Politics - A synonym for Marketing

Mao Zedong, the greatest leader of modern China very rightly pointed out that “Politics is war without bloodshed”. Politicians do not leave any stone unturned to drive home a result of their choice. They literally go on a war without bloodshed (blood is spilt occasionally, though). Attacks from opponents, from people within the group and sometime from one’s own kin can make politicians vulnerable. Eventually, it all narrows down to tricks and tactics that fends away such unprecedented situation and turn that adversity to your benefits. It requires a great deal of skill and the art of diplomacy to come unscathed of all the turbulence.

When I try to look for another word for Politics, the only word that comes as a replacement is marketing. As an ardent follower of politics and as a marketing major in MBA, I find these complementing each other if not being used as synonyms. Be it the concepts of DSTP (Differentiation, Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) or the 7 P’s (Product, place, Promotion, Price, People, Process, and Physical Evidence). In the modern day politics, where a multidimensional approach is indispensible, these parameters have to be applied full-fledgedly to come out victorious.

Political parties have to segment the population wisely which are substantial in numbers, accessible, measurable, differentiable and ultimately actionable. This mammoth task cannot be managed at tap of a finger. It requires careful planning and a strategic vision. To maximize the gain, politicians make every effort to reach its segmented population with a very careful approach, doling out customized packages for each segment. In recent election how BJP tried to lure voters differently in rural and urban India is a live example.

Targeting carefully is another task that requires precision. No political party can keep everyone happy or provide facilities to every section of masses with equal magnitude. They must target their prospective voters in such a way that they grab the maximum count on D-day. The Delhi election held in this February explicitly shows how AAP targeted the lower middle class and then middle class population in a step by step manner. They also took heed of disenchanted congress voters and targeted them wisely to secure a whopping 67 out of 70 seats.

Differentiation among masses and correct positioning has to be properly taken care of. The election manifesto declares the stand of the party on issues of the society. This is mainly done for proper positioning of the party so that the targeted voters correctly connect themselves. Congress positions itself as left of centre party with secular values to lure liberal majority and minority voters.

We can keep on relating politics with marketing as said by one of my professors Mr Ghadiyar, “If you ever want to understand the concept of marketing, try and understand Politics.” I so truly believe in this statement. The politician has to be a true marketer, salesman and true blue manager. In words of Caskie Stinnett “A politician is one who can tell ou to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.” It clearly shows the salesman instinct in a politician. We have witnessed the marketing done for our Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Lok Sabha election in 2014.

The promotional campaign was done in such a way that it reached every nook and corner India. Promotional media adopted included TV, radio, prints, hoarding, and hardcore social media networks. I witnessed my 4 year old nephew chanting the slogan “Abki bar Modi Sarkar”. This is the power of political marketing.

These are some of the aspect of marketing concepts applied in politics. In today’s world when technology is advancing leaps and bound, political marketing is catching up with equal pace. The old styles of rallies are just one of the many ways of reaching the targeted voters. The 3D speech delivered by Mr. Modi last year is a testimony to that. He addressed to people of multiple locations at the same time, not on a television but seemed like a live person standing in front.

At the end, I would just like to reiterate that the multidimensional marketing approach very aptly applies to politics and if I were to interchangeably use these words, I wouldn’t hesitate in doing it.