Part Three: Political Marketing vs. Marketing. Why is it different (or should be)?

This is my last post on the current political marketing strategies being employed in the 2014 New Zealand general election. 

I was in my place of thinking (Mountain Biking at Woodhill Forest Bike Park) the other day. I was thinking about Political Marketing vs. Marketing. Something to get me up the hills. Why is it different (or should be)? This thinking was brought on by thinking about the current so called dirty politics that seems to be dominating campaigns. 

Obviously some things are the same. For example, brand building and social media strategy as a few examples.

But different. The argument and conduct of the brands.What seems to be propagating in the current political marketing landscape is brand misbehavior. Called dirty politics. Essentially, one brand or party starts trying to gain share or votes by putting down the other party. The focus is this on competition and fairly aggressive comparisons.

What is the effect? Negative of course. Think about brands in the normal market place. For example banks. How would you feel if they went around calling each other names and trying to gain share by putting down the brand down fairly or unfairly in aggressive comparisons. By not playing fair and marketing in an unethical way it would ultimately turn new and existing customers away. Probably because of the comparative fit a customer does between their own image and that of the unethical and unfair brand. Most would perceive the fit to be an unacceptable alignment of images.