By Ella Pierzecki
You are probably sick of your inbox being flooded with campaign ads, political mailers filling your mailbox and the nonstop tv ads promoting candidates. At least, I know I am.
Although all these spam advertisements are annoying, they are crucial in the success of a political campaign. These advertisements shape public perception, build a candidate’s credibility and manage flow of information.
Behind the scenes, races nationally or locally all have PR teams hard at work. The election literally can be decided by the way the PR team, and the candidate, communicate with the public. There is so much relating to PR and campaigns that I can talk about, but I want to break it into three main topics: issue management, message control and crisis response.
The way the public views a candidate is the foundation of an election. For example, many PR teams will post pictures of a candidate kissing babies. There are several reasons for this. The main reasoning is to show that the candidate is trustworthy. Everything put out by campaigns are carefully crafted to help show candidates in a positive light.
In campaigns, politicians usually run with a trademark slogan. In this election, Donald Trump is running under the branding of, “Make America Great Again.” Kamala Harris is running under the branding of, “A new way forward.” These slogans were created by the candidates and their PR teams to build a brand for the candidate. The goal of a slogan is to capture the main messages that a campaign is trying to promote and make it easier for voters to remember and support a candidate. After slogans are created, the PR team carefully writes speeches, pushes out press releases and posts on social media with the goal of controlling the way the public views a candidate.
The third focus of PR teams in political campaigns is the idea of crisis response. PR teams often face many crises during campaigns. This could be a scandal, a mistaken phrase said by the candidate, or an unanticipated negative advertisement run by the opposing party. The PR needs to swiftly work to limit damage to a candidate’s reputation. They could do this by posting online, issuing statements, or having a press conference if needed. On the flip side, the PR team should be ready to capitalize when the opposing candidate has a crisis. They need to prepare the candidate for how to properly gain ground in light of an incident.
Overall, PR is arguably one of the most important pieces of political campaigns. It plays a vital role in controlling crises, managing public perception, sharing messages and painting the candidate in a favorable light. If done successfully, a PR strategy can win an election.
After election day, regardless of the outcome, remember to smile because those pesky political ads are finally over—at least for a little while.