation might influence the way in which politicians
choose to address the public. Specifically, four modified
strategic orientation archetypes are presented and
analyzed with particular focus on political brands and
strategy.
Findings – Product and consumer orientations
have been shown to also be applicable to the strategic
positioning of political brands. While it can be argued
that no strategy is superior over another, careful
consideration of the political environment in question
and subsequent execution of an appropriate stance can
be used to better manage the relationship between the
electorate and politicians.
Research limitations/implications – This study
provides academics in this area with a comprehensive
examination of strategic orientation literature in
political contexts, and lays out a strong groundwork for

future studies. In this burgeoning area of research, there
are several opportunities for marketing and political
strategy academics to dive deeper into the intricacies
that drive politicians to adopt specific strategic
orientations, and how these strategies evolve over time
and in differing political environments.
Practical implications – This analysis suggests
that there are opportunities for political strategists to
explore the relationship between the identified strategic
orientations and political brands, and for political
marketing scholars to investigate the modes of focus
presented.
Originality/value – This analysis provides better
understanding of how politicians can influence voters
and voters can influence political brands, and how the
strategic orientation archetypes can be used to influence
decisions about political strategy.
Keywords
Market orientation, Marketing strategy, Customer
orientation, Political branding, Political positioning,
Political strategy, Product orientation, Strategic
orientation framework
Some politicians follow and respond to voter

concerns. Others shape voter concerns by their actions
and strategies. It has been noted, for example, that as
Americans increasingly did not support the war in Iraq
after 2003, politicians also began to voice concerns and
withhold their support. By understanding voter
apprehensions, these politicians amended their political
strategies. More Democratic congressional candidates
than Republicans opposed the war in Iraq, which shaped
subsequent voting decisions, and many American
selected Democratic candidates. In this case, political
strategies shaped voter behavior (Bianco and Canon,
2014). That is not always the case. History shows that
while some politicians serve voters, others shape them,
still others hold dialogs with them, and a few [. . .]
simply ignore them.
Political scientists note four main sources of public
opinion (Bianco and Canon, 2014). First, there is
socialization, in which people learn their opinions from
family and culture. Second, events can cause people to
reconsider and revise their opinions in response to
major changes in their environments. Next, groups that
individuals belong to and define themselves by, such as
sexual orientation, race, employment situations and the
like can shape peoples‘ opinions. This usually occurs
because people learn about politics from those around
them (e.g. a labor union) because those who are ―like‖
them (the ―Principle of Liking‖, Cialdini, 1993) influence
them more than others, or because politicians target
their strategies at particular groups (e.g. labor, the
wealthy, the elderly). Finally, some politicians and other

political actors shape opinions, and thereby win support.
They are able to do this because they are perceived to
have power or expertise.
In the expanding landscape of marketing research,
political parties have become a highly examined topic of
interest, and political brands have been and continue to
be assessed under much the same criteria as commercial
marketing interactions. Since Hunt‘s (1976) proposition
of more liberal constraints of possible areas of marketing
research to include any interaction between two parties
capable and willing to participate in an exchange of
value, the scope of acceptable areas of marketing
research has expanded to include political branding.
While marketing scholars, such as Kotler (1975), support
political and commercial marketing contexts as being
largely similar, other parties, such as O‘Shaughnessy
(2001), recognize that political and business realms are
not completely equal and marketing is less relevant in
politics than some believe. Each side has a case for
whether political and commercial marketing are similar
enough to warrant interdisciplinary comparison,
discussion and analysis, but it can be argued that the bi-
directional relationship and interactions between the
public and politicians are factors that influence political
strategy and actions of the electorate. There may be
differences in the political and business landscapes that
make marketing across each discipline not completely
analogous; however, the two are as dissimilar as two
neighboring cities and not distant planets.
The question of whether politicians succeed by

understanding the needs of the electorate and
responding to them, or if they shape the preferences of
voters by means of their strategies is a fundamental one
in political marketing. Answering this question not only
has powerful practical application to those who devise
political marketing strategies, it also raises interesting
research and theoretical issues for political marketing
scholars. There is a conceptual framework in the
strategic marketing literature that considers these issues
in depth, but it is one that has been overlooked by
political marketing researchers. The purpose of this
research, therefore, is to introduce this framework to the
political marketing literature, to show how it can explain
political marketing strategies and the positioning of
political brands and to lay foundation for further inquiry
into using these marketing orientations to shape
political brands. We begin by introducing the framework
and reviewing the relevant literature that has sprung
from it. Then we use the framework to illustrate the
strategies of four well-known kinds of political brands.
We conclude by exploring the ramifications of the
framework from practical political marketing
standpoints and by identifying avenues for future
research.
Customer orientation, product orientation and

the strategic orientation framework Customer
orientation
Many marketing textbooks of the 1980s and 1990s
taught that organizational success was to be achieved by
finding out what customers wanted, and then finding a
way to give it to them. This point of view was called a
customer orientation, or a market orientation, and it
argued that by doing marketing research, firms would
find out what customers needed, and then be able to
develop the offerings that would best satisfy these needs
and lead to the attainment of organizational goals. At the
same time, these textbooks eschewed an alternative
viewpoint on the direction of the organization called a
product orientation. By focusing on the offering itself
and only then trying to find a market for it,
organizations would be caught flatfooted by markets
that did not want the product, service or idea – ―the
better mousetrap that nobody wanted‖.
Customer- or market-orientation thinking led to an
extensive stream of research in the marketing literature,
particularly in the 1990s. Researchers such as Narver
and Slater (1990), Narver et al. (1990), Narver and
Slater (1991), Slater and Narver (1995) and Kohli and
Jaworski (Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Kohli and Jaworski,
1990; Kohli et al., 1993) devoted considerable effort to
conceptualizing the construct of market orientation and
to the development of scales with which to measure it.
This enabled these researchers to not only identify the
antecedents of the construct but also to demonstrate
that marketing orientation had a positive effect on a

range of important strategic variables in organizations,
such as profitability, growth and market share. This has
led to a substantial body of work by other researchers
over the past20 years, who used these concepts and
scales to investigate abroad range of other
organizational variables in many contexts (Deshpande
and Farley, 1998; Deshpande et al., 1993, 1997; Pitt et
al., 1996; Özturan et al., 2014; Wei et al., 2014).
Product orientation
However, at the same time that the market

orientation research was receiving so much scholarly
and practitioner attention, real-world evidence as well as
empirical academic work was showing that under
certain circumstances, a product orientation could be
more effective. For example, Ford of Europe built the
Mk4 Escort around extensively ―broad‖ and ―deep‖
market research, but when launched, the car was poorly
received by both customers and journalists; sales volume
had to be built through heavy discounting (Martin and
Faircloth, 1995). As a result, Ford then consciously
eschewed market-research input (Car, 1997), and stated
that it would be a product-led rather than a market- or
customer-led company (Bulgin, 1997). The popular
business press is replete with quotes from renowned
entrepreneurs who openly eschew a customer
orientation. Apple founder, the late Steve Jobs said,
―You can‘t just ask customers what they want and then
try to give that to them. By the time you get it built,
they‘ll want something new‖ (Burlingham and Gendron,
1989). Cirque du Soleil‘s founder Guy Laliberte

contends, ―We‘ve done audience surveys that included
questions such as, ‗What acts do you like? Can you order
them?‘ [. . .] If I take this to Creative, they will throw me
out‖ (Delong and Vijayaraghavan, 2002). And renowned
el Bulli chef Ferran Adria simply puts it this way:
―Creativity comes first; then comes the customer‖
(Norton et al., 2009).
Just as the market orientation literature suggests
significant links between market orientation and
organizational performance, there is equally strong
evidence of the importance of innovation (or more
simply, a product orientation) to good performance
(Capon et al., 1988, 1992; Deshpande et al., 1993, 1997).
This implies that offerings precede needs and create
their own demand by changing the way customers
behave. Everyday evidence of this is plentiful: whereas
just 10 years ago passengers on public transport would
have been reading newspapers, conversing with others
or sending simple text messages on cell phones,
nowadays the great majority are checking emails,
playing games, engaging in social media or surfing the
Internet on smartphones. This is unlikely to be
something that consumers could have foreseen or asked
for. Many scholars have emphasized the fundamental
significance of innovation to organizational success.
More than 80 years ago, Schumpeter (1934) contended
that innovations created by companies were the drivers
of economic evolution and progress, while Nonaka and
Yamanouchi (1989) offer evidence that new offerings are

essential to companies‘ ability to renew themselves.
An integrated conceptual framework
There are many examples of situations in which both

asking customers what they wanted and giving it to them
have failed. Similar examples exist of expecting
innovative products conceptualized with little market
research to flourish, which have also failed. In the case
of the former, Eli Lilly‘s launch of Humulin, the first
human equivalent of insulin, was accorded an
indifferent market response (Christensen, 1997).
Humulin had been developed in response to the
requirements of the foremost endocrinologists and
diabetes specialists. These lead users disclosed that
there was a large, untapped market for 100per cent pure
insulin – not the variety extracted from pork, which had
impurities that led to insulin resistance in some patients.
However, the specialists tended to treat a far greater
proportion of diabetics with pork insulin resistance,
whereas most other medical practitioners saw diabetics
without resistance problems, for whom pork-based
insulin was quite effective. They had no need to
prescribe Humulin and the product performed poorly in
the market place. A customer orientation did not do Lilly
much good.
When Steve Jobs was asked to step down from Apple
in the late 1980s, he founded Next to produce a desktop
computer. The Next products were technologically far
superior to the alternatives at the time, in terms of both
hardware and software. However, the product failed and

was withdrawn from the market mainly because
customers just did not get it. Market orientationists
would declare that Next suffered from technological
myopia (Hill and Jones, 1998), as managers were so
enthused by the wizardry of the product that they
ignored basic market realities, and, of course, the
customer. A superior product does not always succeed.
Berthon et al. (1999) argue that customer and
innovation orientations are not ―either-or‖ alternatives,
and that the potential relationship between them is of a
two-way nature. There is an information flow from
customers to innovative offerings not only by means of
traditional market research but also through informal
knowledge and market observation by managers and
others. Likewise, there is a flow of information from
innovative technology to customers, and this has the
potential to change perceptions, expectations and
preferences. These changes may reshape the way people
live, the way society is structured and the manner in
which human beings conceptualize themselves – either
positively or negatively (Wiener, 1954; Mander, 1991).
Thus, Berthon et al. (1999) argue that managers and
their companies learn from the market, and the market
(customers) learns from new technologies and
associated products (Carpenter and Nakamoto, 1989;
Carpenter et al., 1994). As a result of the presence of this
two-way flow of information for every product or service
in every market to a greater or lesser extent, Berthon et
al. (1999) suggest that by dichotomizing these
dimensions, four archetypal configurations can be

identified for any marketing entity. Although for any one
organization, the degree of focus on innovation, product
and/or the customer can vary substantially. The two-by-
two matrix in Figure 1 illustrates the various modes of
focus that an organization can have. Of course, the
notion of the organization is equally transferable to
individual offerings (products or services), brands and
even, we would argue, individuals (in the case of
politicians).
Figure 1 Strategic orientation archetypes
High
Follower Interact
Customer
Orientation
Isolate Shaper
Low
Product
Low High
Orientation
Source: (modified from Berthon et al., 1999)
In the next section, we extend the two-by-two matrix

into the political sphere to illustrate the applicability of
strategic orientation archetypes thinking to political

leaders as brands.
Strategic orientation of political brands

Isolates
The degree of focus on either customer and/or

product orientation varies substantially across different
brands in both a traditional marketing sense and a
political one. Similar to the orientation of an isolated
organization, the strategic orientation of political leaders
falling under the label of ―isolate‖ encompasses the
conceptual structure of low customer- and product-focus
strategies. In this quadrant, the organization or political
brand focuses solely on itself and neither relies on
feedback from customers nor attempts to create an
offering that will create a market of demand. In the
absence of democracy, for example, there may be little
motivation for leaders to respond to or attempt to
influence public sentiment. As a result, isolates are
exemplified in several historical and contemporary
examples of absolute monarchies.
Historically, political strategies emulating the
orientation of isolates were common, due to the periodic
superfluity of near-absolutism within empires and
kingdoms, and the European belief in the Divine Right
of Kings. While some political influence often lays with
the nobility, either elected or royally appointed,
systematic democracy with an even distribution of
power was often flawed or nonexistent (Bragg,2007).
Many examples, such as the ancient Chinese dynasties,

Roman Emperors and European monarchs, such as King
Louis XVI demonstrate the practical application of a
political strategic orientation that would seemingly only
be successful in the absence of democracy (Wilson,
2000). Today, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of
only seven remaining absolute monarchies in the world
(Batniji et al., 2014), where the royal king serves as both
head of state and head of government. The Saudi
Arabian kingship has been passed exclusively through
the sons of the founder of the state, and political
participation, although mostly limited to advising the
king, lies entirely with the male members of the House
of Saud and leading religious figures (Blair, 2015).
Issues that directly affect the general population, such as
foreign policy, national defense, international affairs,
government budget, finance and health, are discussed
among only a few appointed officials, with decisions
ultimately being made by the king (Ochsenwald, 2016).
According to Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute
of Gulf Affairs, the priorities of the king are to keep the
family happy, to avoid familial infighting that could
jeopardize the dynasty. He says, ―You will see more
members of the family getting a greater share of the pie,
the political, economic pie, at the expense of the people‖
(―How will the new King‖, 2015). Offering his opinion
about the future make-up of the political landscape, Al-
Ahmed indicates that the strategic orientation will
remain unchanged and the would-be electorate will
remain silenced.
The lack of an electorate within the country

illustrates the composition of a political strategy that
does not need to react to or shape public opinion in
order to stay in power.
Followers
The strategic orientation of the follower is

characterized by focusing intently on customer needs
and reacting to them, and concentrating less on
innovation or shaping consumer preferences through its
offerings. The follower is epitomized by politicians
whose campaign tactics are influenced by listening to
and addressing, or at least promising to address, the
public‘s concerns, to sway the electorate to vote in their
favor. Politicians are elected to serve and represent the
citizens, as true democracies operate on the basis of an
even distribution of power among the people (Laxer,
2009). It is expected that democratic political leaders
listen to the electorate and shape decisions based upon
the public‘s need sand expressed sentiments.
One example of a follower-style political strategy can
be drawn from the United Kingdom, where in a by-
election, the Labour Party narrowly won (by only 697
votes) over the United Kingdom Independent Party.
After the unexpected close call, Labour leader, Ed
Miliband vowed to ―listen and deliver‖ based on voters‘
concerns (Mason, 2014). Miliband and his party
recognized that the uncharacteristically marginal win
indicated that the group‘s previous significant majority
was no longer inevitable, and that a large number of
voters were feeling unheard by the party (Mason, 2014).

To avoid another near-miss, Miliband and his group
identified that are evaluation of the party‘s strategy
would be needed to adhere to the electorate‘s most
pressing concerns.
If politicians do not attend to the genuine concerns
of the general populace, this can create significant push-
back from those who are being ignored. An example of
this is from the Canadian province of Prince Edward
Island, where the mayor of the city of Cornwall
commended the efforts of the premier of the province
and his cabinet for ―sticking to their vision in the face of
considerable opposition‖ (Fullerton, 2013). This was in
regard to the premier‘s choice to move ahead with
upgrades to a section of the province‘s highway, even
though a significant proportion of citizens opposed its
construction due to environmental concerns (Province
releases Plan B properties list, 2012). At one point,
protesters held a rally, coined ―the death of democracy‖,
and many camped in front of the construction zone,
exhibiting their contempt for being disregarded
(Province releases Plan B properties list, 2012).
A letter to the editor in response to the mayor‘s
comments effectively illustrates the incongruity between
the premier‘s actions and the mayor‘s praise, and the
role of politicians as servants to the public. The author
expresses that ignoring the public is not ―something to
be commended‖, but rather that ―the best politicians
listen carefully to the electorate‖ (Campbell, 2013).
Hinting at the rationality of the strategic orientation of
the follower, he explains that politicians must listen to

and act for the public because ―citizens experience the
brunt and grace of political decisions. We are experts in
the consequences of political decisions‖ (Campbell,
2013).
Shapers
In the traditional mode of the shaper in an

organizational context, the strategy is represented by a
low customer-orientation and high product orientation
in that the organization provides something for which
there is not yet an established market or demand. In the
context of political branding, the essence remains the
same in that the politician is able to mold the opinions of
the electorate, even against strong opposing viewpoints.
The quintessential orientation of a shaper is that of a
politician who has the ability to influence, and perhaps
completely alter public opinion, without coercion. In a
prototypical example, one can examine the effect that
Winston Churchill had on the ultimate success of Great
Britain during the Second World War, even as he was
surrounded by whispers of uncertainty from Parliament
and a skeptical public, who considered defeat at the
hands of the Nazis inevitable (Best, 2011).
After British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
resigned early in the war in 1940, Churchill was not the
first choice to replace him. However, he was eventually
offered the position after it was turned down by the
expected replacement. Unlike his predecessor, Churchill
was very much against appeasement with Germany and
refused to accept, as others had, that Great Britain had

to admit defeat. Not only did Churchill persuade the
cabinet and parliament that Britain could emerge
victorious from the war but he was also able to instill his
vision of unfailing bravery and perseverance into the
British people (Best, 2011). Churchill‘s unwavering
tenacity, reassuring public demeanor and inspiring
public speeches, united the people of Britain and those
who had opposed his appointment as prime minister
now stood behind him. With the government and the
people‘s support, Churchill secure dallies and changed
the country‘s military approach from sluggish and
defensive to an aggressive attack that greatly impacted
the country‘s ability to win the war (Best, 2011).
Initially considered a warmonger by many, Churchill
managed to sway the British government and people to
believe that the challenges facing them could be
overcome, and transformed ubiquitous despondency
into hope and courage across Great Britain. When
almost no one else subscribed to the same thought, he
managed to shape not only minds and military tactics
but also the course of history.
Interacts
Interacts establish a bi-directional dialogue by not

only attempting to listen to customers (or voters) but
also attempting to shape customer wants (or public
opinion), and are depicted by high levels of both
customer and product-orientation. Political interacts
epitomize a hybrid stance between followers and
shapers, which has become more prolific since the

advent of the Internet and its subsequent use in political
campaigning. Indeed, it is now viewed by many as a
necessity within primary and presidential elections for
candidates to have strong online presences. It was not
long ago, however, that those implementing online
strategies were pioneers in the practice (Deighton and
Kornfeld, 2008).
During the 2008 Democratic Party‘s primary run,
Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton relied
heavily on the Internet to spread their messages, listen
to voters and secure funding. Both candidates used the
new medium to empower individual users and engage in
conversations with the electorate in an intimate fashion
that had never before been possible (Deighton and
Kornfeld, 2008).
This bi-directional communication allowed both
senators to not only understand the concerns of the
electorate but also feed users‘ inboxes, YouTube
accounts and other social media streams with the
candidates‘ policies, stances on important issues and
useful information. The engagement and responsiveness
that these strategies allotted in each campaign were
primarily intended not only to inform and influence the
electorate‘s stances on issues but also to vote and
contribute financially. In addition, these tactics also
propagated high levels of user-generated content
(Deighton and Kornfeld, 2008).
User-generated content encompassed a different
method of message distribution than the traditional
means, in that the production and circulation came from

users in a bottom-up fashion, instead of top-down. As a
result, each candidate experienced both beneficial and
unfavorable consequences relating to how users
represented them online (Deighton and Kornfeld,
2008). On the positive side for both candidates,
YouTube became a significant avenue with which to
engage voters in the comfort of their own homes. The
video-sharing website was also accessible to thousands
of supporters who acted as ambassadors and
exponentially disseminated each candidate‘s vision.
While Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama
experienced differing results through similar tactics
(Obama‘s online campaign garnered more support, and
he ultimately won the primary), both candidates
followed similar strategies. In both campaigns, the
efforts were distributed between listening to and
delivering upon the public‘s needs, while simultaneously
shaping the electorate‘s mindset, and providing an
excellent illustration of the strategic orientation of
interacts.
It is evident that for each strategic orientation, there
are both challenges and benefits to pursuing one over
the other in the context of political brands. The
consequences can impact both the political leader and
the people, and the same strategy may have differing
effects on each side. These political stances that embody
differing orientations often change in their prevalence
through time, and even from country to country, and
none is necessarily completely independent of one

another.
Strategic archetypes: observations and

directions
A cursory examination of the strategic orientation
archetypes grid in Figure 1 might suggest that an isolate
stance is obviously the least desirable, and that an
interact posture is optimal. Berthon et al. (1999) argue
that this is an oversimplification, and that there is no
one ―best stance‖. Rather, the stance that an
organization adopts should be contingent on the
environment in which it finds itself.
For example, outside of the political sphere, these
authors suggest that even an isolate stance can
sometimes be appropriate. For example, a mining
company would probably not benefit from doing
marketing research to find out what customers needed,
when all it really produces is a basic raw material.
Similarly, it could not really shape customer behavior
and preferences because it only has access to a basic raw
material. So its best option is to have an internal focus or
to be isolated from both external innovation and
customers. This does not mean that innovation or
indeed some other direction of focus is unimportant –
merely that it should be internally focused. Because
commodity markets, and not the firm, determine the
prices of most raw materials, a mining company‘s main
focus will probably be on lowering costs and pursuing

any internal innovations that would make this possible.
Likewise, while an interact stance might seem ideal,
Berthon et al. (1999) point out that these types of
strategies are substantially more expensive than others
and are complex and difficult to manage. Usually, they
are only well-pursued in the case of products for which
there has to be a high level of buyer commitment, so that
examples would include bespoke classic automobiles
such as Bugatti and Duesenberg, and Airbus‘s
production and marketing of the giant AX380. Likewise,
the strategies pursued in the Democratic campaigns
referred to above required considerable resources and
skills to execute.
In the political sphere, political brand strategists
would do well to note that neither followers nor shapers
always win. In the recent British general elections, the
Labour Party, despite its follower stance, fared badly.
While Churchill led the country successfully through the
Second World War, after the war, the electorate seemed
to prefer a party that would listen to their post-conflict
concerns, and Churchill‘s Conservatives lost the election;
although, his party was reelected the following election.
The issues discussed above suggest that there are
opportunities for political strategists to consider
exploring, and political marketing scholars to investigate
with regard to the modes of focus identified. First,
political brand strategists and political marketing
scholars might find it useful and insightful to measure
and gauge the stance within a party or political entity.
Berthon et al. (2003) provide a scale that enables both

researchers and practitioners to gauge and assess an
organization‘s stance that could easily be adapted for use
by political parties and political brands. The key
strategic question then becomes not whether the stance
is the right one, but whether it is appropriate for the
environmental conditions in which the party or brand
finds itself. If it is, then the party or brand must both
reinforce and maintain the mode of focus; if it is not
appropriate, then strategists need to identify the more
move into that direction.
Second, like for-profit brands (Berthon et al., 1999,
cite companies such as Boeing, AOL and Microsoft as
examples), astute political marketing strategists would
do well to note that changes in stance over time might be
opportune, contingent on environmental conditions in
the political marketplace. So for example, Churchill
might have done well to change his stance from that of a
shaper after the Second World War, a shaper stance was
perfectly appropriate in a time of crisis when people
wanted to be led from the front. However, when the
crisis was over, the public wanted to be listened to after
enduring a lot of hardship to achieve a national
objective. As his party was eventually reelected, it could
be argued that a necessary change in stance was
identified and followed, leading to a successful election.
Just as Boeing Aircraft Corporation adopted a shaper
stance in innovating the 707, then shifted to a follower
stance in marketing the 747, and more recently has been
an interact in the cases of the 777 and the 787

Dreamliner, political brands might also find it
advantageous to shift modes of focus as markets evolve.
It might also be possible for political brands to
exploit a ―portfolio‖ of stances aligned to different target
audiences. For example, while Toyota exploited a
follower stance in the case of Lexus, its RAV4 SUV was
more of a shaper product (not really a genuine off-road,
four-wheel drive vehicle like the Land Cruiser, but also
not a saloon car). More recently, the company has used
the Internet extensively in an effort to interact with
consumers on its Scion range. In developing markets,
the company has also marketed a very simple pickup
style vehicle that can be turned into a passenger
minibus. This is done with very little real product
development and no reliance on marketing research
whatsoever, making it a typical isolate product. It would
be quite feasible for a political brand, at least, in a
democracy, to follow certain voters (probably hose
committed to the party), shape others (perhaps the
undecided) and interact with yet others (perhaps
corporations and major donors).
By virtue of the increase in two-way communication
through the Internet, voter sentiment has an
increasingly powerful role in political strategy and
decision-making. However, not all politicians benefit
from granting ultimate power to constituent opinions. In
countless political situations, congruent voter sentiment
has not led to victory for a political party. However,
politicians who are most able to adapt to the political
environment would likely be able to more accurately use

the appropriate political stance(s) for their given
situation. These politicians may then be better
positioned in the minds of constituents, as their agility
and foresight allow them to appeal more accurately to
the needs of the electorate.
Conclusion
Considerable scholarly research in marketing has been
dedicated to supporting the concept of customer
orientation strategy. This ability to listen, react and
adapt to customer preferences has long been thought to
be the difference between successful and unsuccessful
companies. Over the past few decades, attention has
been directed toward the product orientation as a
valuable strategy for many firms, placing less focus on
the customer-oriented models that have dominated the
marketing and organizational strategy landscape. It is
based on these two strategic orientations that the
integrated conceptual framework is derived and used to
illustrate the similarities between the organizational and
political settings. The dichotomous matrix is presented
and assessed against political brands and environments
to demonstrate its efficacy in illustrating possible
political strategies. The strategic orientation framework
defines political leaders by their level of customer and
product orientation and divides political leaders into
isolates, followers, shapers and interacts. Each mode of
strategic orientation presents its challenges and
opportunities, and none needs to be mutually exclusive.
As with organizational strategies, the political

orientation may be altered as the environment,
resources and other factors change over time. It is this
ability to balance current voter needs and sentiments
with internal insights, knowledge and anticipation of the
changing political landscape that will ultimately
determine the political strategy and success. Further, it
is proposed that influence in political endeavors
happens in a bi-directional manner where both
politicians are influenced by voter sentiment and voters
are influenced by politicians. Using a careful analysis of
the changing environment, political brands can better
manage this relationship.
Avenues for future research
This paper provides crucial insights into the political

marketing landscape, using an established marketing
matrix to illustrate the various strategies of political
figures and discussing the implications of each. The
concept of customer and product orientations being
combined as viable strategies in marketing has only
recently been gaining traction in the organizational
context, so there is still much room for political
strategists and researchers to conduct in-depth studies
into the implications of the strategic archetypes on
political leaders. There is a need for further development
and theoretical contributions that uncover the specific
factors that could determine the most effective strategic
orientation in a certain context, and also to discover
patterns of how strategic brands evolve under different
circumstances and over time.
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INDIVIDUAL PAPERS Paper 2| 97
Paper 2
2.2 Paper 2
Evaluating political party

positioning over time: a
proposed methodology
ALESSANDRO BIGI
MICHELLE BONERA
ANJALI BAL
Published in
Journal of Public Affairs, 2015, 16(2)128-139
INDIVIDUAL PAPERS Paper 2 | 101
Evaluating political party

positioning over time: a proposed
methodology
ALESSANDRO BIGI
Division of Industrial Marketing, KTH, Royal
Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
MICHELLE BONERA
University of Brescia, Economics and Management,
Brescia, Italy
ANJALI BAL
Marketing Division, Babson College, Wellesley,
Massachusetts, USA
Abstract
In this article, we propose a methodology in order to
measure political positioning and constituent
perception. Political leaders should be able to effectively
define the distinctive characteristics of their political
brand and to subsequently utilize the most appropriate
mechanisms of communication to promote an accurate
perception of political image in the market. The specific
aim of this research is to explore interrelations between
a political party‘s positioning in two different periods in
order to discover possible discrepancies and changes
over time. The official blog of a political party,
containing both official communication and the people‘s
feedback, represents a perfect place in which to observe
the concepts and the values on which both the political
brand identity and image are founded. Leximancer, a
content analysis tool, was utilized to analyze
communications between a political party leader and his
or her constituents. Illustrating the methodology, the
blog of Beppe Grillo, founder of the Movimento 5 Stelle
is analyzed.
Introduction
The popularity of the blog has grown exponentially
since its origin in the late 1990s. Increasingly,
consumers and constituents are trusting blogs more and
more as a location for relevant and trustworthy news
and political information. As of 2014, an astounding 77%
of Internet users read blogs online and amazingly 81% of
consumers in the USA trust the information presented
from blogs (The Blog Economy 2014). Social media
websites such as Twitter and Facebook include blogs and
microblogs as means of allowing users to express
themselves and engage with others. While the popularity
of blogs is undeniable, there remain numerous questions
as to what a blog tells us about its creator as well as how
others might interpret meaning as positioned in the
blog. The focus of this article is to propose that blogs can
be utilized not only to gage popularity in political arenas
but also to measure political positioning and to help
politicians and political parties better represent
themselves. Kotler and Levy proposed the possible
utility of marketing for politics for the first time in 1969,
arguing that marketing, hitherto confined to businesses
and commercial organizations, could be extended to all
organizations. The marketing concept, as a general
management philosophy, has been noted as being useful
and relevant to both profit and non profit organizations
(Kotler & Zaltman, 1971; Brownlie & Saren, 1991), as
well as to a variety of other industrial contexts (Kotler,
1972; Wensley, 1990).
Kelley (1956) is generally credited with the first

usage of the term political marketing. In his view,
political marketing was virtually synonymous with
propaganda, as it was aimed essentially at persuasion.
Gronroos (1990) defined political marketing activity as
‗seeking to establish, maintain and enhance long-term
voter relationships at a profit for society and political
parties, so that the objectives of the individual political
actors and organizations involved are met. This is done
by mutual exchange and fulfilment of promises‘.
The link between politics and the marketing
discipline was also reinforced by Rothschild‘s (1978)
study on political advertising effectiveness,
segmentation, social policy, and political policy-making.
In the same period, Shama (1976) argues that many
terms used in conventional marketing, such as consumer
behavior, market segmentation, image, brand loyalty,
product concept, and product positioning, can be used
similarly in political marketing.
During the past 25 years, political marketing has
transformed from a relatively obscure subject studied by
a small group of authors and academic marketers to a
significant area of international research in
contemporary marketing. Therefore, a wide range of
academic literature has concentrated on the application
of marketing concepts and principles to politics
(Andrews, 1996; O‘ Cass, 2001; Butler & Harris, 2009;
Soberman, 2010).
Over time, short-term marketing campaigns,
designed to influence specific and limited targets at
particular periods of time (e.g., elections and voters),

have been replaced by long-term activities, which
instead seek to increase the brand image of political
parties and influence the viral effect of user-generated
content in political communication. Shifting from short-
term to long-term communication enables the creation
of a political brand. One of the first authors on this
subject, Kirchheimer (1966) suggested that viewing
parties as brands is an inevitable response to the move
from mass-based to catchall parties. Voters are less
influenced by class affiliation and more likely to act as
rational economic actors when voting (Downs, 1967). In
the past, to win an election, the catchall had to become
well-known among millions of people, fulfilling in
politics a role analogous to that of a major brand in
business (Kirchheimer, 1966).
In particular, we focus on the theories of political
party positioning and perceived positioning. This can
lend insight into the character and behavior of
organizations and their members. Consequently, the
article research questions are the following: (i) is it
possible to analyze the positioning strategy of a political
party through their blogs; and (ii) is it possible to
recognize the differences between political strategy and
the audience perception of the position? Moreover, as a
political party is an organization and not a firm, we will
note that the relationship between planned and
perceived positioning is fluid and unstable, and it can
change through time. Therefore, the aim of this research
is to explore interrelations between a political party‘s
positioning in two different periods, in order to discover

possible discrepancies over time. With the aim of
exploring these concepts, we choose to analyze the
positioning of one political party, using its main
communication tool: its blog. To this end, the article
proceeds as follows: we begin with a thorough analysis
of political positioning, then explain the use of
Leximancer as the analytical tool, go on to describe the
case study of Beppe Grillo, discuss our findings and
conclude with a discussion on implications for future
research.
Political Positioning and brand

Positioning within the marketing framework is the
act of creating an identity for your product or service in
the eyes of the consumer. Political positioning is the act
of creating an identity for a political entity. While all
aspects of marketing are important, in the political arena
positioning cannot be ignored (Harrop, 1990).
Politicians that portray a clear identity have an easier
time enticing potential voters. Political entities cue
constituents as to their brand by stating their stances on
issues of concern to voters (Mauser, 1983; Baines, 1999;
Ansolabehere, Snyder & Stewart, 2001; Smith & Hirst,
2001). Market segmentation techniques are used in
political marketing not only to choose target markets but
also to position themselves in a way that is appealing to
those target markets (Johnson, 1971; Ahmed & Jackson,
1979; Yorke & Meehan, 1986; Baines, Worcester, Jarret
& Mortimore, 2003). Voter preferences evolve, often in
conjunction with changes in social conditions and

expectations, and thus new positioning will be required
in order to construct effective campaign messages.
Political leaders who have a strong understanding of
their target market are better positioned to handle
changes within to their constituent pool.
There are numerous definitions of brand analysis of
brand, and brand image tend to focus both on the
tangible and intangible values of brands to consumers
(De Chernatony & Riley, 1998). Intangible values of a
brand to consumers are things such as customer
satisfaction and higher levels of repeat business
(Ghodeswar, 2008). The management of a political
brand and positioning meets the objective of offering a
set of tangible (e.g., political programs and political
activities) and intangible factors (e.g., services, culture,
values, and emotions) to the public. This makes up a
system that guides people‘s perceptions and behaviors.
Therefore, the process should be able to effectively
define the distinctive characteristics and positioning of
the political brand and, subsequently, activate the most
appropriate mechanisms of communication to promote
an accurate perception of the image in the market, both
in particular and in a more general context.
The perceived positioning of a political party is an
organization members‘ collective understanding of the
political ideas presumed to be central and relatively
permanent to the party; these ideas are what distinguish
the organization from other organizations. Nevertheless,
because of the reciprocal interrelationships between
political party positioning and perceived positioning,

these are relatively fluid and unstable concepts rather
than enduring ones. There must be fluidity to the notion,
otherwise, the organization stagnates in the face of an
inevitably changing environment. Perhaps most
importantly, we further argue that the instability of
positioning is actually adaptive in facilitating
organizational change in response to environmental
demands.
Perceived positioning often acts as a destabilizing
force, frequently requiring members to revisit and
reconstruct their organizational sense of self. To
examine the processes by which positioning becomes
interrelated with, and susceptible to the influence of
perceived positioning, we begin with the assumption
that organization members have developed some sense
of ‗ who we are as an organization‘ (Albert & Whetten,
1985) and have communicated that identity to internal
and external constituencies. Over time, organization
members receive feedback about their organizational
portrayal, or some event occurs that makes identity
concerns salient (cf. Dutton & Dukerich, 1991; Elsbach &
Kramer, 1996). Because organization members are also
simultaneously members of external groups and thus
sensitized to outsider views of their own organization,
the tendency to compare their views of their
organization with others‘ views is heightened further
(Hatch & Schultz, 1997).
Jackson (2004) explains that those candidates, who
use the Internet in order to reach particular groups of
people in particular areas with particular issues, are

more effective. Davis (2009) clearly points out the
growing role played by political blogs and their
relationship with the mainstream media. Blogs have
become an increasingly important source of information
for political audiences, but also for politicians and
political marketers. The official blog of a political party,
containing both official communication and the people‘s
the concepts and the values on which both the political
brand identity and image are founded. At this point, it is
interesting to explore a methodology able to evaluate the
relationship between brand positioning communicated
through the official communication channel and brand
positioning perceived by the constituents of one political
party, in order to note the differences between the two
and to verify the fluidity of the two concepts over time.
The Bayesian machine-learning-based content

analysis methodology
In order to analyze the data, we performed a form of
content analysis based on a Bayesian machine-learning
technique utilizing the Leximancer software
(www.leximancer.com). Leximancer is a tool for
transforming lexical co-occurrence information from
natural language into semantic patterns in an
unsupervised manner. Leximancer is an Australian-
developed text-mining or lexicographic tool that enables
a visual analysis of texts. Leximancer uses a machine-
learning technique to discover the main concepts in a
text and to determine how they relate to each other

(Rooney, 2005). In fact, Leximancer allows us to
perform two types of content analysis: conceptual
(thematic) and relational (semantic).
In the conceptual analysis, texts are analyzed by the
presence and frequency of the concepts contained in
them; these concepts can be words, phrases, or more
complex definitions such as a set of words representing a
concept. The software performs this analysis through its
own preset dictionary. The relational analysis, however,
measures how specific concepts relate to one another
within the text. In this case, Leximancer measures the
connections between the concepts identified in the text
and extracts information representing them through
conceptual maps. Themes that are physically closer
together or overlapping on the map are more closely
linked in the text, and brighter circles on the map
indicate the increased importance of that concept
(Robson, Farshid, Bredican, & Humphrey, 2013).
One of the advantages of Leximancer is its ability to
handle large quantities of text, including the short and
ungrammatical comments typically posted to a blog
(Smith & Humphreys, 2006). As analysis proceeds, the
software automatically learns the words that predict
certain concepts. The program generates word lists by
assessing the contextual collocations of words through
‗term-occurrence information, such as co-occurrence,
positions and frequencies of nouns and verbs‘ in text
(Kamimaeda, Izumi, & Hasida, 2007; Young & Denize,
2008), suggesting clusters of meaning based on word
groupings. Concepts that occur in very similar semantic

contexts will form clusters (Rooney, 2005).
Leximancer has been used successfully by scholars
across a number of disciplines in the social sciences
(Scott & Lane, 2000; Smith & Humphreys, 2006) and
specifically in marketing (Campbell, Pitt, Parent, &
Berthon, 2011a, 2011b; Beninger, Pitt, Parent, & Chan,
2014), where it has been especially used in order to
analyze online communication.
The case study

The political party used in order to evaluate the
relationship between political brand positioning and
political brand positioning perception is Movimento 5
Stelle, an emerging Italian political party. Beppe Grillo,
founder of the Movimento 5 Stelle, is an Italian
comedian-turned-political activist. Mr. Grillo‘s career as
a comedian started in the late 1970s and exploded in the
early 1980s, ultimately transforming him into a national
superstar. With stardom, Mr. Grillo‘s humor changed
immensely and he began to discuss controversial and
political issues across all mediums. He openly attacked
some of the most influential Italian politicians with
particular focus on their penchant for bribery. As a
result, by the early 1990s, Mr. Grillo was informally but
firmly banned from Italian television. Yet this did not
stop Mr. Grillo‘s satirizing of politicians and
corporations— his live productions were regularly sold
out and he enjoyed immense audience and critical
acclaim. In 2005, the editors of Time magazine

recognized Mr. Grillo for his contribution to political
satire and named him one of the European heroes of the
year.
In January 2005, the web provided Mr. Grillo with a
new and powerful communication channel: a blog at
beppegrillo.it. Through this site (and with the help of the
digital marketing company Casaleggio & Associati), his
popularity received yet another boost. In December
2005, less than a year after its first post, beppegrillo.it
was awarded the WWW 2005 Prize in the News and
Information category by the well-known Il Sole 24 Ore,
‗for interactivity with the public, ample documentation
on the Internet and commitment to tackling topics of
use to citizens‘. In June 2012, beppegrillo.it was the
most popular blog in Italy. During 2008, several
meetings were held that anticipated the foundation of an
official political movement. Movimento 5 Stelle was
announced and formalized on October 4, 2009,
becoming legitimate at the administrative election of
2009.
We chose to evaluate this political party specifically
because it uses the blog as an official communication
channel, basically the only one, and this means that all
the messages sent through the blog represent the
internal view of the political party team, and the answers
of the followers represent the perception of the general
public.
The focus of the analysis for this paper was
beppegrillo.it. We analyzed not only the posts of Mr.
Grillo but also the most popular user‘s comments. The

beppegrillo.it posts from January 2005 to May 2012
have been analyzed. During this period, Mr. Grillo and
his staff published 4935 posts, which included 2,572,638
words. The data containing the comments for the years
2005– 2012 contained around 19,765,000 words.
These posts have been divided into two different
periods (before and after the blog switched from
personal to political), but they both have as their central
foundation the Movimento 5 Stelle. In order to get only
significant data, we decided to analyze only the
comments receiving the most votes from readers.
Data analysis and results

For the analysis of posts, we compiled two parallel
datasets (party leader‘s posts versus comments from the
public) in order to identify possible differences or
discrepancies between the official communication
(coming from the organization and reflecting the party
brand identity) and the public opinion (expressing what
the public thinks of the party brand and depicting the
brand identity).
Figure 1 shows the result of Leximancer‘s content
analysis of Mr. Grillo‘s posts before the foundation of
Movimento 5 Stelle. The concepts extracted from the
political leader‘s posts are displayed on a concept map
that details the relative importance of concepts and the
links between them. Large circles represent key themes
from a text, while dots represent concepts. Brighter
(lighter colored) and larger themed circles and concept

dots indicate greater relevance within the text. When
concepts are close together or overlap in the map, it
means that they also appear close together in the text.
Concepts that are directly related, but not necessarily
strongly semantically linked, will be far apart on the
concept map, while concepts that are strongly
semantically linked will be close to each other on the
concept map (Rooney, 2005, pp. 410– 412). Moreover,
concepts that occur in very comparable semantic
contexts will form clusters. The researcher can then use
the concept map to guide the interpretation.
The themes represented clearly indicate the
predominance of discussions about Mr. Berlusconi,
prime minister at the time of the posts and a political
opponent. Analyzing the composition of the two
principal themes makes it clear that the message is
predominantly negative and that the leader of
Movimento 5 Stelle is creating a brand identity in
contraposition to the prime minister.
Figure 1 Concept map of the political party’s official posts in the first
period analyzed
Theme: Translation:
Berlusconi Berlusconi
giornali newspaper
governo Government
realtà reality
pubblico Public
cittadini Citizens
euro euro
legge law
persone persons
gente people
casa house
Milano Milan
mondo world
ministro minister
Paese Country
città city
The Mr. Berlusconi theme is characterized by the

following concepts (Table 1): Berlusconi, trial, mafia,
deputy public prosecutor, cabinet, trials, judges,
sentence, boss, investigation, crimes, intercept, judge,
and crime. The same negative concept apparently is not
extended to the institution and the government that are
represented by the concepts of government, politics,
politicians, politician, justice, political party, laws, and
respect. The third theme, newspapers, has a neutral
polarity. Other issues relate to the reality and the people
with their instances: true, people, person, public, home,
and country. Words linked to people are, in fact,
working, future, market, and life; those related to
citizens are Italians and democracy. Among the topics of
lesser importance, it is possible to find Milan, city, euro,

and world. It is interesting that there is not an issue
related to the environment, a subject of some
importance in the discussions of Mr. Grillo. The only
reference to this topic is the word ‗waste‘.
Table 1 Theme’s related words in the political party’s official posts in the
first period analyzed
Theme: Related words

Berlusconi Berlusconi, trial, mafia, Deputy, Public,
Prosecutor, Cabinet, trials, judges,
sentence, boss, investigation, crimes,
intercept, judge, crime
Newspaper newspaper, written, person, journalist,
grade, state, condemned
Government government, politic, politics, political,
justice, party, parties, laws, respect
Reality reality, public, publics
Public public, money, problem, society
Citizen citizen, Italians, italian
Euro Euro, millions, Italy, billions
Law law, president, Parliament
In analyzing the same conceptual map with the data

coming from public comments, several differences are
identified (Figure 2). The first aspect is the relative
unimportance assigned by the followers to Mr.
Berlusconi; this is not one of the most important themes
and is less cited than the left wing party [Partito

Democratico (PD)]. The same concepts correlated
(Table 2) to Mr. Berlusconi seem to be less aggressive
(Mr. Berlusconi and Rome). The followers are showing
more nationalism and patriotism in their comments.
Notably, the theme of ‗politics‘ is not present in the
official party posts of the same period; this topic is
related to words such as government, law, citizens,
political, left party, laws, party, public, and Italian. The
topics newspapers and people play a significant role as
in the official party posts. The terms ‗Italy‘ and ‗Italian‘
are more relevant, and huge importance is bestowed on
the country topic. Analysis of these concepts correlated
to the themes reveals a desire of belonging to a country,
as well as the desire to change a situation and the
political assets. The second element, in order of
importance, is represented by social elements. The social
themes are people, house, and words. The difference
between the identity shown by the leader of the
Movimento 5 Stelle and the perceived image is quite
clear in this first phase of the analysis.
Figure 2 Concept map of public comments in the first period analyzed
Theme: Translation:
giornali newspaper
paese country
politica politic
persone persons
vita life
commenti Comments
lavoro job
euro euro
cazzo dick
Grillo Grillo
Italia Italy
blog blog
voto voto
Roma Rome
Di Pietro Di Pietro
PD PD
Dio God
Table 2 Theme’s related words in public comments in the first period

analyzed

Newspapers newspapers, freedom, hand, future,
democracy, parliament, justice, tv, truer,
service, rights, good, problems, talk,
suggestion, media, countries, square
Country country, politics, Italians, population,
millions, Italian, public, interests, law,
society
Politic politic, government, law, citizens, left,
laws, party, public, italian, minister
Persons persons, people, family, understand, stop,
history, strength, friends

Life life, world, house, sons, respect, to live,
reality
Comments comments, person, written, words, read
Job job, money, problem, pay
Euro euro, tax, billions
Berlusconi Berlusconi, president
The second set of analyses is focalized on the second

timeframe, from January 2009 to May 2012. The
difference between the two sets is found in the more
political and electoral implications of the second data
elaboration, because of Mr. Grillo‘s decision to create a
movement in order to run for election. In this phase, Mr.
Grillo expanded his subjects without in any way
changing his personal attack style. The leader‘s
communication (Figure 3) is still negative and against
Mr. Berlusconi, even if several proactive aspects have
appeared and gained importance. There is first a key
issue that was not there before: politics. It is clear that
Mr. Grillo addresses issues that are complex and far
reaching, in a more concrete and combative style, to take
the lead in the Italian political scene and try to create a
broad base of support. In support of this, related to
politics are words (Table 3) like money, government,
politicians, newspapers, corruption, party, political, and
majority rules— concepts used by Mr. Grillo to denounce
the state of the Italian political situation. Related to the
political topic are the topics parties and parliament.
There are some central themes, such as reality,

people, and public, but the words linked to them are
different. For reality, linked words included problem,
society, respect, and talking; for people, the word home
was linked, and for public, Italians and citizens.
Moreover, there are issues that make an appearance
such as economic crisis and debt— related to the
economic crisis that is sweeping across the country—
and social issues such as death, life, world, and mafia. In
this case, surprisingly, issues related to
environmentalism are lacking, even if they are present in
the program of the political party.
Figure 3 Concept map of the political party’s official posts in the second
period analysed
Theme: Translation:
politica politic
mafia mafia
realtà reality
persone person
pubblico public
Italia Italy
mondo world
vita life
crisi crisis
debito debt
partiti parties
Parlamento Parliament
libro book
morte death
Table 3 Theme’s related words of the political party official posts in the
second period analyzed

Berlusconi Berlusconi, law, trial, crime, Cabinet,
judges, trials, President, sentence, crimes
Politic politic, money, government, politicians,
newspapers, bribery, party, politic,
majority, laws
Mafia mafia, magistrate, boss, Milan,
condemned, justice
Reality reality, problem, society, respect, talking
Person person, house, success, country, important
Public public, citizens, Italians, millions, billions,
paty
Italy Italy, people, Italian

World world
Finally, analyzing the concept map of the comments

to the posts in the second period (Figure 4), we see
significant changes compared with the previous period.
Once more, Table 4 shows the words that the software
related to every theme for this phase. Here, there is a
higher consistency between the official posts and the
follower‘s comments than observed in the first period
analyzed. The theme of politics (already present in the
comments of the previous period) plays a prominent
role, like Mr. Berlusconi. Compared with the results of
the comments in the first period, the communication of
the commenters/supporters changes (Table 4), moving
toward a clear participation into politics, together with
that of the blog. In fact, besides the aforementioned
theme of politics (tied to citizens, political parties,
political democracy, future, understand, person, respect,
and so on) are the themes party, movement, and
parliament. There is a growing consciousness, therefore,
in the thoughts of the readers of the existence of a new
political entity able to participate in the elections;
connected to the theme of movement, we find Mr. Grillo,
ideas, Movimento 5 Stelle, and elections.
Country and people continue to appear as very
important themes. The comments also reflected themes
of social relevance, such as work and crisis. It is
interesting to note that the theme of work is present in
the comments in both periods, but it is missing in the

official party posts both before and after 2009.
Figure 4 Concept map of the public comments posted in the second

period analyzed
Theme: Translation:
paese country
politica politic
lavoro job
persone person
movimento movement
partito party
Stelle Stars
Italia Italy
BERLUSCONI BERLUSCONI
rete net
crisi crisis
Parlamento Parliament
Roma Rome
ITALIANI ITALIANS
Table 4 Theme’s related words in public comments in the second period

analyzed

Country country, world, government, italians,
politicians, population, law, sons, hand,
italian, bank, laws
Politic politic, citizen, parties, political,

democracy, future, understand, person,
respect, social, strength, reality, politics,
thousands
Job job, life, money, euro, millions, pay, debt,
taxes, society, workers
Person persons, people, problem, stop, need,
must, problems
Movement movement, Grillo, post, stars, ideas,
election, M5s
Party party, left, shit, vote, talk, words, think, PD
Stars Stars, Movement, Beppe, blog
General discussion and political marketing

implications
Marketing planning can be used to fill the gap
between what voters want and what political parties
propose (Baines, Arris, & Lewis, 2002). In the present
research, through the content analysis of a political party
blog, we propose a methodology able to reveal this gap
and to monitor it.
The analysis of the blog beppegrillo.it has
highlighted that the political party positioning
constructed through Mr. Grillo‘s and his collaborators‘
communication efforts does not fit exactly with the
vision of user– voters. In fact, the concept maps
obtained from the Leximancer analysis gave results that
show there is a substantial difference between the
official political party posts and the comments of his or

her followers. The most representative theme that
identifies the difference between the two sides is
temporal. Movimento 5 Stelle and Mr. Grillo are focused
on reality, Mr. Berlusconi, and other concrete elements
of political life. The followers, however, are not focused
on Mr. Berlusconi; the most important theme in their
comments is related to the future, even if it is correlated
to short-term problems.
Moreover, the political party positioning and
perceived positioning register substantial changes in
between the two periods considered. In effect,
organizational identity can vary within the context for
which it is expressed (Wilkins, 1989; Fiol, Hatch, &
Golden-Biddle, 1998). We can say that the political party
positioning must be fluid, otherwise, the organization
decays in the face of an inexorably changing
environment.
Given the rising importance of the Internet and
blogs on politics, this paper contributes to our
understanding about how to use these tools in order to
gain important information about political parties‘
relevant themes, as well as those important to their
audience. The political party‘s official blog, containing
both the official communication and the people‘s
the concepts and values on which both the political
brand identity and image are founded. At this point, if
the discrepancy is marked and significant, it can suggest
the need to re-evaluate and change aspects of identity.
Because direct interventions with followers to alter their

conceptions of the organization are unlikely to be
effective (Reger, Gustafson, DeMarie, & Mullane, 1994),
a viable alternative for the political leader is to project an
attractive vision in the form of a desired positioning as a
precursor to a hoped-for-future identity. Creating and
maintaining a brand identity is regarded as the first step
toward building a strong brand (Aaker, 1996; Keller,
2003), or in this case, a strong political brand.
This paper aims to offer a systematic and practical
way for political party organizations and researchers to
learn from consumer feedback in order to fill the gap
between political party positioning and perceived
positioning. Online consumer reviews have the potential
to provide a wealth of information about individuals‘
attitudes and how they prioritize different elements of a
discussion, which can be assessed for individual political
parties, as well as to compare different ones. The
method used for the analysis of the Movimento 5 Stelle
offers researchers and politicians a useful new tool,
which can guide quality improvement efforts and help
focus marketing communications.
The organization that governs the development of a
political brand must work to increase the value of the
brand (brand equity) and gain sustained competitive
advantages. In particular, the brand identity strategy
(Madhavaram, Badrinarayanan, & McDonald, 2005) is a
set of processes aimed at developing, analyzing, and
maintaining the brand identity and at communicating it
to all the appropriate audiences. The increase in brand
equity comes from positioning decisions and depends on

the ability to develop a brand identity that is correctly
perceived by the market (brand image). Such a task
suggests two major options: the first is to change
something about the way the organization sees itself
(i.e., changing aspects of the identity) and the second is
to change the way others perceive it (i.e., changing
others‘ external impression/reputation).
As the gap between positioning and perceived
positioning should be as narrow as possible (De
Chernatony, 1999), the possible discrepancy should be
resolved by attempting to change how outsiders perceive
the organization through several tactics. First, the
political party can project a positioning strategy to its
outside constituencies that more strongly conveys its
conception of the organization‘s identity.
Limitations and future research

There are three main limitations to the present
study. First of all, the huge amount of information
collected (more than 20 million words examined) forced
us to work at this level of analysis, leaving more in-depth
analysis to future researches.
The second limitation is linked to the interval of
analysis; we confronted just two periods (before and
after the decision to create a political movement). It
would be interesting, in the future, to study the
evolution of the single terms and themes during shorter
periods, identifying trends and reaction viscosity.
Finally, Cameron (2007) noted the limitations of

Leximancer as being less valuable for data sets, which
could produce false positives as a result of simplifying
complex primary data through machine analysis. To
some extent, the research required some subjective
interpretations and codifications. That said, the
counterbalancing arguments for Leximancer‘s
objectivity, face validity, and reliability outweigh this
possible risk in an exploratory study. However, for an
exploratory study, we consider these limits to be within
acceptable boundaries and a stimulus to further
research.
In the future, other communication channels that
are able to convey both the political party‘s official
communications and its constituents‘ perceptions could
be explored in order to compare the ability of these tools
to give a clear and relevant picture of the political party‘s
official positioning and perceived positioning. Moreover,
as this study was limited to a single political party‘s blog,
it could be interesting to conduct a similar analysis of
other political blogs in order to use this methodology as
a proposed way to compare different politicians‘
positioning.
Biographical notes
Alessandro Bigi is a PhD student at the Royal
Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He holds
an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management,
Erasmus University, in the Netherlands and a master‘s
degree of Business Economics from Bocconi University,
Milan, Italy. Alessandro has written many academic
articles in various refereed international journals in the
area of political marketing, Internet marketing, tourism
marketing, and marketing communication. He is a
lecturer of Marketing and Communication Management
in the Department of Economics and Management at
Brescia University (Italy). His current research interests
include political marketing, marketing communication,
digital marketing, and consumer behavior.
Anjali S. Bal is an assistant professor of Marketing at
Babson College in Wellesley, MA, USA. Anjali‘s research
interests include political marketing, arts and marketing
and consumer behavior.
Michelle Bonera is an assistant professor of
Marketing (Tenured) at Brescia University (Italy). She
holds a PhD degree in Business Economics at Brescia
University and a master‘s degree in Business Economics
at Bocconi University. Professor of Marketing Advanced,
she wrote many academic publications in various
refereed international journals/conferences in the area
of Internet marketing, tourism marketing, marketing
communication, green consumer behaviour, and retail
marketing.
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Paper 3
2.3 Paper 3
When satire is serious:

How political cartoons
impact a country’s brand
ALESSANDRO BIGI
KIRK PLANGGER
MICHELLE BONERA
COLIN L. CAMPBELL
Published in
Journal of Public Affairs, 2011, 11(3) 148-155
When satire is serious: How

political cartoons impact a
country’s brand
ALESSANDRO BIGI
Lulea University of Technology, Department of
Business Administration and Social Sciences, Lulea,
Sweden
KIRK PLANGGER
Simon Fraser University, Segal Graduate School of
Business, Vancouver, Canada
MICHELLE BONERA
Università degli studi di Brescia, Dipartimento di
Economia Aziendale, Brescia, Italy
COLIN L. CAMPBELL
Monash University, Faculty of Business and
Economics, Caulfield East, Victoria Australia
Abstract
This article examines the case of Italy‘s Mr.
Berlusconi‘s indiscretions and the effect his scandals
have played in the decline of the Italian national brand.
National brands are the perceived added value that
international consumers place on that country and its
products and services. An analysis of recent political
cartoons will provide insight into international attitudes
regarding Mr. Berlusconi‘s political and social actions.
From this investigation, the authors conclude that a
country‘s political leader‘s negative image and
reputation can have a large negative impact on national
brand equity abroad.
Introduction
From ‗Sparkling Korea‘, ‗Timeless Tunisia‘,
‗Incredible India‘, and ‗Amazing Thailand‘ to ‗your very
own Ireland‘, and Greece‘s ‗the true experience‘, national
brands have become key motivators for tourists,
investors, migrants, and worldwide consumers of
national exports seeking something a bit different.
Nations have become much more than the mere colorful
drawings in an elementary school atlas (van Ham,
2001). Every country possesses a national brand, which
encompasses the political, cultural, historical,
geographical, metrological, and financial aspects of that
nation‘s people and land. The rewards of this branding,
as with other forms of branding, are immense in
attracting ‗consumers‘ of that brand (van Ham, 2001;
Anholt, 2002; Buer, 2002).
brand, as there is an unspoken promise to consumers
that their trust in the brand will be respected. This
leaves the owner of brand exposed to considerable
reputational risk (van Ham, 2001; Buer, 2002). A
specific brand value or brand equity is being constantly
affected by its respective firm‘s actions. This is due to a
better‐ educated and informed pool of consumers
demanding a higher level of corporate social
responsibility and ethics (cf. Egri and Ralston, 2008).
Nations must be vigilant to be good stewards of their
international reputation and must remember, ‗ brand
promises are not made in isolation‘ (Buer, 2002). It has
become increasingly difficult for countries that have
poor reputations or no reputation to remain competitive

in today‘s globalized world (van Ham, 2001).
This article first discusses national branding and
caricature theories then contributes to the literature by
applying these theories to the case of the infamous
Italian premier, Mr. Berlusconi. It does this by first
linking a nation‘s brand with its politics then by applying
that link to the Berlusconi controversy. From there, the
authors examine how cartoons can affect public
sentiment and effect political action. Finally, the authors
discuss some implications for both managers of nation
brands and private brands.
Nation branding
What is in a nation brand?
Nation brand refers to the identity of a particular

country as perceived by an international audience
(Anholt, 2005). Throughout this paper, we also refer to
it as a country brand and a national brand. Brands are
considered a marketers‘ main tool to differentiate
products and services. The American Marketing
Association‘s definition of a brand is a name, a term, a
sign, a symbol, a design, or a combination of these
intended to identify the goods and services of one seller
from the competition. Successful brands are often
extended to include new offerings in the hopes that the
brand association will speed up consumers‘ information
processing and learning (Kotler and Gertner, 2002;
Papadopoulos and Heslop, 2002). Brands also have
emotional and social values to consumers (cf. Muniz and

O‘Guinn, 2001).
Brands create value for consumers and investors in
the form of brand equity, which includes intangible
assets such as customer preference, performance, social
image, and trustworthiness, as well as more tangible
assets such as financial gains appraised from increases
in firm value (Kotler and Gertner, 2002). Shimp et al.
(1993) coin the term country equity in reference to the
emotional value consumers attach to a product or a
service from a particular country. These brands assist
consumers to evaluate purchases according to their own
intrinsic values. Therefore, a nation brand may either
add or subtract perceived value from a purchase.
A country‘s image can affect the internal political,
social, and economic stability. If properly managed, this
image can benefit the country in all sectors by becoming
a lasting vehicle for goodwill and by encouraging
forgiveness in difficult times. Well branded countries
can reduce the impact of negative political and economic
events, and stakeholders can be more willing to forgive
or forget negative events or news. This is valid both in
the institutional relations with other countries and in the
business environment. Moreover, countries that are
branded well recover faster in the eyes of stakeholders
than badly branded one (Papadopoulos and Heslop,
2002; Garbacz Rawson, 2007). When a product, a
service, or a corporation is identified with a positive
country brand, it has a better chance of receiving a price
premium for its offerings, preference over other brands,
and longevity (Garbacz Rawson, 2007). Papadopoulos

and Heslop (2002) find that ‗ national images are
powerful stereotypes that influence behavior in all types
of target markets‘ (p. 298).
Like a frail product brand, a weak nation brand leads
to reduced differentiation, unclear meaning, and low
brand recall in the minds of travellers, investors, and
business people. Country brands create strong and
positive impressions that generate desire and demand.
All of this affects a nation‘s ability to stand out and take
advantage of growth opportunities. A strong country
brand is more than the sum of its parts as it makes
people‘s lives better through creating a strong emotional
connection with potential tourists, investors,
international students, and business people
(Papadopoulos and Heslop, 2002). Despite crisis,
economic downturn, political upheaval, and public
relations problems, countries with a clear identity,
consistent values, and a lasting heritage continue to
perform at the highest level (Bojan, 2008).
Nation brands are long‐ lasting reminders of past
deeds both good and bad. The Olympic games had a
tremendous positive economic, political, and social
impact on the national brand of Korea (Jaffe and
Nebenzahl, 1993). The 1989 events that took place in
Tiananmen Square also had profound negative influence
on China‘s national brand (Brunner et al., 1993).
Samsung‘s place as the leading manufacturer for many
electronics and Nokia‘s position as the leading
telecommunications firm can both build nationalism
within Korean and Finnish citizens, respectively, and

also improve their national image. Country brands can
assist large national firms expand into international
markets, which citizens derive a sense of national pride
(Dinne, 2004). Nation branding is even important with
the delicate situation between China and Japan, as
China currently has an active public diplomacy
campaign to increase its brand status within Japan,
albeit with limited results (Dinne & Lio, 2010). Astrong,
positive nation brand can bring value to the country‘s
citizens, investors, tourists, students, business people,
and government.
Looking deeper into nation branding
The existing literature on nation branding tends to

be more sector or country specific, as well as more
empirical than theoretical (Papadopoulos and Heslop,
2002). Place or country branding is receiving more
consideration with a growing number of researchers
trying to ground it in theory (Anholt, 2002), with Anholt
and Hildreth‘s (2004) model of nation branding leading
the way. Their model identifies that a country‘s brand is
influenced by tourism, people, culture and heritage,
investment, immigration, foreign and domestic policy,
and export brands. The perception of the identity
outlined by the model forms a nation‘s brand for the
international audience (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Anholt and Hildreth’s (2004) nation‐branding hexagon. Adapted

from Anholt and Hildreth (2004)
Foreign &
Domestic Policy
Export
People
Brands
Nation
Brand
Culture &
Tourism
Heritage
Investment
& Immigration
After observing international political events, Anholt

(2007) asserts that politics is the key influencer of
nation branding. Positive change will happen only if a
government has a clear vision of the country‘s image and
can successfully manage that vision. A national political
brand is a part of the more complex nation brand and
consists of the perceptions of a country‘s political
decisions and values and is most often issued and
communicated by the political leaders of the country.
Within the model, the political aspect appears to carry
more weight than the other influences. Just as
governments communicate with their citizens,
governments communicate to foreign audiences, aiming

to accomplish an international positive and productive
image. A policy‐ oriented competitive identity strategy
differs from a nation‐ branding strategy in that it is more
focused on promotional techniques, as usually seen in
tourism campaigns. An effective nation‐ branding
strategy is not centered on promotional techniques
because these are useful only after the political strategy
has been implemented (Anholt, 2007).
A vital part of both planning the national brand
vision and implementing the branding strategy is
involving stakeholders, including government and
citizen institutions, to insure consistency across all
facets of exposure (Anholt, 2007). Moreover, brand
ambassadors, such as political leaders, are the main
source of information about a country for international
audiences. Thus, their actions and behaviors have
immense implications for national image (Olins, 2003;
Anholt and Hildreth, 2004).
Political leaders attract more media attention than
business, export brands, or tourism, because of the
immediate implications of what they say or do (van
Ham, 2001; Garbacz Rawson, 2007). The frequency of
messages and impressions across the mass media keeps
political leaders in the minds of people around the
world. Therefore, political leaders expose their countries
to global audiences and promote travel or investment in
their respective nation (Garbacz Rawson, 2007).
Mr. Berlusconi’s effect on the Italian brand

The exploits of Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi is a successful Italian entrepreneur

and the current Prime Minister of Italy. He is worth over
US$ 11 billion and is the 37th richest man in the world
(Kroll and Miller, 2010). Mr. Berlusconi is currently
Italy‘s second longest‐ serving Prime Minister, having
held this position on three separate occasions from 1994
to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and currently since 2008. He
leads the Popolo della libertà political movement, which
is a centre‐ right party he co‐ founded in 2009. He has
some control over the media, as he directly owns three of
the most influential private televisions channels, the
biggest group of Italian newspapers, as well as indirectly
controlling two out of three public television channels
(Kroll and Miller, 2010). Moreover, his family owns one
of the top European publishing houses, Mondadori.
Mr Berlusconi has had a long history of criminal
allegations and conflicts with the Italian Justice system
(see Table 1 for a complete list). He has been accused of
crimes, including mafia collusion, tax fraud, false
accounting, corruption, and bribery of police officers
and judges. Berlusconi is currently facing several cases
in Italian courts (Kroll and Miller, 2010). The judiciary
was forced into staying a few cases due to changes in
laws enforced directly by Berlusconi‘s parliamentary
majority (Castelnuovo, 2009; Agnew, 2011). There are
several cases pending that he is trying to quell by again
creating a law that suspends the legal processes for
political figures (Stewart, 2008), which contravenes the

principles of the rule of law and the magna carta. He has
tried three times in 7 years to create this immunity law,
but so far, it has yet to pass the constitutional court
(Agnew, 2011).
In his defence, Mr Berlusconi claims that this
situation amounts to
…judicial persecution, against which I am proud to
resist, and the fact that my resistance and sacrifice will
give the Italians a more fair and efficient judicial system
makes me even more proud (Brown, 2008).
Table 1 A history of the legal troubles of Mr Berlusconi
Status of Allegation
trial
Acquittals Statute of  Lodo Mondadori: bribery of judges
Limitations (acquitted due to SoL)
(SoL)  All Iberian 1: 23-billion-lira bribe to
Bettino Craxi via an offshore bank
account code-named All Iberian (first
court sentence: 2 years 4 months jail;
appeal: acquitted due to SoL)
 Bribery of Guardia di Finanza (1st
sentence: prison 2 years 9 months;
appeal: acquitted due SoL for three
charges and the 4th charge was
unsubstantiated)
Amnesty  Massonic lodge trial: false testimony

Legislative (guilty - offered amnesty)
acquittal  Lentini affair: accounting fraud (not
guilty – change in Accounting Fraud
Law)
 Macherio Estates 1: accounting fraud
(amnesty offered following the 1992
Fiscal Remission Law)
 Macherio Estates 2: embezzlement, tax
evasion, accounting fraud (acquitted
due to SoL in all charges)
 All Iberian 2: accounting fraud
(acquitted – new Accounting Fraud Law
passed by the Berlusconi government)
 SME-Ariosto 2: accounting fraud
(acquitted – new Accounting Fraud Law
passed by the Berlusconi government)
Other  Medusa Cinema: accounting fraud

acquisttals (acquitted – minor amount compared
with wealth)
 SME-Ariosto 1: bribes to the judge
Renato Squillante (acquitted)
 Television rights: accounting fraud, tax
evasion, embezzlement (acquitted)
Stayed Stayed for  Fininvest 1: accounting fraud and

legislative embezzlement (archived - new
reasons Accounting Fraud Law passed by the
Berlusconi government)
 Fininvest 2: accounting fraud and
embezzlement (archived - new
Accounting Fraud Law passed by the
Berlusconi government)
Other  Anti-competition behaviour: division of

stayed publicity between RAI and Fininvest
trials television giants
 Drug trafficking
 Tax bribery on the pay TV
 Conspiracy concerning the 1992-1993

slaughters
 Collusion to money launder with mafia,
together with Mr. Dell‘Utri
Ongoing  Corruption of justice: bribe to the

trials lawyer David Mills
 Corruption of senators of the Romano
Prodi government camp (trial
transferred from Naples to Rome)
Source: www.ricercagiuridica.com/cassazione
He also claims that he had to endure ‗… 577 visits by

police, 2,500 court hearings, and 174 million Euros in
lawyers‘ bills paid by me‘ (Brown, 2008). Moreover, the
Italian premier attests that many in the judicial system
have taken an interest in defaming him ‗… with the aim
of subverting the votes of the Italian people‘ (Brown,
2008). Mr Berlusconi‘s image problems do not stop with
his public life. There have been a number of private
scandals regarding divorce, extra‐ marital and underage
affairs (Pisa, 2009). Evidence shows that Mr Berlusconi
has attempted time and time again to subvert justice
through his legislative majority and the power afforded
to him through this office.
This political influence on a country brand is evident
in Italy with Mr Berlusconi‘s premiership and misdeeds.
The authors used the 2010 edition of the FutureBrand
Country Brand Index (CBI) to evaluate the Italian
national brand. This annual study examines and ranks
country brands based on FutureBrand‘s proprietary

research, which is similar to Anholt and Hildreth‘s
(2004) model. It incorporates elements of tourism,
heritage, and culture, which are good for business,
quality of life, and value system. The sixth edition of CBI
incorporates a global quantitative study with 3400
international business and leisure travellers from 13
countries on all five continents. These data are then
qualified by in ‐ depth expert focus groups that took
place in 14 major metropolitan areas around the world.
The overall country brand score is calculated using
FutureBrand‘s hierarchical decision model, which
measures the overall country brand performance in the
following areas: awareness, familiarity, associations,
preference, consideration, decision/visitation, and
advocacy. Additionally, this ranking reflects the extent to
which a nation exports its values through its iconic
brands.
As the 2010 CBI reveals (see Table 2 for the top 25
country brand ranking), economic performance is also
vital to brand strength. For example, Greece‘s 2010 22nd
rank has fallen eight positions since 2009 and 16
positions since 2005. This can be seen as largely due to
recent economic strife and liquidity concerns and
ineffective leadership (Byron, 2010). Italy has also faced
economic troubles in the global recession, which may
have influenced the Italian position; however, the
authors argue that economics cannot explain Italy‘s
lapse, as most, if not all, ranked countries suffered serve
economic strife. The inaugural report in 2005 listed Italy
as the first nation brand globally. Things are very

different now, as the 2010 report listed Italy as 12, 11
places down in 5 years (Figure 2).
Table 2 2010 FutureBrand overall top 25 country brand ranking
2010 rank 2009 change Country

1 +1 Canada
2 +2 Australia
3 0 New Zealand
4 -3 USA
5 +6 Switzerland
6 +1 Japan
7 -2 France
8 +8 Finland
9 -1 UK
10 +11 Sweden
11 -2 Germany
12 -6 Italy
13 +9 Norway
14 -4 Spain
15 -2 Singapore
16 +3 Maldives
17 -5 Ireland
18 -3 Bermuda
19 +4 Denmark
20 +8 Austria
21 +5 Mauritius
22 -8 Greece
23 -5 India
24 +1 Iceland
25 +6 the Netherlands
Source: FutureBrand (www.futurebrand.com)
Figure 2 Italian performance in overall FutureBrand Rank & GDP Index

(2005–2010).
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 GDP Index at constamt 2005 Prices
1 105
2 104
3 103
4 102
Global Rank
5
101
6
100
7
99
8
9 98
10 97
11 96
12 95
Italian Future Brand® Rank Italian GDP Index
Source: FutureBrand (www.futurebrand.com) and UN Data (data.un.org)

Italy fared much better in terms of heritage and

culture, which it placed first (Table 3). But even in terms
of tourism, Italy ranks 15th only despite increased
efforts to boost tourism over the last few years with high‐
profile domestic and foreign advertising initiatives, even
featuring Silvio Berlusconi himself. However, this is set
against a backdrop of sustained criticism of Mr
Berlusconi‘s premiership (Poggioli, 2009). The
FutureBrand 2010 CBI finds negative feelings toward
Italy and its political leader, which are increasingly
strong and suggest that they may be starting to affect
other parts of the country‘s image.
Table 3 Examining Italy’s FutureBrand 2010 country brand ranking

performance
Top 25 country Italy‘s rank Included attributes

brand index
category
Tourism 15th Attractions, resort and
lodging options, food, and
value for money
Heritage and 1st Authenticity, history, art,
culture culture, and natural
beauty
Good for Not Investment climate,
business reported* skilled workforce,
advanced technology, and
regulatory environment
Quality of life Not Education, healthcare,
reported* standard of living, job

opportunity, safety, and
livability
Value system Not Political freedom,
reported* environmental
friendliness, stable legal
environment, tolerance,
and freedom of speech
*Only the top 25 countries reported.
Source: FutureBrand (www.futurebrand.com)
Politics of cartoons
Like urban graffiti, jokes, and other genres of
popular culture, cartoons challenge the ways we accept
official images as real and true. Cartoons are static form
of caricature, which in turn is a form of satire (Bal et al.,
2009). A cartoon is a drawing, representational or
symbolic, that makes a satirical, witty, or humorous
point. A cartoon exposes viewers to a point of view for or
against its subject, either by presenting it as a figure
worthy of sympathy or by distorting it into a figure of
ridicule (Streicher, 1965, 1967; Alba, 1967; Coupe, 1967).
Condensing history, culture, and social relationships
within a single frame, a cartoon can re‐ contextualize
events and evoke reference points in ways that a
photograph or even a film cannot (Gombrich, 1963).
Cartoons are often a humorous commentary on recent
events, which allows the spectator to easily elaborate on
the image and develop an opinion on the subject (Bal et
al., 2009). Political cartoons are often an outlet of

opposition or criticism, which are used to propel social
issues to the general public‘s attention.
Newspaper and magazine editors use cartoons to
portray a specific issue because of their simplicity in
reader comprehension. Readers can understand their
message faster than any political commentaries or
editorials. Clever cartoons are often the motivator for a
consumer to actually read editorial viewpoints, ideas,
and beliefs. Editorial cartoons have an increased chance
of becoming viral and therefore usually have wider
circulation, a longer life, and a greater influence than
written editorials among the public (Duus, 2001). The
purpose of political cartoons is not necessarily just to
inform but also to make people reflect on current events
and issues about politics, government, and society.
Artists aim to attack an idea, a person, or a party in the
hopes that the image will inspire a laugh or a smile at
the expense of the subject (Duus, 2001).
Bal et al. (2009) develop an integrated theory,
grounded in literature, to explain how cartoons work.
Effective cartoons must process exaggerated elements of
sympathy, a gap between the image and reality, and
either material or ideological differentiation. The
authors use this framework to analyze the following
Berlusconi cartoons.
Cartooning Italy’s Berlusconi

The two cartoons discussed in the following section
represent a summary of the relevant facts and aspects of
the recent affairs of Mr. Berlusconi. The authors decided
to examine two British cartoons for several reasons:
First, we were looking for cartoons that were available
and seen by a large number of people; and second, they
had to discuss the same subject. Having two British
cartoons satisfy both requirements. British newspapers
have a tradition of satire cartoons that is appreciated by
the readers. The decision to have cartoons from the
same country strengthens the message. We found
several cartoons about Mr. Berlusconi and the sex
scandal he is facing, and we chose the two with the
higher visibility based on readership of the publications
where they were printed. Both images appeared in well‐
regarded international newspapers in December 2010;
thus, the authors assume that they are representative
and provide a glimpse of how international audiences
view Mr. Berlusconi‘s recent actions.
The Times‘ cartoonist, Mr. Morten Morland,
captioned the first cartoon ‗onwards with confidence‘
(Figure 3). It was published the day after Mr. Berlusconi
won a confidence vote in the Italian Parliament. In the
image, Mr. Berlusconi is riding a thin raft, shaped like
Italy, and painted with the colors of the Italian flag,
which is sailing through fast brown colored waters. He is
sporting a helmet made from a pink bra and is not
wearing any trousers while hugging two barely covered
young ladies. His raft is attached to slightly submerged
boat further upstream, which bears a sword and the

scales of justice.
Figure 3 Onwards with confidence! Source: Morland, 2010
This cartoon has several elements that give the

viewer an indication of how British people perceive Italy
and its leader. It seems that Italy is in deep trouble from
this scene because the outline of the country and its
justice system are nearly submerged in the brown, fast‐
moving river. The future looks bleak as Italy struggles to
survive the economic crisis with its Mr. Berlusconi
steering the country and its justice institutions blindly
into the rapids of uncertainty. The cartoon‘s depiction of
Mr. Berlusconi with two young women and wearing
their undergarments shows that his scandals and affairs
that rocked Italian politics are well‐ known to the
international audience. Moreover, Mr. Berlusconi‘s Italy
will not float long as the impending conclusion of his

story seems near.
The second cartoon is from The Independent by
Dave Brown and was published the day before the
confidence vote. It is titled ‗Silvio Berlusconi: the leader
who has eroded Italian democracy‘, which may be even
more caustic than the image. In this cartoon, a battered,
trouser‐ less Mr. Berlusconi seems to be tripping on a
mess of sexy women‘s lace undergarments. He is
balanced precariously on a broken leg in a cast the shape
of Italy, and it seems he will fall down the stairs of either
the Italian Parliament or perhaps a courthouse. It seems
that the Italian Prime Minister‘s private and public life
are finally bringing his story to an inglorious end (Figure
4).
Figure 4 Silvio Berlusconi: the leader who has eroded Italian democracy.
Source: Brown, 2010
Despite increased efforts to boost Italy‘s

international profile and tourism by using prominent
domestic and foreign advertising initiatives, fairs, and
exhibitions, Italy continues to see its national brand
decline in global rank in 2010. This effort by the Italian
government features advertisements in which Mr.
Berlusconi is displayed in an attempt to improve his
stained image. This national brand decline is set against
a backdrop of sustained criticism of Silvio Berlusconi‘s
premiership and the financial difficulties the country has
faced in the global economic crisis, such as a drop in
purchasing power, fierce student strikes, and domestic
social tensions. However, the misguided values of the
Italian leader seem to be internationally perceived as
carrying into vital elements of Italian politics, business,
tourism, and culture as reflected in the decline of the
Italian national brand since Mr. Berlusconi took power
in 2008, regardless of his past successes.
Conclusions
Loyal consumers often forgive a brand‘s
indiscretions but only to a point (Hart et al., 1990). A
strong national brand can provide a country additional
leeway to weather short‐ term difficulties that hamper
both domestic and foreign public perceptions. However,
the degree to which consumers look the other way seems
to have its limits as well, as previously illustrated in the
Italian example.
The national brand spirit will depend as much on

citizens as ambassadors of values and culture as it does
on specific locations or destinations. In order to increase
national brand value, a nation‘s leaders must not only
manage the country‘s government but also become
ambassadors and promoters of the nation or be taunted,
as Berlusconi is, by the cartoonists of the political press
for their misdeeds. A strong national brand will earn
rewards both in the public and private sectors by
increasing gross domestic product, through higher sales,
exports goods, tourism, and taxes, as well as an
improved sense of national pride.
A national‐branding strategy is grounded in the
vision of political leaders, especially the head of
government or state. This vision needs to provide an
environment that supports improvement of the six
points outlined by Anholt and Hildreth‘s (2004)
hexagon. As the Italian case has shown, the political and
even social actions of government leaders can have
significant effects on the perceived national brand
equity.
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Paper 4
2.4 Paper 4
Viral political
communication and
readability: An analysis of
an Italian political blog
ALESSANDRO BIGI
Published in
Journal of Public Affairs, 2013, 13(2) 209-217
Viral political communication and

readability: An analysis of an
Italian political blog
ALESSANDRO BIGI
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Division of
Industrial Marketing—INDEK, Stockholm, Sweden
Abstract
The Internet is widely used by political parties to
report events and to send messages to the voting
population. Politicians used digital media (websites,
blogs, bulletin boards/lists, and chat/instant messaging)
in recent elections, together with traditional media
(television, newspapers, rallies, etc.). Political blogs
represent not only an additional communication channel
but also an instrument for spreading editorial content
and messages, virally infecting more traditional media
channels. A key task for any political party or politician
is to make the blog understandable and easy to read as a
first step to ignite and spread the right viral effect. To
reach this goal, writers must consider both their content
and their target audience. This article measures the
readability of the text of a political blog to provide
insight on the effectiveness of viral communication
using blogs. The Beppegrillo.it blog was analyzed from
January 2005 to May 2012 and is a unique example of a
political blog using a single official media. This blog
switched in the period of the study from being a
personal blog to a political blog. The posts were divided
into two different phases: the former were intended to
discuss political topics and were written by a not-yet-
political contributor; the latter were posts written by an
active politician. Content analysis using simple word and
sentence counts for every year of posts was undertaken,
along with a readability analysis using the Microsoft
Word Spelling and Grammar function, and both the
Gunning Fog Index and the Gulpease Index. The two
different phases were compared to determine if any

change occurred in readability, complexity of the text,
and volume of communication. In this way, we can
explore the differences in the communication techniques
used in the political field unofficially and then officially.
Finally, our findings indicate that levels of readability of
communications, particularly among broad-based
audiences, may be deteriorating significantly when the
blog becomes a political one and the communication
becomes more institutional.
Introduction
In the last decade, the number of people surfing the
Internet for news and information has greatly increased
(Johnson and Kaye, 2008); in particular, digital
communication during political elections is a major
source of political communication and opinion
expression. The Internet has been identified as a
relatively inexpensive and direct method of
disseminating information. Websites are widely used by
political parties to report events and to send messages to
the voting population. Despite the importance of the
subject, the complexity and variety of political electoral
media make it difficult to study the impact of a single
medium: digital or traditional (Castells, 2009).
In recent elections, politicians used digital media
(websites, blogs, bulletin boards/lists, and chat/instant
messaging) together with traditional media (television,
newspapers, rallies, etc.), and a preference for digital
media was evident (Garrett and Danziger, 2011). Users
are moving from traditional sources of information to
online versions of the same media, or toward more
innovative and interactive media.
The recent Italian administrative election of 2012
made it possible to study a case where a winning party
voluntarily limited the use of digital media to mainly one
medium, a blog. This elimination makes this specific
case very interesting and unique, as we can assume that
the political leader considered Beppe Grillo‘s blog to be
highly relevant. In fact, The Five Stars Party decided
that it would be the only communication tool to use.
Beppe Grillo and his political party members decided

not to participate in any political television debates or
shows to present their political program. In addition,
they did not give interviews to newspapers and radios, or
use any billboards.
Beppe Grillo is an Italian comedian-turned political
activist and candidate. His career as a comedian started
in the late 1970s; during the early 1980s, rising audience
ratings and critical acclaim transformed him into one of
the hottest media figures. Toward the end of that decade
and into the early 1990s, Grillo‘s satire changed and he
began to discuss controversial political issues, both
during his theater shows and on television. He openly
attacked some of the most visible and powerful Italian
politicians and their penchant for bribery. He also
started to scrutinize big corporations guilty of ― false
advertising and polluting consumer products‖ (Israeli,
2005). As a result, in the early 1990s, Grillo was
informally banned from Italian public broadcasting
television (Bordignon and Ceccarini, 2013). During the
last two decades, mainstream media outlets have rarely
mentioned Grillo‘s name or any of his causes, let alone
his many journalistic scoops. Notwithstanding his
history of successes with audiences, he appeared only
twice on public television since the early 1990s. Grillo‘s
satire of political powers, politicians, and corporations
did not end with the ban from Italian television.
Apparently, Grillo managed to use his removal from the
small screen to boost his popularity with the Italian
public and to gain international exposure; his live shows
were almost always sold out. Even the editors of Time

magazine noticed Grillo and his political criticism; in
2005, they named Grillo among the 37 European heroes
of the year (Israeli, 2005).
In January 2005, the Internet provided Grillo with a
new and powerful communication instrument, a blog
named The Five Stars Movement at the website address
Beppegrillo.it. He started blogging regularly; through
this site (and with the help of the digital marketing
company Casaleggio and Associati), his visibility and
popularity received a much-needed boost. Grillo was
delivering the kind of non-partisan and critical political
information that rarely finds space on today‘s prime-
time television news or on the front pages of newspapers
for a rapidly expanding and active community of readers
(Bordignon and Ceccarini, 2013). Additionally,
comments posted daily on the blog or sent via email
gave Grillo an access to a public platform that allowed
him to report news stories that otherwise would have
remained untold.
In December 2005, less than a year after its first
post, Beppegrillo.it was chosen as the best Internet site
in the News and Information category by the well-
known ―WWW 2005 Prize‖ organized by Il Sole 24 Ore,
the most popular Italian daily financial newspaper, ―for
interactivity with the public, ample documentation on
the Internet and commitment to tackling topics of use to
citizens‖ (Il Sole 24 Ore, 2005).
Beppe Grillo‘s blog was (and still is) an expression of
his political opinions and it can be ideologically divided
into two, on the basis of a turning point in the year 2009

when he decided to actively participate in Italian
political life.
The validity of Beppe Grillo‘s communication
strategy was confirmed by the huge success of the Five
Stars Movement in the 2012 local elections when it was
demonstrated to be the third major Italian party after
The People of Freedom (Italian: Il Popolo della Libertà,
PdL) and the Democratic Party. In June 2012,
Beppegrillo.it was the most popular blog in Italy
(Bordignon and Ceccarini, 2013).
In this article, first we introduce the use of new
media and, in particular, blogs in politics. Then we
discuss the methodologies that can be used to measure
the texts‘ readability and therefore the communication
comprehensibility. Next, as a case study, we examine the
Beppegrillo.it blog by studying the author‘s language use
and communication content, both before and after his
entry in the electoral arena. This study involves the
transformation of a blog about politics into a political
blog in terms of communication style and features. The
former intended to discuss political topics and was
written by a not-yet-political subject; the latter was a
blog written by an active politician. The transformation
of the communication style and the messages over the
course of the transition were taken into consideration.
The main aim of this article was to apply a methodology
to measure the blog texts‘ readability and
comprehensibility and, thus, to monitor over time the
communication effectiveness of the political party‘s blog.
The viral role of blogs and new media in

politics
communication (Bimber and Davis, 2003; Norris, 2003)
as it requires the user (i.e., the consumer) to take action
in order to visit the websites and blogs of political
parties and candidates. Other more traditional media
(from billboards, e-paper, and the presence of politicians
on television) are less targeted and can therefore be
more invasive, reaching people who are not interested in
to a website, a blog, or any of the web social media is
deliberate and requires a degree of interest and active
involvement. Therefore, there is a risk of involving only
restricted groups of the population. A successful
message needs to be spread in several ways, and this
means that a message that goes viral in the fastest way
possible has more possibility to reach both the potential
supporters and the undecided subjects (Vaccari, 2008).
Likewise, Internet users tend to be more attentive
(but also more demanding) to political issues than the
rest of the electorate: according to a survey carried out
for commercial purposes on net users, 69% expressed
interest in participatory forums and spaces for
interaction (community) on the websites of political
parties, 65% on the blogs of the candidates, 60% on the
publication of online programs, 46% for newsletters sent
by email, 37% for videos of electoral candidates, and
27% for the possibility of realizing virtual posters (Oto

Research, 2008).
In a situation characterized by a growing level of
public discontent toward political parties (Morlino and
Tarchi, 2006), and by the disappointing results of recent
governments and the weakening of ideologies and party
organizations, the Internet could be a useful tool in
trying to reverse this trend. The Internet could provide
citizens with more opportunities to interact with
politicians and making political communication more
transparent (Bal et al., 2010). Web 2.0 added the
opportunity for the active interaction between
politicians and their followers, between politicians and
the general public, and also between citizens and
professionals, as well as between citizens themselves
(Chadwick, 2006; Coleman and Wright 2008). The
complexity of the Web 2.0 approach does not lie in
technology: creating a website can take little time and
use a variety of open-source platforms that are easily
accessible and free to all, but the construction of a
network of active users and stakeholders is a much
longer and more complex process. Building a network
requires establishing relationships and trust between
individuals who, often, do not know each other before
they meet online (Coleman and Wright, 2008).
In particular, a blog is the digital equivalent of a
personal diary, giving the author the opportunity to post
regular entries with little or no need for technical
knowledge. Blogs offer a digital space in which to insert
different types of communications: videos, articles,
images, and audio. Many blogs also allow visitors to

respond to bloggers‘ messages with comments
(Ferguson and Howell, 2004). Blogs are easy to use, and
several digital companies offer free blog space and
software. This ease-of-use has caused an increase in the
number of blogs and bloggers in the Internet. By the end
of 2011, NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company, had
tracked over 181 million blogs around the world, up
from 36 million only 5 years earlier in 2006 (Nielsen,
2012). In politics, candidates in the 2004 US
presidential election first extensively used blogs
(Vaccari, 2008). Political blogs have been analyzed in
many studies (Pole, 2010; Coleman and Wright, 2008),
as have blogs of general subjects. Even blogs used as
tools in election campaigns have been studied
(Yanoshevsky, 2007; Serfaty, 2006), although few
studies have focused on the blogs of politicians
(Jereczek-Lipinska, 2007; Suomela-Salmi and Dervin,
2009). The general opinion is that every politician
should have a blog, and the lack of utilizing this digital
instrument can be a signal to the public of failure to keep
up with the times (Wright, 2009).
It is especially in the emotional and participatory
dimension (Bonera, 2011) that the Internet can
contribute to renewing political communication and
improving its effectiveness, which as demonstrated in a
number of cases, is not only typical of the US experience
(Bimber and Davis, 2003; Chadwick, 2006; Vaccari,
2007 and 2008, Ward and Vedel, 2006). One of the
main reasons some political parties are reluctant to give
space to new technologies is that they fear losing control

of communication (Bentivegna, 2006). The virality of
the new media has increased the ability of autonomous
subjects to communicate and spread different political
messages, especially if readability and comprehension
are not successful among the target.
Text readability and comprehensibility

Readability is a characteristic of a document that
refers to how easy the document can be read, and it
considers characteristics such as the vocabulary and the
structure of sentences, as well as the legibility and layout
of the content (Klare, 1963). The concept of readability
includes reader‘s competence and motivation (Klare,
1980). Readability is what makes some texts easier to
read than others, but it should not be confused with
legibility, which concerns the typeface and layout of a
document. Readability assessment has been a central
research topic in past years, and it is still an active field
of interest today.
In the business world, the importance of readability
has been examined in several disciplines such as finance
and accounting (Blouin, 2010; Li, 2008), but marketing
remains the most important field for readability studies
(Mackey and Metz, 2009; Milne et al., 2006; Kover,
2002; Clark et al., 1990; Mills et al., 2012; Sattari et al.,
2011). The text comprehension has also been studied
and identified as an important element of e-
communication (Leong et al., 2002).
It is also important to distinguish between the terms

readability and comprehensibility. Readability indicates
the precision with which the reader can answer
questions and not the artistic quality of the language
used (Miller, 1972). We deal here with the effectiveness
of the communication per se and not with the ability of
the writer to ignite the imagination.
The variables used to analyze readability are lexical
use and syntactic form. Lexical use means the
vocabulary that is chosen. The frequently used words are
the familiar ones. The frequent and familiar words are
short and recurrent words (Miller, 1972). Syntactic form,
or syntax, refers to the proportion of simple sentences in
a paragraph, and it has high correlation with the length
of the period expressed in the number of words
(Lucisano, 1992).
Several index and measurement formulas are
available for analyzing texts, available both online and
offline. Currently, because of the scope and complexity
of the object of the analysis, no formula has been
identified as the best one. Traditional readability metrics
are quick and easy to calculate but have drawbacks. For
example, the use of sentence length as a measure of
syntactic complexity assumes that a longer sentence is
more grammatically complex than a shorter one, which
is often, though not always, the case (Orletta et al.,
2011). Traditional readability formulas focus on a
limited set of superficial text features that are taken as
rough approximations of the linguistic factors at play in
a readability assessment. For example, the Flesch–
Kincaid measure, the most common measure of reading

difficulty still in use (Kincaid et al., 1975) is a linear
function of the average number of syllables per word and
the average number of words per sentence, where the
former and the latter are used as simple proxies for
lexical and syntactic complexity, respectively.
The Gunning Fog Index is an index developed
mainly for the English language. The Fog Index divides
the number of words with three or more syllables in a
sample of writing by the number of sentences in the
same sample to create a numerical value representing
the readability of that piece. The value is obtained by
means of a calculation that takes into account the
average word length and the average number of words in
each sentence. The assumption is that the more words
and phrases that are shorter, the more understandable
the text is. This algorithm generally produces a lower
score when the content is easier to read. For example,
The Bible, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and TV Guide all
have Fog Indexes around 6. Time, Newsweek and The
Wall Street Journal each have a Fog Index of about 11. In
particular, the Gunning Fog Index estimates the years of
formal education needed to understand a text at first
reading. To be understood by any audience, texts need to
have a Gunning Fog Index score of less than 8;
generally, it is considered easy to understand a text with
an index lower than 12. However, this index is calibrated
specifically for the English language; Italian words and
phrases are, on average, longer.
The Gulpease Index is the most frequently used

instrument for measuring the readability of the Italian
language (Lucisano and Piemontese, 1988); it was
introduced in the 1980s by the Gruppo Universitario
Linguistico Pedagogico at the University of Rome. The
Gulpease Index takes into account the length of a word
in characters rather than in syllables, which has proven
to be a more reliable method for assessing the
readability of Italian texts.
This index, unlike the others, is not a single measure
of readability, but to varying degrees depends on the
level of education of recipients of the text. Four levels
are defined for readability: very easy, easy to difficult,
very difficult, and almost incomprehensible. The index
ranges from 0 (lowest readability) to 100 (maximum
readability). The Gulpease Index explanation is based on
education level, even if it is not directly correlated to
years of study. The four levels are related to three
different target groups: people with an elementary
school education, those with a middle school education,
and those with a high school diploma. A text with a
Gulpease Index of over 80 is indicated for people with
an elementary school education, whereas an index of
over 60 is readable by readers with a middle school
education. High school readability is set at an index
score of greater than 40. The shortcoming of these
indices is related to the lack of the semantic analysis.
They do not consider in any way the meaning of words
and phrases, but only their respective length.
Method
The Beppegrillo.it posts from January 2005 to May
2012 have been studied. Seven years and 5 months of
posts were recorded and analyzed. During this period,
Grillo and his staff published 4935 posts, which included
2 572 638 words (Figure. 1). The posts are still available
online at the following web address:
http://www.beppegrillo.it/archivio.html.
These posts have been divided into two different
segments, before and after the blog switched from
personal to political, but they both have as their central
foundation the ―Movimento 5 Stelle‖, which is the
political party led by Beppe Grillo. To identify trends,
the posts have also been studied separately by year.
Content analysis using simple word and sentence
counts of the text for every year of posts was undertaken,
along with a readability analysis using the Microsoft
Word Spelling and Grammar function, and both the
Gunning Fog Index and the Gulpease Index.
Our decision to use both Gunning Fox Index and the
Gulpease Index is related to the need to use an index
developed for assessing the readability of the Italian
language compared with one compatible with, but not
specifically designed for, the Italian language.
Figure 1 Volume of blog posts
Monthly posts
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
December
April
December
April
December
April
December
April
December
April
December
April
December
April
April
August
August
August
August
August
August
August
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Results
The descriptive statistics shows that the first period
was characterized by a relatively low number of daily
posts, with an all time decrease in 2005 of 0.98 posts a
day and an increase in 2008 of 2.12 posts a day (Table.
1). Our analysis reveals that several changes occurred in

the blog switch from the personal phase to the political
one. The post frequency almost tripled from around 30
posts/month to 90 posts/month. This underlies the
increasing desire of communication. The length of the
posts increased, too, changing from 274.5 words per
post, on average, to 543.2 words per post, on average, in
2011. The sum of these two factors produced a huge
increase in the total length of the yearly posts, moving
from 151 603 words/year in 2006 to 596 392 words/year
in 2011.
Table 1 Blog post first analysis
Year Number of Number of Number of Mean

posts posts per words length of
day posts
(words)
2005 348 0.95 95 509 274.5
2006 378 1.04 151 603 401.1
2007 381 1.04 157 196 412.6
2008 410 1.12 291 874 711.9
2009 749 2.05 486 526 649.6
2010 1099 3.01 640 979 583.2
2011 1098 3.01 596 392 543.2
2012 472 (5/12) 3.1 152 559 323.2
Both the Gunning Fox and the Gulpease Index

indicated that the posts were, in the first phase, fairly
easy to read. Results are shown in Table 2. In particular,
the Gunning Fox Index showed that during this first
period, the posts were readable to people having
between 8 and 9 years of education, which implies an
approximate age of 15 years. The Gulpease Index, which
focuses more on the Italian language, defined the posts
as quite easy to read and understand, with a score
between 55 and 57.
Table 2 Blog post second analysis
Year Gunning Gulpease Common Uncommon

Fox Index Index words (%) words (%)
2005 8 55 76.8 23.2
2006 8 55 77.9 22.1
2007 8 57 78.2 21.8
2008 9 56 78.6 21.4
2009 11 50 79.2 20.8
2010 13 47 78.6 21.4
2011 13 48 79.8 20.2
2012 10 51 79.9 20.1
The increased difficulty in the readability of the

posts seems to be related to the beginning of Grillo‘s
active political involvement. In fact, during the period of
transition, the language complexity increased with a rise

in the Gunning Fog Index from 8 to 13 (2011) and a
decrease in the Gulpease Index from 55 to 48 (2011),
indicating a deterioration in the readability of the blog
posts.
The data collected indicate that a new incoming
communication phase can be identified. This phase
started in 2012 and is characterized by an even higher
communication intensity, but a lower complexity. This is
probably due to the political elections that just occurred
in 2012. Our analysis showed an impressive increase in
daily posts, which tripled in comparison with the first
phase reaching an average of 3.1 posts per day in the
first 5months of 2012. Only in this third phase did the
complexity decrease to a more acceptable level of 10 on
the Gunning Fox Index and a more acceptable level of 51
on the Gulpease Index. Finally, the recent election
period probably implied a necessity for wider and
clearer communication than in the second phase.
General discussion and implications

First of all, it is notable that the number of daily
posts does not follow a classical growth pattern, but
instead is characterized by different levels during the
different phases. In no phase was it possible to identify a
process of regular growth. Rather, the growth appears to
be closely connected to the specific stages of Grillo‘s
approach (personal blog, political blog, and elections).
The first period was characterized by a relatively low

number of daily posts. The number of daily posts and
the complexity of the language drastically increased after
the transition from a politically oriented, personal blog
to an entirely political blog. The daily posts doubled
after this transition, and the complexity of the text
substantially increased.
Both the Gunning Fox and the Gulpease Index
indicated that the initial posts were easy to read. The
number of daily posts and the complexity of the
language drastically increased after the transition from a
politically oriented, personal blog to an entirely political
blog. One explanation for the dramatic change in
strategy could have been the contingence factor of the
period; Grillo‘s founding of the Five Stars Movement
and involvement in local administrative elections and
activities were correlated.
As a result, there are good reasons to think that
Beppe Grillo‘s decisions regarding subjects, post length,
and post frequency in his blog reflect his desire to create
a new way of communicating with voters. He changed
the traditional idea of Italian political parties that a good
political campaign has to be run with the activities of
volunteers and activists as an effort that must be
tangible, tied to relationships face to face, implemented
only in physical places, fully controlled by the party, and
embodied in a commitment to permanent link (Raniolo,
2007).
Grillo‘s posts can be ideologically divided into two
different parts, on the basis of their turning point in the
year 2009, when he decided to actively participate in

Italian political life, first creating a civic list for the 2009
local administrative election and then founding the Five
Stars Movement.
Therefore, it is possible to identify a period (January
2005 through December 2008) in which his blog
reflected only his personal ideas and was used mainly to
create notoriety about his name and his professional
activities. The year 2009 can be considered a transition
year when his approach to political life changed, and
Grillo‘s involvement in politics gradually increased.
Until this shift, Grillo‘s main interest was his active
political life, and the main instrument for reaching his
political targets was the Beppegrillo.it blog. The
importance of the web, and derivatively of the blog, was
directly indicated in the Five Stars Movement
foundation document (Beppegrillo, 2009).
Our assumption is that the language and political
content of the blog derive directly from the type of
involvement of the blogger. The first-phase blog
communication was more personal and accessible,
whereas the second-phase language was a more complex
political language. It is important to point out that
Grillo‘s blog in the second phase consists apparently of a
professional way of communicating, managed by a
marketing agency and finalized to achieve well-defined
results. Considering that the Five Stars Party adopted
Grillo‘s blog as the only official communication channel,
and considering that the party is experiencing rapid
growth, we can assume that the blog‘s communication
strategy has been successful in shifting its focus from

personal to political.
In general, political communication is commonly
handled in a professional manner, communication
campaigns are planned, and the results evaluated. This
communication needs to be suitable for a broad
audience in the hope that the message will reach them
and encourage them to become involved in politics.
Political communication should not be complex
especially when it uses a very direct media channel (e.g.,
the Internet).
Practitioners implications
Political language, variously institutionalized and
legitimized since ancient times, has always made use of
elaborate strategies and tactics aimed at achieving what
the Latins called, with a very concise expression, the
fidem facere et animos impellere — ―convince rationally
and persuade emotionally‖. Geared toward citizen-
recipients, information is then organized along complex
textual paths where key words, neologisms, and
formulas are used to activate and/or reaffirm those
bonds of trust with the audience with which every
politician must deal, especially during political and
administrative election campaigns and referendums.
For political parties, new Internet tools enable
campaigning teams to become more proactive and to fit
the message to the person targeted according to his or
her needs and interests, as defined through their own
requests after answering online questionnaires or,

simply, thanks to the recording and processing of the
various items on which the user clicks while on the
party‘s site. The competitive advantage that is correlated
to the viral diffusion of a political message is apparently
the real goal of the communication; the blog, the
website, or the social network represent not only an
additional communication channel but also an
instrument for spreading editorial content and
messages, virally infecting the other and ―older‖ media.
Although it was typical of the 1990s, a drastic
simplification of the language of politics on the
television media, it is now even more necessary to use on
the Net a language that tries to appear clear and precise.
Renewed attention must be given to clarity of
communication now that politics uses the new media to
reach the wide public.
Our findings indicate that the levels of readability of
communications, particularly among broad-based
audiences, may significantly lower when a blog changes
from a personal one to an official political party one. Our
results raise a concern as to the ability of the political
communicators to exhibit the levels of transparency
increasingly expected by the public. As when
communications from political parties are not readable
by their intended stakeholders, transparency is
compromised. It seems important to evaluate the
readability and comprehensibility of online political
texts in relation to the varying public citizens, who will
consequently approve or disapprove them.
An important limitation of the present study is that

the quantitative explanation of a text loses certain
properties when undergoing intense interpretation.
Every communication is interwoven with semantic
relations and is symbolic, which does not lend itself to
statistical analyses. The concatenation of sentences that
make up a text does not lend itself to being broken up
into linguistic units in its own right.
Moreover, we believe that in the future, it would be
interesting to study the reactions of readers to the blog‘s
change in communication style, frequency, and
readability, measuring the volume and the language
used in the comments posted by readers.
Conclusions
A key communication task for any political party or
politician is to make the political communication spread
using different tools (we considered specifically the
party blog), easy to read and understandable as a first
step. These different tools must have the precise scope to
inform, to send the right messages, and to ignite the
right viral effect. Therefore, because of the great
diffusion of the Internet as a political information
source, it seems very important to evaluate the
readability and comprehensibility of online political
texts in relation to the varying public citizens who will
consequently approve or disapprove them.
Consequently, to reach this goal, writers must consider
both their contents and their target audience.
Identifying the reader is probably a challenging activity,

but the statistics available to blog owners are a unique
aid because they provide useful information to help
writers modify the style and complexity of their writing
according to who is reading their work.
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212 |
CONCLUSIONS | 213
Chapter 3: Conclusions
214 | CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS | 215
3.1 Introduction
Political marketing not only provides tactical counsel
and support regarding parties and candidates‘ political
campaigns but also plays an important role in
determining party strategies and campaign policies
(Bradshaw, 1995; Medvic, 2001, 2006). Indeed, the
evolution of political marketing is a recent phenomenon
with regard to its practical application of relevant tools
and techniques in election campaigns and the proposal
of new strategic approaches, theoretical models, and
paradigms.
Election campaign strategies have arisen from the
evolution of both the political and social landscapes of
modern democracies. In primis, changes in the
circumstances of electorates‘ social and political
preferences are no longer tied to static ideological
values; changing patterns in individual preferences have
led to increasing volatility in the vote (Franklin, 1995).
In secundis, the decline of membership in the party, the
presence of political coalitions that are opposed yet also
characterized by homogenization of electoral programs,
and alliances that have become progressively more
unstable have less frequently defined the voter as the
manifestation of ideological beliefs and lasting fruit and
more often as having personal and variable choices
(Lilleker & Lees-Marshment, 2005).
Therefore, political candidates and parties must
distinguish themselves in the conceptual policy space by
creating and managing a political brand and a specific
set of values (Schweiger & Adami, 1999). Parties and
216 | CONCLUSIONS
candidates must implement the design and construction

of a brand and determine its positioning in view of
internal (internal resources and party characteristics)
and external (political, legislative, and competitive
factors regarding media, especially the peculiarities of
the electorate) variables (Prete, 2015). To do so, they
must understand the target audience‘s needs, desires,
and perceptions and, based on these acquisitions, must
identify sustainable competitive advantages (Pilotti,
Ganzaroli, & Guido, 2007).
Political parties should also determine the
expectations of voters through shared knowledge,
images of parties and candidates, determinants of
intention to purchase, meanings and symbols associated
with the experience of voting, and personal and
contextual variables concerning participation in political
activities (Prete, 2015).
3.2 Major findings

This work focused on comprehending the strategic
positioning of a political brand, as well identifying the
factors that can affect the desired and perceived
positioning of this political brand.
The overall research problem was subsequently
identified as: how can the strategic stance of a political
brand best be understood, and what are the factors that
subsequently affect the positioning of a political brand?
CONCLUSIONS | 217
The following four research sub-questions were

formulated to analyze the overall research problem in
depth:
 RQ1: Do political brands adopt strategic
archetypes/stances in the same manner as
conventionally branded products and services?
 RQ2: Does the positioning/stance of a political party
change over time, and how can this be measured and
evaluated?
 RQ3: Do adverse events and external elements affect
the positioning of a political brand?
 RQ4: How do brand strategies affect the frequency
and quality of communication used by political
parties to position themselves?
The key factor is not whether a stance is right or not
but rather if it is appropriate for the environmental
conditions in which the party or brand finds itself. If it
is, the party or brand must both reinforce and maintain
the mode of focus; if it is not appropriate, strategists
must identify a more appropriate stance and engineer
ways for the brand to move in that direction.
It might also be possible for political brands to
exploit a ―portfolio‖ of stances aligned to different target
audiences. It would be quite feasible for a political brand
(at least, in a democracy) to follow certain voters
(probably those committed to the party), shape others‘
ideas (the undecided), and interact with others
(corporations and major donors).
218 | CONCLUSIONS
In this sense, political marketing not only provides

guidance and assistance regarding the general or merely
tactical aspects of the political campaign but also
exercises an important role in shaping the strategy of
campaign policies (Bradshaw, 1995; Medvic, 2001,
2006).
In this study, four strategic orientation archetypes
(the isolator, the follower, the shaper, and the interactor,
as originally presented by Berthon et al., 1999) were
adapted and analyzed, with particular emphases on
politicians and political brand.
The non-political field contains many examples of
situations in which asking customers what they wanted
and giving it to them failed and many innovative
products that were conceptualized with little market
research, which also failed.
Within this approach, in which the voter is
compared to the consumer and the party and candidates
are compared to companies, the transition from being
product-oriented to sales-oriented, and market-oriented
stands out (Lees-Marshment, 2001; Shama, 1976; Smith
& Saunders, 1990). Therefore, the main objective of this
paper was to explore political party strategic
orientations.
The four strategic orientation archetypes — the
isolator, the follower, the shaper, and the interactor —
are applicable to political leaders and parties as brands.
The isolator represents a leader who places a low
priority on customers and products. For example, in the
CONCLUSIONS | 219
absence of democracy, there might be little motivation

for leaders to respond or attempt to influence public
sentiment. The lack of an electorate within the country
represents a political strategy that does not need to react
to or shape public opinion to remain in power. As a
result, isolators are prominent in several historical and
contemporary examples of absolute monarchies.
The follower is epitomized by politicians whose
campaign tactics are influenced by listening to and
addressing, or at least promising to address, the public‘s
concerns to sway the electorate to vote in their favor.
Politicians are elected to serve and represent citizens;
true democracies operate on the basis of an even
distribution of power amongst the people (Laxer, 2009).
It is expected that democratic political leaders listen to
the electorate and shape decisions based upon the
public‘s needs and expressed sentiments. If politicians
do not attend to the genuine concerns of the general
populace, this can create significant pushback from
those being ignored.
The public is not ―something to be commended‖;
rather, ―the best politicians listen carefully to the
electorate‖ (Campbell, 2013). Hinting at the rationality
of the strategic orientation of the follower, Campbell
explained that politicians must listen to and act for the
public because ―citizens experience the brunt and grace
of political decisions. We are experts in the
consequences of political decisions‖ (Campbell, 2013).
The quintessential orientation of a shaper is that of a
politician who has the ability to influence and perhaps
220 | CONCLUSIONS
completely alter public opinion without coercion. In a

prototypical example, one can examine the effect that
Winston Churchill had on the ultimate success of Great
Britain during the Second World War, even as he was
surrounded by whispers of uncertainty from Parliament
and a skeptical public, who considered defeat at the
hands of the Nazis inevitable (Best, 2011).
Political interactors epitomize a hybrid stance
between followers and shapers. This has become more
prolific since the advent of the Internet and its
subsequent use in political campaigning. Indeed, many
now view it as a necessity within primary and
presidential elections for candidates to have strong
online presences. However, not long ago, those
implementing online strategies were pioneers in the
practice (Deighton & Kornfeld, 2008).
An isolator‘s stance seems to be the least desirable
and an interactor‘s the most desirable. Notably, Berthon
et al. (1999) suggested that this is an oversimplification
and that there is no one ―best stance‖. Reasonably, the
stance that an organization adopts should fit the
situation in which it finds itself. Even an isolator‘s stance
can sometimes be appropriate. Likewise, while an
interactor‘s stance might seem ideal, Berthon et al.
(1999) noted that these types of strategies are
substantially more expensive than others and are
intricate, making them tough to manage.
Moreover, different strategic political stances are
connected with marketing and communication activities
carried out by political parties and candidates. In
CONCLUSIONS | 221
particular, political advertising and, in general, all forms

of communication made by the party or by the candidate
should try to influence perceptions of the electorate,
which can be measured through research activities
(Baines, Harris, & Lewis 2002). Because a political party
is an organization and not a firm, the relationship
between planned and perceived positioning is fluid and
unstable, which causes it to change over time. For this
reason, it is important to monitor the relationship
between planned and perceived positioning.
This study focused on online communication
because it allows for two-way communication, making it
possible to study both top-down and bottom-up
communication. From those perspectives, the research
offers a systematic and practical way for political party
organizations and researchers to learn from consumer
feedback to fill the gap between political party
positioning and perceived positioning.
In the present research, through content analysis of
a political party blog, we proposed a methodology able to
both reveal the gap between political party positioning
and its perceived positioning and to monitor it.
Moreover, our study explored interrelations between a
political party‘s positioning in two different periods to
discover possible discrepancies over time. The adopted
methodology was useful for both detecting misleading
positioning and following upcoming changes in the
political stance of a party.
It is critical to periodically monitor such positions;
political parties or candidates that do not consider
222 | CONCLUSIONS
possible discrepancies between planned and perceived

positioning and the possible changes through time could
cause frustration and disappointment of the electorate,
which would increase the perception of political
hypocrisy (Prete et al., 2015).
This research is particularly interesting because it
studies a political blog that was the only official and
unofficial method of communication for a political party.
The five-star movement candidates refused any
interviews with major media, using only the official blog
as their preferred and unique media to contact the
electorate. I have been unable to find any other political
campaign that had such a strict communication rule.
A political party or candidate must personify all
proposed values and issues as well as associate their
name with the goal of creating an orientation symbol,
which will subsequently connect the political party to the
candidate (Schweiger & Adami, 1999).
In general, a brand‘s value or equity is constantly
affected by its respective firm‘s actions. A better-
educated and informed pool of consumers, who demand
a higher level of corporate social responsibility and
ethics (cf. Egri & Ralston, 2008), can quickly detect any
negative event and associate it with the brand image.
Political parties and candidates must design a
political brand that is both distinguishable from those of
their opponents and preferred by potential voters,
especially undecided or volatile voters. They also need to
understand the possible risks of such visibility. Indeed,
CONCLUSIONS | 223
candidates experience both beneficial and unfavorable

consequences related to how users represent them
(Deighton & Kornfeld, 2008). Commercial products
have risks associated with creating a brand because of
the unspoken promise to consumers that their trust in
the brand will be respected. This leaves the brand owner
exposed to considerable reputational risk (Buer, 2002;
van Ham, 2001), which is also true for political brands.
The third article examines the case of Mr.
Berlusconi‘s (Italy) indiscretions and the subsequent
decline of his political brand. Political brands also
impact national brands via the perceived added value
that international consumers place on that country and
its products and services.
An analysis of recent political cartoons provided
insight into international attitudes regarding Mr.
Berlusconi‘s political and social actions. Newspaper and
magazine editors use cartoons to portray a specific issue
because of their simplicity. Readers can more easily
understand a cartoon message than political
commentaries or editorials. Clever cartoons often
motivate consumers to read editorial viewpoints, ideas,
and beliefs. Additionally, editorial cartoons have an
increased chance of becoming viral and therefore usually
have wider circulation, a longer life, and a greater
influence than written editorials among the public
(Duus, 2001). The purpose of a political cartoon is not
only to inform but to make people reflect on current
events and issues regarding politics, government, and
society. Artists aim to attack an idea, a person, or a party
224 | CONCLUSIONS
in the hopes that the image will inspire a laugh or a

smile at the expense of the subject (Duus, 2001).
From this investigation, the authors concluded that a
country‘s political leader‘s negative image and
reputation can negatively impact their political brand
and national brand equity abroad.
Post-modern political campaigns are defined by the
use of new electronic and digital media (Norris, 2002;
Prete, 2007). These communication channels have
provided new opportunities for actors and policy makers
to share news and information of interest, to understand
individuals‘ opinions, and to interact with the public.
YouTube is a significant avenue with which to engage
voters from the comfort of their own homes. The video-
sharing website is also accessible to thousands of
supporters who act as ambassadors by exponentially
disseminating each candidate‘s vision. Online consumer
reviews have the potential to provide a wealth of
information about individuals‘ attitudes and how they
prioritize different elements of a discussion, which can
be assessed for individual political parties and used to
compare different ones. Therefore, the online world
provides an important lens for observing political brand
positioning and is an important instrument for
influencing it as well.
Political blogs are not only an additional
communication channel but also an instrument for
spreading editorial content and messages through the
viral infection of more traditional media channels.
CONCLUSIONS | 225
The complexity of the Web 2.0 approach does not lie

in technology: creating a website is now an easy and
cheap process; however, the construction of a network of
active users and stakeholders is a much longer and more
complex process.
Building a network requires establishing
relationships and trust between individuals who often
do not know each other before they meet online
(Coleman & Wright, 2008).
communication (Bimber & Davis, 2003; Norris, 2003)
because it requires the user (i.e., the consumer) to take
action to visit the websites and blogs of political parties
and candidates. Other more traditional media, such as
billboards, e-papers, and the presence of politicians on
television, are less targeted and can therefore be more
invasive, reaching people who are not interested in
to a website, a blog, or any social media is deliberate and
requires a degree of interest and active involvement.
Therefore, there is a risk of involving only restricted
groups of the population. A successful message needs to
be spread quickly, which means that a viral message is
the fastest way to spread information and has the
greatest possibility of reaching both potential supporters
and undecided subjects (Vaccari, 2008).
The power and immediacy of new media has
increased the ability of politicians to communicate and
226 | CONCLUSIONS
spread political messages quickly, especially if

readability and comprehension levels fit the target. A
key task for any political party or politician is to make a
blog understandable as a first step toward igniting and
spreading the right viral effect and obtaining individual
engagement.
The concept of engagement has evolved into
coproduction engagement (Bovaird, 2007), which is
seen as an innovative approach in the planning and
production of a service. Political engagement has been
subject to multiple definitions and measurement
methods. Some authors have viewed it not only as the
act of voting but also as a broad interest in political
activities (Parry, Moiser, & Day, 1992). Indicators
generally used for its measurement include (Electoral
Commission, 2002, 2005, 2006) knowledge of politics
and of its representatives (Electoral Commission, 2003);
an interest in politics and, in particular, in issues of
local, national, and international importance; the
tendency to discuss politics with others (Coleman,
2003); participation, i.e., the propensity to vote, which is
expressed through electoral and political activism
(Curtice & Seyd, 2003); effectiveness, which is an
attitude regarding the ability to influence the
government of the country (Thomas & Young, 2006);
and satisfaction in their choices (Electoral Commission,
2003). Other authors associate political engagement
with frequency of voting in previous elections,
particularly in the latest election (Morris & Forgette,
2007), or with having declared the intention to vote.
CONCLUSIONS | 227
To reach this goal, writers must consider both their

content and their target audience.
We measured the text readability of a political blog
to provide insight into the effectiveness of viral
communication using blogs. Our findings indicated that
levels of readability, particularly among broad-based
audiences, deteriorate significantly when a blog becomes
political and the communication becomes more
institutional.
3.3 Theoretical contribution of the study

From a theoretical point of view, although some
schools of thought give political marketing marginal
importance, limiting it to a component of
communication and defining it as ―promotional policy‖
or ―pre-packaged policy‖, it represents an appropriate
tool for understanding the behavior of potential voters,
parties, and candidates. Its importance is both
descriptive and prescriptive. Political marketing requires
permanent management to address governments in
modern democratic countries.
The first paper (see Chapter 2), according to this
theoretical approach, serves to present a theoretical
framework by which political strategists can use
environmental understandings to better position
political brands.
Moreover, the aim to develop and strategically
position a political brand is strictly connected with the
228 | CONCLUSIONS
need for marketing research and is a subsequent

consideration of the expectations, desires, thought
patterns, level of involvement, and understanding of
potential voters. Therefore, parties and politicians
should use marketing tools and communication to
convey expectations and perceptions of voters toward
their political offer as well as to offer valuable solutions
to those demands and problems.
The issues discussed above suggest that there are
opportunities for political strategists to consider and
political marketing scholars to investigate regarding the
modes of the foci identified herein.
Political marketing scholars might find it useful and
insightful to measure and gauge the stance within a
party or political entity. It is evident that, for each
strategic orientation, there are both challenges and
benefits to the pursuit of one over the other in the
context of political brands. Consequences can impact
both a political leader and the voters; however, the same
strategy may affect each side differently. These political
stances, which embody differing orientations, often
change in their prevalence through time, even from
country to country, and none are necessarily completely
independent of others.
Political marketing scholars also must consider the
possible risks of brand positioning. Indeed, a candidate
experiences both beneficial and unfavorable
consequences regarding how individuals perceive them
(Deighton & Kornfeld, 2008). For commercial products
as well as political brands, there are risks associated with
CONCLUSIONS | 229
creating a brand. Additionally, there is an unspoken

promise to consumers that their trust in the brand is
deserved. These leave the brand exposed to considerable
reputational risk (Buer, 2002; van Ham, 2001).
3.4 Managerial implications

From an operational viewpoint, political marketing,
which is characterized by increasing professionalization,
has established itself as a management tool for election
campaigns through the intervention of consultants,
managers, and politicians using marketing research
techniques.
Firstly, we proposed that influence in political
endeavors happens in a bi-directional manner, where
politicians are influenced by voter sentiment and voters
are influenced by politicians. Through careful analysis of
the environment, politicians can better manage this
relationship. Political brand strategists would do well to
note that neither followers nor shapers always win. For
example, in the recent British general elections, the
Labour Party, despite its follower stance, fared badly.
Moreover, while Churchill led the country successfully
through the Second World War, after the war, the
electorate seemed to prefer a party that would listen to
their post-conflict concerns, and Churchill‘s
Conservatives lost the election.
Political brand strategists might find it useful and
insightful to measure and gauge the stance within a
230 | CONCLUSIONS
party or political entity. Berthon et al. (2003) created a

scale that provides researchers and practitioners with a
way to assess an organization‘s stance and can also be
easily adapted for use by political parties and political
brands. The key strategic question then becomes not
whether or not the stance is right but if it is appropriate
for the environmental conditions in which the party or
brand finds itself. If it is, then the party or brand must
both reinforce and maintain the mode of focus; if it is
not appropriate, then strategists need to identify a more
move in that direction.
By virtue of the increase in two-way communication
through the Internet, voter sentiment has had an
increasingly powerful role in political strategy and
decision-making. However, not all politicians benefit
from granting ultimate power to constituent opinions. In
countless political situations, voter sentiment has not led
to victory for a political party. Yet, politicians who adapt
to the political environment are better positioned in the
minds of constituents.
Secondly, as with for-profit brands (Berthon et al.,
1999), wise political marketing strategists would do well
to note that changes in stance over time might be
opportune and contingent on environmental conditions
in the political marketplace. For example, Churchill
might have done well to change his stance from that of a
shaper after the Second World War. A shaper stance was
perfectly appropriate in a time of crisis, when people
wanted to be led from the front. However, when the
CONCLUSIONS | 231
crisis was over and after enduring great hardship, they

wanted to be heard, and they longed to achieve a
national objective.
Therefore, political marketing managers could find
this methodology useful for revealing the difference
between a political party‘s positioning and its perceived
positioning as well as monitoring it in different periods
to discover possible discrepancies over time. To solve
any such incongruities, it would be quite feasible for a
political party (at least, in a democracy) to follow certain
voters (those committed to the party), shape others (the
undecided), and interact with yet others (corporations
and major donors).
As to political brand building, even before actions
and political programs, political parties and politicians
should create political scenarios through communication
to help establish the criteria and terms of comparison
with which the activities of the party or politicians are
assessed (Guido, 2015). These should reduce rather than
bridge the gap between the perceptions and expectations
of voters.
3.5 Future research and limitations

Modern Western democracies and, to some extent,
new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe, are
witnessing an instability and, in some cases, a decline in
the political commitment of citizens (Spogard & James,
2000). In particular, statistics on young people (Park,
232 | CONCLUSIONS
1999; Pirie & Worcester, 1998, 2000; Russell et al.,

2002; White, Bruce, & Ritchie, 2000) have shown low
voter turnouts, a decline in political interest, a lack of
active participation in elections, and less satisfaction
regarding potential voters (Dermody & Scullion, 2005;
Teixeira, 1992).
Future research activities should explore the role of
new media communication in stimulating political
engagement.
This thesis created a basis for future research aimed
at identifying and measuring the response of the
electoral body to the message and the brand image of a
particular candidate or political party.
Using the methodology suggested, it would be
interesting to measure the impact of the distance
between the message and the perceived message of a
political party on voters and to verify if this effect is the
same in the four quadrants of the matrix, as suggested in
paper one.
In this writer‘s opinion, future research should focus
on the effectiveness of the message, which is intended to
convince the electorate to give a preference to a
particular party or candidate.
The second area of study should focus on the impact
of external factors on the electorate. In paper three, I
emphasized that external elements can modify brand
perception. It would be interesting to identify a scale or
method to categorize them and define a measure of
positive or negative impact on the electorate.
CONCLUSIONS | 233
In the final analysis, this thesis opens the door to

research in two different areas of study: the conversion
process that motivates a supporter to become a voter
and the study and categorization of the effects of
external factors on political brands.
Finally, it would be beneficial to measure the impact
of ―passion‖ for political brands. Political party
supporters are often more driven by passion than
rationality, which would be interesting to explore and
compare against other factors of political marketing.
Looking at the limitations of this thesis, it would be
interesting to reproduce the research of papers 2 and 4
in several countries to verify any differences between
cultures regarding the perception of political messages.
Unfortunately, due to the particular use of media in this
case (only a blog and no other media), this could be
impossible. Therefore, measuring the response and the
difference between the political message and its
perception only within the Italian electoral body could
be seen as a limitation of this study.
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ISBN 978-91-7729-203-6
TRITA-IEO-R 2016:11
ISSN 1100-7982
ISRN KTH/IEO-R-2016:11
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DOCTORAL THESIS IN INDUSTRIAL MARKETING

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2017

KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Doctoral Thesis No. 2016:11

To my children Riccardo and Zoe—and my love,

Chapter 1: Overview of the research

What is political marketing? Who was the first to

The first hints of political marketing began five

The research problem for this dissertation was

1.2 Widening the concept of marketing

Kotler and Levy proposed the possibility of

The American Marketing Association (AMA)

When comparing this definition to the previous

Following the definition of traditional marketing,

Passion and involvement seem to be the real

Both passion and a passionate approach to politics

Scammell (2007) studied how the utilization of

emotional attributes of political parties. This provides

This consumer-facing approach to value is one of the

However, political marketing is a hybrid sub-

1.2.1 Political marketing

Butler and Collins (1994, p. 19) stated that political

which relate to public or political issues or to specific

Kelley (1956) is often credited with the first usage of

However, political marketing is much more than

In a wider perspective, political marketing is the

marketplace into the political field (Egan, 1999; Farrell

Political marketing offers systematic processes for

In this sense, political marketing is ―marketing

1.2.2 Political marketing vs. political science

Therefore, as previously stated, political marketing is

internal marketing, etc.) to political science and molds

In social science, political science includes the

The study of political science comprises state theory,

Marketing‘s application to politics and its

The transition from a political and electoral system

The entry of new professionals into the political

Many authors have studied election campaign

Firstly, electorate orientation changed; voting was

faithful followers, even after failing to keep campaign

Furthermore, campaign organization moves from

Farrell and Webb (2000) constructed a similar

The first phase is characterized by low technological

with regard to resources and fund collection; activist

The second phase is firstly characterized by

The third phase of professionalization lies in the era

During campaign evolution, particularly when

commitments that require the professional approach

Many types of political consultants can be involved

1.2.3 Political marketing evolution

In this section, an overview of the evolution of

The transactional approach, which focuses on the

The political product consists of the party and the

However, some authors have outlined the difficulty

O‘Shaughnessy, 2002) and is instead described as a

According to the abovementioned new definition of

1.3 Widening the concept of brand

Kotler et al. (2005, p. 549) defined brand as ―a

traditional marketing. A brand is a form of physical

Brand is now recognized as performing a central role