Before I get into Political Marketing , it is only fair that I explain the reason, which led me to write this article.
Being an entrepreneur means making investments. Developing new products and services. Studying new marketing and communication strategies to position yourself properly in the market.
Basically, it is an activity that you cannot do in the short term.
If you want to secure a future for your business, you need to build the right strategy in the medium and long term. Let’s say in the next 5 and 10 years.
To do this you have to be serene.
Especially if you have to invest a lot of money in research and development, in building new production lines etc..
It is therefore essential to live in a nation where everything works perfectly.
Where the administrative machine runs like clockwork.
Where there is no political and administrative instability.
Basically, the opposite of what has happened in Italy, at least in the last 7/10 years.
As always, theanalysis I am going to do is marketing and communication.
Far be it from me to talk about politics and political parties.
That is not my area, much less my task.
I always assume that if there is a problem, it means there is also a solution.
Problem: The current political and administrative model does not meet the country’s expectations.
As you can see, I did not talk about political parties or leaders, but about the model.
If you give me 3 minutes we will find out, together, why and what is the solution we can apply.
Once again, marketing strategy comes to our aid.
Marketing, with a capital M, is based, first and foremost, on analysis, statistics and strategy.
What it means: If I find out that 70 percent of 40- to 50-year-old women want to buy a pair of pink shoes in the next six months, I know what I can sell them.
Simple. It involves collecting and analyzing data.
Now we see why political parties cannot represent the needs of the people.
No matter how good they are, it is impossible to do.
Because, in some way, they will always disappoint their own electorate.
Even the most convinced and extremist ones
Don’t you agree?
Let us see together why I believe this is impossible.
It is a simple problem of procedure. Not one of willpower.
Political Marketing
Politics, in democracy, is an expression of what the people want. At the very least, it should come as close as possible.
Why is this impossible?
For the simple reason that, there is no CONSTANT direct connection between head (who decides what in the party) and base (who is on the ground).
Not for nothing, different parties, keep saying that “they have to take to the streets to understand what the people want.”
Good, in fact great.
Now we replace the word parties with the definition: team that manages and administers the public “thing.”
So we are all more relaxed 😅😅
Campaign Politics and Marketing
In an ideal world, in order to make sure that those who run public life, ALWAYS and CONSTANTLY express the will of the people, there should be constant verification of what the citizen wants.
For example, whenever a decision is to be made in Parliament, citizens should be consulted.
In this way we have total assurance that we are meeting their real needs.
Here marketing comes to our aid, once again, with a strategy called funnel i.e., “funnel.” A kind of inverted pyramid … without a tip.
In each city there should be territorial contact persons (B), such as one per neighborhood, who collect the needs and sentiment of people (A).
The liaisons report and liaise with city managers (C), who liaise with provincial (D), regional (E) and eventually national (F) managers.
If you are a politically active person, you are probably thinking, “Cremonesi is just ignorant. My party already does this…”
If you are thinking this, try to think about how often this actually happens. Let’s be practical, maybe on the campaign trail.
Suppose in one month, Italy has to decide on HST, Immigration Law, aid to earthquake victims, etc.
It would mean that, every time, the machine would have to start up again, to understand, really what the people want.
We come to the solution.
What we see now is nothing new. As it happens, often times in marketing, it is simply structured slightly differently.
But often times, it’s the differences that make you win.
The best product never wins, but the different one does.
The current political organization, delegates in the hands of the party core (parliamentarians and nonparliamentarians) and in some cases, of the leader alone, every decision.
This is done, this is not done, in keeping with the election program proposed during the campaign.
In some respects it is correct and consistent.
What actually takes place?
Political and electoral marketing
Let’s take an example. Just before the election, we decide to inform ourselves. We want to choose the party that fully meets our needs.
Purpose that of one party I like 3 ideas, of another 5 and of that other party 7 ideas.
But it is difficult for me to like everything about a political program. For a thousand reasons: cultural, political, ideological, religious, business, opportunity.
So basically, I choose the party that is closest to my ideals and desires.
The only solution, to really respond to the needs and wishes of the people, would be to have 1,000 parties with a thousand different needs and goals.
It would mean no more governing. We would be totally stuck.
What is the most democratic solution?
Political Marketing could be called Survey Strategy
Getting the citizen to voice his or her opinion whenever something is to be decided.
Twenty years ago this was organizationally, practically and economically impossible.
Today you can, thanks to technology.
Some countries in the world already adopt this system.
What I’m about to tell you has already been done by a political party in Italy, the Five Stars.
The Five Star Party has developed the “Rousseau Platform,” which I am not familiar with and do not intend to analyze in any way.
Again, I am not talking about political communication.
I am talking about strategy applicable to policy and solutions.
Politics and marketing: the democratic solution to running the nation
Let us imagine that an online platform is developed, or purchased, where the citizen can actively and constantly participate in every decision of public life.
Not only can he cast a vote, but he can also send suggestions, strategies, reflections. He can truly participate in public life.
Thanks to this super mega portal, citizens can vote on any law, decree, amendment.
Not only that, they can also select and vote on ideas and proposals.
Since it is just a matter of putting a simple click, I think anyone would actively and pro-actively participate in public life.
Both at the national and regional, municipal and local levels.
Conditio sine qua non: servers, applications and everything needed to run the entire platform must be located in a “state” facility.
That is, for optimal data management and protection, I would avoid using third-party services, such as Google or Amazon.
Would this be a win-win solution or not?
We would eliminate all problems. Do you agree?
The platform would democratically and proportionally express the will of the citizens.
Regardless of the consequences the vote will generate, it was the citizens of the United Kingdom who voted for Brexit. Right?
What you read is, clearly, a totally personal reflection.
I’d love to hear what you think.
A big hug and a great day.
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