Routledge Handbook of Political Marketing

With the Obama campaign universally acknowledged as the most successfully marketed presidential campaign of all time, the future of political marketing is fiercely contested, provoking a wealth of high quality scholarship from across the globe. This work provides an accessible introduction to the field, international in both content and authorship, which will set the direction of future research.
Routledge Handbook of Political Marketing contains cutting edge contributions written by academic experts and informed practitioners but will also have a cohesive structure, containing emerging areas and authors alongside established ones. The handbook addresses the practicalities as well as the broader impact of political marketing on politics including its’ role in the changing relationship between political leaders, parties and voters. With each chapter providing a comparative and carefully structured discussion of a key topic, the handbook examines issues within the following broad themes:



Understanding the market, gathering ideas, and debate


Product development, branding and strategy


Internal Marketing


Communicating and connecting with the public


Government Marketing - delivery, policy and leadership


With each chapter written to a common template presenting new research and contemporary case studies, the handbook combines a succinct presentation of the latest research with an accessible and systematic format that will be of great interest to scholars and practitioners alike.

Jennifer Lees-Marshment (University of Auckland, New Zealand) is an international expert in political marketing and author/editor of 10 books, including Political Marketing: principles and applications (2009) and Global Political Marketing (2010).

1. Introduction: Political Marketing in the 21st Century Jennifer Lees-Marshment Section 1: Understanding the Market, Gathering Ideas and Debate 2. The Role of Opinion Research in Setting Campaign Strategy Alexander Braun 3. Political Marketing and Segmentation in Aging Democracies Scott Davidson and Robert H. Binstock 4. Strategic Voter Selection Michael John Burton 5. Government Public Opinion Research and Consultation: Experiences in Deliberative Marketing Mathias König and Wolfgang König 6. Co-Creating the Future Roy Langmaid Section 2: Product Development, Branding and Strategy 7. Political Party Market Orientation in a Global Perspective Jesper Strömbäck 8. Niche Marketing the Greens in Canada and Scotland Susan Harada and Helen Morris 9. Political Branding in the Modern Age – Effective Strategies, Tools & Techniques Kenneth M. Cosgrove 10. The Politics of Hope: The Democratic Party and the Institutionalization of the Obama Brand in the 2010 Mid-Term Elections Brian Matthew Conley Section 3: Internal Marketing 11. Internal Party Political Relationship Marketing:Encouraging Activism amongst Local Party Members Robin T. Pettitt 12. Party Members as Part-time Marketers: Using Relationship Marketing to Demonstrate the Importance of Rank-and-File Party Members in Election Campaigns Peter Van Aelst, Joop van Holsteyn and Ruud Koole 13. Yes We Can (Fundraise): The Ethics of Marketing in Political Fundraising Alex Marland 14. Political Parties and Direct Marketing: Connecting Voters and Candidates more Effectively Peter N. Ubertaccio 15. The Party Official as Political Marketer: The Australian Experience Stephen Mills Section 4: Communicating and Connecting with the Public 16. Campaigning in the Twenty-First Century: Change and Continuity in American Political Marketing Dennis W. Johnson 17. Selling Sarah Palin: Political Marketing and the ‘Wal-Mart Mom’ Robert Busby 18. Populism as Political Marketing Technique Georg Winder and Jens Tenscher 19. Something Old, Something New? Modelling Political Communication in the 2010 UK General Election Jenny Lloyd 20. Interacting Leaders Claire Robinson 21. Underused Campaigning Tools: Political Public Relations Nigel A. Jackson 22. Political Marketing in an Online Election Environment: Short Term Sales or Long-Term Relationships? Nigel A. Jackson, Darren G. Lilleker and Eva Schweitzer Section 5: Government Marketing - Delivery, Policy and Leadership 23. Delivering in Government and Getting Results in Minorities and Coalitions Anna Esselment 24. Amateur Coalitions Strategies: Tensions about Legitimacy in Environmental Causes Émilie Foster, Raymond Hudon and Stéphanie Yates 25. Branding Public Policy David Marsh and Paul Fawcett 26. The Use of Public Opinion Research by Government: Insights from American and Canadian Research Lisa Birch and Francois Petry 27. Making Space for Leadership: The Scope for Politicians to Choose How They Respond to Market Research Jennifer Lees-Marshment 28. Conclusion: New Directions in Political Marketing Practice, Political Marketing and Democracy and Future Trends Jennifer Lees-Marshment