Mitt Romney, frontrunner of the GOP candidate race

As the GOP candidate race reaches its climax, it is an opportune time to analyze the world of politics and candidate promotion through a marketing lens. Marketing plays a massive role in the often fierce and hostile process of choosing the leader of the free world. The GOP race offers a glimpse of how this can even occur within a single, supposedly unified, political party. While price isn’t applicable, the other three P’s of marketing, product, place, and promotion can be applied to political candidates. The “product” is the candidate’s value proposition to the electorate. Their views, values, promises, and opinions on major issues are obvious factors, but more subtle elements such as appearance, demeanor, and personality are also major pieces which culminate in the overall “product” of a candidate. Creating an effective and timely brand of a candidate is essential for success. The election process offers us a microcosm of a marketplace with a few similar products, all coming out at the same time, vying for customers’ very limited buying power (their vote!). Responding instantly to current public opinion data tests how quickly this “product” can be tailored to the public’s wants. The “place” of a candidate relates to where the candidate spends his time on the campaign trail; which states or regions they choose to focus on to capture the greatest market share possible. The “promotion” aspect of a political candidate pertains to how the candidate’s team chooses to sell their product. The use of millions of dollars in traditional advertising, grassroots movements, and the effective use of internet and social media are all promotional tools which a candidate’s team must effectively utilize and manage to have a chance at success. Analyzing marketing within politics sheds a light on how it not only applies to selling an iPod or video game, but also to who the next leader of the free world will be.