Develop an Election Campaign Strategy Example. Development of an advertising strategy for an election campaign - abstract. Main events and events of the election campaign

For example, Martin Shakkum, despite his fame as a candidate for the post of President of the Russian Federation, could not get into the State Duma in the 1997-98 by-elections. It is thanks to the defeat in the presidential campaign that happened to him in 1996 ..

As you know, the presidential elections only helped Alexander Lebed to become the governor of one of the key regions.

For a candidate claiming victory, fake colleagues are sometimes even more dangerous than real rivals. It is from the most often used for frontal and "partisan" attacks on the favorites of the campaign (see the corresponding sections of the book).

Each role requires its own image, but if you think that the main thing is not to win, but to participate - immediately work for your real goal, do not waste time and money on building the image of a winner for these elections.

If you, as a candidate, invited consultants - tell the truth right away. Since their task is to solve customer problems in the most efficient way.

Once, while working with a large entrepreneur, we were guided by a false goal. And they constantly could not understand his careful attitude to our recommendations, which could lead him to success. Only a month before election day, he finally found it necessary to inform us that winning the election was not the goal of his election campaign. As a result, all the preparatory work went down the drain, since we were doing it to achieve completely different goals. And we were forced to terminate the contract.

The main strategic directions of the campaign are formed after analyzing all the information collected about the district and started collecting signatures by the rivals.

A strategy is a collection of the main ideas of a campaign. It is within the framework of the strategy that the image of the candidate, tactics and plan of the election campaign are realized. The strategy determines the content of the main campaign materials.

We must form in the minds of voters the most advantageous image of our candidate, highlight the strongest and most consistent with the real qualities of our candidate facets of this image.

Conventionally, from the point of view of comparing the parameters of the images of your candidate and rivals, the strategy is formulated as follows: “We will win if the voters seem to be stronger than this rival, more fair than this rival, smarter than this rival, more honest than this rival more competent than this rival ... "

From the point of view of the program, the strategy is formulated as follows: "We will win, because we are going to and can do ... And this is exactly what people in the district expect from their chosen one." It is necessary to approve only 2-3 of your recipes for solving the problems of the district and society. In principle, one was enough for S. Fedorov in the presidential elections.

From the point of view of mythology, we must grope for the myth shared by the majority of voters in a region or country about the main contradiction of society and take the side of good. Against crime. Against NATO. Against non-payment of salaries and pensions. Against privatization according to Chubais. Against the collapse of Russia. Against the Moscow colonialists. Against the IMF. Against the restoration of communism. Against Russophobes. Against Russian nationalists. Against corruption of officials. Against American hegemonism. Against separatism. Against Islamic fundamentalism. Against the expansion of China. Against the enrichment of the minority. For tax cuts. For the creation of new jobs. For domestic investment. For the help of the state in the migration of Russians to the central regions of Russia. For the unity of Russia. For self-reliance. For attracting foreign investment. During the campaign, we must strive to "straddle" 3-5 of the most serious (from the point of view of voters, according to preliminary opinion polls) contradictions in society.

Based on the specifics of the biography and the needs of the electorate, we must create the most effective and at the same time laconic "legend" of our candidate. There is no Hero without a Legend.

At the preliminary stage, it is necessary to assess the general political and socio-psychological situation in your district and country. Does the overall situation and the resulting desires and intentions of the voters correspond to the increase in your chances of winning?

At the preliminary stage, we must formulate the problems of our candidate as openly as possible in the form of theses, which may hinder our victory, and work out options and ways to neutralize these problems in the public consciousness.

Practical experience makes it possible to confidently rely on victory in the majoritarian elections if, two months before the elections, about 40% of voters know the candidate's surname, and 10% of voters are ready to vote for him.

Naturally, the candidate's growth resources should not be exhausted. Sometimes a candidate with 90% recognition is categorically unacceptable for the majority of voters (that is, has an anti-rating). In a two-round vote, this can lead to defeat or to an extremely high percentage of votes "against all". The high mobilization of its own electorate at the stage of preparation sometimes even hinders, since it reduces the possibilities for modifying the image and program. In addition, the "overheated" electorate sometimes behaves in completely unpredictable ways.

As a rule, in the current conditions of Russia, five or more candidates are running in the constituency. This means that with a one-round voting, your views, image and program after promotion should be of interest to more than a fifth of voters. This is the direction and reserves of our growth.

Formulate the questions clearly and order surveys from 2-3 different sociological centers. Because, unfortunately, interviewers, and the interviewers themselves, often tend to wishful thinking. It is advisable to conduct the first poll 6-9 months before the elections. Naturally, each group of sociologists does not need to know that they have competitors.

Sometimes, at major elections, it is more profitable to bring a nonresident, but proven sociological group to the region, including interviewers. It should be noted that the purpose of the survey is not to get ratings (which candidates love so much), but to reveal the attitude, intentions and desires of the population.

A typical basic survey includes about 60 questions, mostly closed ones, sometimes including up to 30 alternatives. Working in the region with local sociologists, we usually undertake not only the preparation of the questionnaires, but also all the data processing. Modern computer methods make it possible to construct mathematical models of the electorate that allow predicting its behavior and, during the campaign, to control this behavior. First of all, mathematical models of "our" electorate are built, the electorate unconditionally hostile to our candidate, and so on. The models make it possible to predict the behavior of voters depending on the various actions and statements of our candidate and his rivals. We find the basic strategic ideas of the campaign, which in the course of polishing tactics are worked out in targeted focus groups.

Example. In one Siberian city, we were invited to pull out the situation just over a month before voting day. Our candidate is the main rival of the incumbent mayor, lagging behind him by about fifteen percent. Computer modeling showed that the opponents had a significant segment of the general electorate, it was only necessary to create conditions for its overflow to our candidate. Our strategy and tactics have been geared towards exactly that. At the same time, sociologists and psychologists working for the incumbent mayor made a number of technological mistakes that led to errors in their campaign at the finish stage. As a result of their erroneous strategic recommendations, the mayor and the governor supporting him began a frontal confrontation with our candidate. ... We chose the path of avoiding confrontation and, as a result, won by 20 percent of the vote. However, the short time frame for the successful implementation of this campaign is rather an exception. In this case, we can only talk about the correct strategic decisions of our side multiplied by the strategic mistakes of the opponent's political technologists.

When preparing a campaign strategy, it is useful to analyze both previous opinion polls, as well as the results of elections in the district. It is best if you can get the results of surveys from local sociologists "in numbers." In this case, due to computer processing of additional data, additional useful information can be obtained.

It should be borne in mind that at best half of your potential supporters will visit polling stations. Therefore, the prospect of support for less than a fifth of voters makes an election campaign a rather risky undertaking if it does not pursue the goal of simply promoting the candidate's personality, firm and views. In this case, only weaker opponents can bring victory.

You cannot change the political and socio-psychological situation; at best, you will be able to somewhat correct its subjective understanding by the voters. Therefore, determine how much you can change yourself, so as not to lose yourself, but at the same time bring the number of your potential supporters to at least 20 percent of the constituency voters. Ride on to their problems and expectations.

If you have objectively little chances and no obligations to any structures, it is better to save money, nerves and not be nominated.

Unfortunately, our politicians do not yet know how to objectively assess their chances, so the candidates are multiplying before the elections, to the horror of each other and the amusement of the public.

When developing a strategy, it is necessary to take into account the resources of your election campaign and the campaigns of your opponents according to the following parameters:

1. 
   Time resources (If you start your election campaign a year, and not three months before the election, your chances, with skillful preliminary promotion, will increase many times over, and victory will not require excessive funds).
2. 
   Intellectual, creative resources (Ability to attract highly qualified specialists to develop and implement a campaign, create and implement a candidate program).
3. 
   Financial resources (The main problem is to have money in the right amount at each stage of the campaign, and not all at once two weeks before the elections).
4. 
   Organizational resources (First of all, this means the effective mobilization and organization of "arms and legs" necessary for the implementation of the campaign, as well as the ability to mobilize a sufficient number of "allies" structures during the campaign).
5. 
   Administrative resources - manifest themselves not only directly, in the form of influencing the voting process and counting of votes, but also indirectly - in the form of facilitating access to finance, material and information resources for the activities of headquarters (premises, transport, databases, etc.), mail services for mailing, organizational resources of regional elites. We are also talking about "special" relationships with the media, election commissions, courts. Thus, in the presidential elections in a number of subjects of the federation, opposition candidates did not even manage to register. In the 1999 parliamentary elections. A number of movements and blocs were completely blocked access to TV channels, despite the availability of funds, at the same time V. Zhirinovsky, who distinguished himself during the May "torpedo attack" to impeach the President of the Russian Federation, received full carte blanche on the propaganda of the Liberal Democratic Party on federal TV channels.
6. 
   Material and technical resources. We are talking about the technological armament of the headquarters - access to modern communication systems, powerful computers and software, transport. The quality of the strategy, tactics and media of political advertising often directly depends on the computer and software of the strategic planning, image building and creativity groups. Campaign management both during campaigning and during voting is the more effective, the higher the mobility of operational groups and their provision with modern communication systems.
7. 
   Legal resources (sometimes good work of lawyers allows you to remove the main rivals or even disrupt the election if our candidate did not manage to get promoted). In any case, you can make your opponents nervous. Suffice it to recall the "shock therapy" of "Yabloko" (which did not want to join the bloc of the united "right") during the bloc's registration in the 1995 parliamentary elections. At the elections in one of the regions, our lawyers managed to remove several chairmen of precinct election commissions, who did not want to fulfill all the requirements of the election law, on election day.
8. 
   Information resources (Access to information flows of rivals allows their campaigns to be "transparent", hidden or direct control over the media ensures dominance in the information space. At the same time, in regions with a European mentality, the more subtly we can manage information flows, the higher the effectiveness of the campaign will be. In predominantly Asian regions, the opposite is true.)
9. 
   Special operational resources (Informational, organizational, intellectual and other impact on the campaigns of rivals and allies).

As American electoral methodologies put it, "the strategy depends on WHO the voters you want to win over; WHY they will vote for you, WHAT these voters have in common; HOW and WHEN you can implement your strategy."

Unfortunately, American methodology is based on the fact that there are usually only two candidates in a district. Therefore, your strategy in modern Russian conditions also depends on WHO are your rivals, WHAT forces and means they have, HOW they will act to attract voters to their side.

Formulating the strategy of your election campaign, you have to find answers to all these questions.

The political focus on the constituency is discussed in sufficient detail in the chapter "Choosing a constituency". It is already clear to you who your voters are.

But now you must formulate a convincing argument WHY they should vote for you. Who you are or who you must become in order to claim victory. WHAT do you have in common with your voters, what do they have in common with each other? What do they believe in and what do they want to achieve? How can you help them to fulfill their desires, beliefs and intentions?

Having found the answers to these questions, it is necessary to proceed to the analysis of the images and programs of your rivals. The new version of the "Law on guarantees of electoral rights of citizens" states that more votes must be cast for the winner than "against all candidates." This forces the team of any candidate to engage in comparative analysis of programs and images very seriously.

In addition, one of the strategic goals is counter-propaganda against the most powerful rivals, convincing voters that they are worse than your candidate. It should be borne in mind that, as a rule, the number of fanatical adherents of any candidate does not exceed 20% of those who are ready to vote for him. This is the so-called "tough electorate". The rest of the voters - the "soft electorate" - are ready to vote for another candidate under certain conditions.

Your strengths, multiplied by the weaknesses of your competitors, become one of the keys to the right strategy.

Most rivals will act in a similar way, so you should be prepared to be drowned in mud and / or strangled in an embrace. The campaign strategy includes forecasting the goals and actions of our competitors during the campaign, our actions in relation to each of them.

It is better for you to formulate your strategic goals and objectives in the form of abstracts. Thus, you will be able to determine the intermediate goals of your election campaign, what you must achieve at each stage in order to ultimately win. Actions to expand one's "hard electorate" should alternate with actions to split and attract the "soft electorate" of rivals.

The correct choice of strategy explains why the winner in the district is often not the one who spent the most money on the campaign, most often appeared on TV screens, joyfully looked at voters from all fences and filled all mailboxes with his appeals. And the one who rationally spent limited funds on the step-by-step achievement of predetermined campaign goals, becoming more and more interesting and attractive to both his voters and the voters of his rivals.

Often, especially in the gubernatorial and presidential elections, even during the preparation of the election campaign, we create or imitate the creation of the so-called "minus group". This is the average headquarters of our rivals, whose task is to show where and how our opponents can hit us at every stage of the campaign. Weaknesses of the image, team, programs, compromising evidence - all this needs preliminary study and preparation of reflection. Fixing our weaknesses is also part of the strategy. Naturally, the prediction of strikes requires an atmosphere of special trust with the candidate. "Group-minus" works in full contact with the information and analytical department of the candidate's headquarters, setting its tasks to obtain information about rivals in order to predict their actions.

Naturally, after completing work with this candidate, the invited specialists must make a moral obligation not to use the information received against their former client in future campaigns. As a rule, even if invited for further work with other candidates, our specialists are not involved in the development and implementation of counter-propaganda and special actions against former clients. By the way, this is understood by the overwhelming majority of customers.

In high-level elections (mayor, State Duma and higher), where, as a rule, already promoted images participate, it is of great importance to build associative rows on the basis of polls that accompany the mention of the names of the main candidates in the minds of voters. This provides positive and negative directions for work in the media based on the formation and maintenance of verbal and non-verbal associations, stereotypes, guidelines for the development of outdoor and TV advertising, handouts, targeted mailing.

In addition, on the basis of expert polls, comparisons are made of the real and planned images of candidates according to 20-60 parameters that determine the personal and professional qualities necessary for a person to work in an elected position. (More on this in the chapter "Image of the candidate").

The work on the strategy is coming to an end with the preparation of the so-called "plot of the campaign" ("tree"). This is a kind of "master plan", which in the most general outline shows the main plot twists and turns of our campaign, the largest "news stories", the time and places of the "voice acting" of any conceptual ideas to our candidates, the main slogans, the scheme of their launch, shifts, time creation and planned partners in alliances, etc. The key points and dates of the campaign are determined, when its further development can go along one way or another, depending on the changing situation. These points are subsequently linked to the work schedules of the candidate and the press service, media plans, plans for the preparation and launch of advertising media. Large-block planning is underway, since a campaign where there is no internal interconnection between individual areas of work is doomed to senseless overspending.

A well-written and implemented scenario is capable of keeping opponents and voters in suspense throughout the campaign. It is necessary to attract the attention of voters, to keep this attention, as in a well-directed film. Let the opponents try to react to your past moves, at this moment you must form a new informational reason or strike a new blow. Surprise is a campaign resource. Holding the initiative is half the battle. But even such a "blitzkrieg" as winning the State Duma elections during the entire two-week election campaign requires completely confidential preparation for four to five months.

Sometimes the specifics of different regions of the district are so complex that one strategy is not enough to achieve success. Thus, one of the secrets of the success of A. Lebed's election campaign in the 1996 presidential election was the implementation of three strategies in succession and in parallel. In different regions, completely different facets of the general's image were promoted. Even in the federal media of different political orientations, the image was presented in relation to the specifics of the readership.

Questions WHEN and HOW you will be able to implement your campaign are already related to the tactics of the campaign.

Under normal conditions, campaign tactics are formed and coordinated within about two weeks, even before the collection of signatures begins. At one of the gubernatorial elections, we formed our tactics according to the following parameters:

APPROXIMATE SCHEDULE OF PREPARATORY WORK

The development of the strategy begins with the diagnosis of the district (for an electoral association, a presidential candidate - the economic and socio-political situation of the country), a survey of public opinion, an analysis of the structure of the electorate and the allocation of target groups, their weaknesses and strengths, studying rivals, identifying a complete list of resources by which possesses an electoral association, in general, a collection and a realistic analysis of factors that can influence the course of voting. On the basis of these data, the image of the party (candidate), formalized goals and concepts of the campaign are developed, a strategy is developed, and tactics are selected. The development of a strategy ends with a planning process, that is, the translation of theoretical developments into a specific action plan. In a simplified way, the task facing analysts and image-makers of electoral associations can be presented as follows: to find out how voters see their elected representatives, to develop an appropriate image of their leaders, electoral associations and a method of introducing it into the minds of voters.

Let's consider in more detail each component necessary for developing an electoral campaign strategy.

1. Diagnostics of the constituency.

The development of an election campaign strategy begins with a realistic analysis of the main factors that can affect the outcome of the elections: the state of the economy, the mood of voters, their traditional preferences, and the political forces operating in the district. The relative importance of each factor is assessed, the degree of negative or positive influence on the course of the election campaign is determined, the plan of election events is adapted to the real conditions of the district.

The main components of diagnostics are:

• - the structure of the constituency: geography, basic production characteristics, demography, statistics;
• - history of voting (especially the last) and analysis of election campaigns of various political forces in terms of their effectiveness of influence on the final results of voting in the constituency;
• - analysis of the structure and preferences of the electorate, with the identification of "target" groups of potential supporters and opponents of the candidate, methods of working with various social strata;
• - socio-economic diagnostics of regions, highlighting the main and root problems that determine the welfare and mood of voters.

Good diagnostics allows you to build an electoral map of the regions with a description of the main problems facing the residents of each specific city, village, enterprise of the block of the house (these data are used to draw up the program and the candidate's speech);

• - diagnostics of political and other forces and influences that can influence the outcome of the vote with a description of the methods of interaction with them in the direction necessary for the candidate;
• - a description of the regional mentality, traditions, stereotypes of behavior and thinking of the inhabitants of the regions with recommendations for taking this mentality into account when developing the language of political communication;
• - analysis of competitors;
• - analysis of the sentiments of the elite, including the executive branch and ways of influencing it;
• - analysis of the most informative points of the regions (places, persons, data banks) to obtain information during the election campaign;
• - conclusions on the image of a politician for whom the bulk of the population could vote;
• - analysis of voters' opinions on assessing the popularity of their candidate and recommendations for adjusting the image;
• - the main media, their political overtones and popularity ratings.

The results of diagnostics of the district are presented in the form of an electoral map of the regions, where on the administrative map the main socio-demographic and professional groups of the population, the most acute problems, political preferences and expectations of voters of a given territory should be presented by regions, districts, cities.

2. Survey of public opinion, analysis of the structure of the electorate and identification of target groups.

In addition to the necessary differentiation of voters by various socio-demographic, professional, economic, ethnic, territorial, psychological and other groups with similar motives for electoral behavior, target groups are also singled out; the entire campaign propaganda machine will be aimed at attracting them to vote for “their” candidate. ... Defining target groups is looking for an answer to the question for whom and how the election campaign will be conducted. A misdirected campaign can end in total failure, even in an initially good election situation. There are two reasons why it is necessary to define a specific “target group” of voters: to avoid dissipating the electoral concept and to save campaign funds. As a party or candidate tries to reach an ever wider audience, the concept of such a party or candidate becomes more scattered and less meaningful to each of the separate sections of that audience.

The task facing the electoral association (candidate) in the process of defining the "target group" of voters is to direct the efforts of the election campaign to the circle of voters that is able to bring exactly the number of votes that was planned. Saving resources is no less a serious reason for finding a “target group”. If an electoral association (candidate) extends its campaign efforts to all voters in the district, then campaign resources are wasted on those who, under any conditions, will not vote for it.

The analysis of the electorate structure is a study in the course of which the population is divided into groups according to the principle of similarity of voting motives and preferences of one or another electoral association (candidate) over another, after which it is determined for which of the identified groups the concept of the election campaign may be most effective. The analysis is carried out according to such characteristics as: age, occupation, education, nationality, mixed groups.

Having selected its “target group” of voters, its size is compared with the number of votes required to win the elections. It should be noted that the electoral analysis is complicated by the lack of available and accurate information on the demographic distribution of the region's population.

After defining the “target group”, it is necessary to conduct a more detailed analysis of the constituent voters. You should pay attention to the following factors:

• - Value orientations. What values ​​unite the voters of the “target group”?
• - Mood. Are voters optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Do they trust the governor, government, and other social institutions?
• - Main questions. What questions can motivate voters to make the choice a candidate needs?
• - The preferred policy of the leader. What qualities would voters like to see in their leaders?

The choice of the “target group” and the analysis of the electorate cannot be based on guesswork, they must be based on honest research.

3. Analysis of their strengths and weaknesses, the study of competitors.

When analyzing their weaknesses and strengths, as well as when studying competitors, the same questionnaire is filled out. After completing the questionnaire, they try to highlight the features and details of the biography that characterize the candidate in a favorable light. Information about opponents begins to accumulate at the time of nomination or during a congress of an electoral association. Information about opponents, their programs and actions is updated and replenished up to the elections. Sections where assessments of any qualities of an opponent are required can be filled out separately by several people who know him for the subsequent synthesis of assessments. The dossier collected according to these parameters allows to a large extent to foresee the actions and statements of opponents, to find their vulnerabilities.

4. Revealing a complete list of resources possessed by an electoral association.

Usually they talk only about financial, time, power and human resources, and in this area they are limited to considering those resources that lie on the surface. We can agree that these resources are the main ones, but in reality the list of resources is much larger:

• - finance;
• - people;
• - time;
• - information;
• - the structure of the executive power;
• - natural conditions;
• - historical connections, analogies;
• - influence on the media;
• - interpersonal relationships with the elite;
• - economic situation;
• - ethnic groups of the population;
• - material resources available in the sphere of influence
• (electoral association) of a candidate;
• - political parties, movements - allies;
• - features of the regional mentality of residents;
• - friends of the leaders of the party, candidate and team;
• - family and relatives;
• - personal image of the candidate;
• - election commissions;
• - regional and local organizational structures of parties;
• - personal experience and knowledge;
• - relations with the federal center and heads of regions;
• - regional infrastructure;
• - socio - economic program of the candidate;
• - the ideological platform of the candidate;
• - professional staff of activists;
• - intelligence and knowledge of political technologies;
• - the trust of residents, etc.

Time is one of the most important resources of the election campaign. In general, the earlier a candidate or party starts a propaganda campaign, the better. A short campaign usually requires more financial costs than one that has been developed over a fairly long time. The success or failure of an election sometimes depends on how fully identified and effectively used the resources of the election campaign.

5. Development of the image.

Assessment of the personal qualities of the candidate and diagnostics of ideas about him, prevailing among residents is the basis for making a decision on the formation or adjustment of the image of a candidate. At this stage, the question of the degree of personal participation of the candidate in the advertising campaign is being decided. If a candidate's appearance and communication qualities allow him to “score points” in personal communication with voters or speaking on television and radio, then this is one of the most important campaign resources. If the candidate does not have such qualities, then image-makers come into play, who form the necessary image of the candidate and promote him through information channels, primarily the media. In the practice of political consulting, this is called candidate mediatization.

The candidate's "image" formed in this way often has nothing to do with the real personal qualities of the politician.

The voter deals only with the artificially created image of the politician, and not himself. When a candidate speaks to an audience live, the audience, first of all, evaluate: the speaker's appearance, the degree of expression of male or female qualities, expressiveness of behavior (facial expressions, gestures), confidence, conviction that he is speaking, professional oratorical qualities (pace and clarity of speech, relaxedness, oratorical techniques) and only then the content of the speech. Language plays a big role in developing a positive image of this or that leader. The word can be used by a leader as an operational means of influence, as a means of changing public opinion on any particular political issue. A good speech itself, regardless of who delivered it, can have a big impact on the electorate. Successfully composed and delivered by a good speaker, before the public, in which he shares his plans for the future, a project supporting one course or another has a beneficial effect on the politically unformed minds of the electorate, and therefore on its political rating. The very fact of a speech can bring certain dividends to the leader. Most often this happens when the political leader already has popularity and significant personal power. Any re-introduction of even a new leader makes, treats him more positively.

Thus, to speak, of course, is very important, but it is much more important what to say exactly (on the topic of the day). If a candidate says what the electorate wants to hear, then his ratings are growing rapidly, if he has good diction for this, clearly, clearly, easily explains, then he is guaranteed success.

In addition to these qualities, viewers react to charismatic personality traits that make them believe and feel inspired when communicating with the speaker. Formation of the image of a politician is a complex process, the more talented, brighter the personality of the politician, the less he needs "correction". Many elements are involved in the formation of a politician's image: the candidate's personality and biography, his individual "legend", political platform, electoral program, the composition of the support team, the text of the candidate's main speech, etc.

6. Development of formalized goals of the election campaign.

A well-structured and well-thought-out election campaign plan assumes a formalized (quantitative) definition of campaign goals. It is necessary to roughly determine the number of votes required to win and the sources of these votes. The number of votes required to win is determined by the number of voters participating in the vote and the number and strength of opponents. So, if there are several rivals of approximately equal strength, then fewer votes will be needed to win than with one opponent, since the rivals will split the votes among themselves. If a low voter turnout is expected, then fewer votes will suffice. Sometimes the results of previous campaigns, backed up by residents' surveys, can help formulate certain assumptions.

7. Development of the concept of the election campaign.

The concept of an election campaign is understood as the main idea, the main "image" of the planned campaign, expressed in a system of related and arising from one another views on the way to achieve the goals set for the election campaign. Formation of the concept is based on the results of district diagnostics, assessment of electorate preferences, personal capabilities of the candidate and his resources, strengths and weaknesses of competitors. The concept should include answers to the question: "Why should a voter vote for our candidate and how to achieve this?"

The concept includes the following topics:

• - technological model of the campaign;
• - principles of distribution of efforts and financial costs (campaign rhythm);
• - the main "axes" of the campaign;
• - the main advertising theme of the campaign.

Usually, the essence of the campaign consists in several sentences describing the most characteristic aspects of the planned actions.

Technological model of the campaign. The main models for conducting election campaigns are known, they are market, organizational-party and administrative. The choice of a particular campaign is determined by the resources of the candidate. The priority position is given to those candidates who have the opportunity to use the ideas and advantages of all three models.

Principles of distribution of efforts and financial costs. On the basis of diagnostics of the district, even before the development of the concept begins, the degree of popularity and image of the candidate (party) in the given electoral district, the degree of advertising saturation and "media - saturation" of the region, the mentality of residents, and the most acceptable image of the candidate for voters are determined. The behavior of rivals and the direction of their advertising are also analyzed, and their own financial and other resources are taken into account.

The main "axes" of the campaign. Usually, it is planned to conduct a campaign along several "axes", among them the "axes" associated with the ideological principles of the candidate (party), which make it possible to quickly identify the basis of "one's electorate", can be considered. Campaigning on an ideological basis makes it possible to sharply politicize the electorate, to give the campaign more energy. Another "axis" can be associated with the candidate's program settings for solving the socio-economic problems of voters. This "axis" is directed, first of all, to the rational foundations of the electorate's choice of their candidate. Another "axis" of the campaign is related to the candidate's personality and image. Indeed, many voters vote not at all for ideological or rational-economic reasons, but based primarily on the impression that the candidate's “image” produces. It doesn't matter if the created "image" really matches the personality of the candidate. The main thing is that the voters believe in him. The most characteristic and effective methods of conducting an election campaign on the basis of this "axis" are all LDPR campaigns based on the showman qualities of V. Zhirinovsky.

The main advertising theme of the campaign. Usually in advertising of an election campaign, there are several themes that reflect the program and ideological attitudes of the candidate and the views of voters. However, there is always one striking theme that should be reflected in the slogan of the campaign. This aphoristic slogan is the core of the campaign and is proposed already at the stage of forming the concept of the election campaign.

Several elements can be distinguished that characterize a “strong” concept.

• - Conciseness.
• - Reliability.
• - Relevance.
• - Contrast.
• - Appeal to the heart of the voter.
• - Directionality.
• - Multiple repetition.
• - Comprehensibility.
• 8. Development of the electoral program and platform.

The candidate's program and electoral platform are one of the main resources of the campaign. In the countries of the old democracy, it is the program in most cases that becomes the basis for the majority of voters to vote "for" or "against" a candidate. This is not the case in our country. The majority of Russian voters vote based not on rational motives, but on the basis of a momentary emotional state. Based on this approach of voters to voting, many politicians began to proclaim the principle of rejection of any meaningful program, replacing it with a short, 1-2 pages electoral platform, containing mainly ideological symbolic symbols. However, having a good, well-founded, needs-oriented program is essential. After all, it is it that allows the thinking part of the population to rally around the candidate, create a team of like-minded people, the only thing that can lead the candidate to victory.

An attractive electoral platform and the main theme of the advertising campaign should logically follow from the candidate's program. Therefore, drawing up a candidate's program is a crucial moment in preparing for a campaign.

There are many sources for identifying public needs, including personal communication with voters, press analysis, situational analyzes of specialists on specific issues. In any case, it is necessary to avoid the practice of drawing up this most important strategic document only on the basis of their own speculative or emotionally colored ideas about “what is needed and what is not needed” by the voter.

The technology for developing an electoral program includes a number of stages:

• Stage 1 - Revealing the problems existing in the society, in a particular electoral district.
• Stage 2 - Determination of ways and methods of solving these problems.
• Stage 3 - Program development.
• Stage 4 - Approbation of the program and modeling of the possible reaction of different layers

population on its main provisions.

• Stage 5 - Clarification, concretization of the provisions of the program, emphasizing its versatility and multivariance.
• 9. Strategy development.

The result of all the above activities is the development of a strategy. The general strategic line, depending on the level of elections, should be ready a year or two before the elections.

At the moment, there are several types of strategies:

• - Cruising strategy. Most used by those candidates who are clearly in the lead from the very beginning of the campaign and who need to maintain their positions throughout the campaign. This strategy assumes that the election campaign will be carried out as planned, exactly, at the same pace throughout the entire time.
• - Dash strategy. This technique is used by those candidates who are not widely known at the beginning of the election campaign. The strategy is to make a breakthrough early on, a few months before an election. For this, for one or two weeks, a large amount of advertising time is purchased in central and regional television and radio companies, a lot of newspaper publications are ordered, and a large number of campaign materials are distributed. Conducted: trips of leaders (candidate) to the regions, high-profile actions, press conferences, congresses, etc.
• - Strategy for a big event. This strategy is designed to attract the attention of journalists who will cover the candidate's campaign in the media for free. In this case, financial and energy savings are evident. This strategy is built on the basis of several major events (political actions, special projects, etc.) that are carried out throughout the campaign. During these actions, you can arrange press conferences with statements exposing his rivals, loud addresses, TV shows, public debates with your opponents, etc. You can use well-known and popular personalities in the country, VIPs supporting the candidate.
• -Strategy "comb". It is based on a series of "breakthroughs" and relatively calm "stages" throughout the campaign, with a gradual increase in the overall intensity of advertising activities towards the end. Peaks and troughs of interest in a particular politician are constantly alternating. A long period of high intensity of propaganda actions leads to a drop in interest, then rejection or indifference of voters to the candidate. Therefore, intensive advertising stages should be short enough not to irritate voters, but also frequent enough so that the voter does not forget the politician and treat him like an old acquaintance.
• 10. Tactics of the election campaign.

The development of tactical steps is usually tightly tied to the strategic stages of the campaign and involves first generating proposals for the implementation of the strategy by a wide range of supporters, and then a careful selection of proposals by a narrow circle of responsible persons. In general, the tactical goals, the solution of which the tactical plan is aimed at, is a set of individual intermediate results, the summation of which allows the achievement of the strategic goal.

Most modern, including regional, campaigns start and develop with the help of advertising. Candidates and organizers of their election campaigns have at their disposal a large number of all kinds of means and techniques with the help of which an advertising campaign is carried out. We can talk about brochures, newsletters, questionnaires, letters, billboards, posters, stickers, matchboxes, badges, advertisements in newspapers, magazines and, of course, on television and radio. The list can be endless. Campaign organizers use almost all technological methods and innovations that can more effectively convey their ideas to voters.

At the very beginning of the campaign, its organizers must develop a plan for all advertising activities, which can be an integral part of the tactical plan. It is according to him that funds will have to be distributed and time and advertising space in the media will be purchased.

Visual campaigning and souvenir products The concept of visual campaigning, which is also called graphic, usually includes signs, posters, plaques, billboards, banners, stickers, badges, etc. Its effectiveness is especially great when:

• - it is necessary to achieve recognition and popularity of the candidate's name;
• - it is required to very quickly create a certain idea about the candidate.

If these objectives are included in the list of strategic or tactical goals of the campaign, then it is necessary to think over the options for its use. Usually, visual campaigning uses only a few words, usually the name or motto of the candidate, the main idea of ​​the campaign.

The low cost of visual campaigning is often justified by significantly improving the mood and performance of campaign staff and volunteers. If the work on the placement of visual materials is carried out correctly, it will make voters believe in the capabilities and strength of the candidate.

The use of television in election campaigns. With the development of information technology, television plays an increasing role in the campaign

During elections, television is used for: placing hidden political advertisements, televised debates, television appeals, participation in talk shows. In all countries where there are state channels, the ruling parties have most favored nation treatment on them.

There are several aspects of an election campaign using the media that need to be considered:

• a) advertising in the media requires large financial, time, human, intellectual and energy costs;
• b) despite the great efficiency of advertising in the media, it is impossible to build the entire election campaign only on it;
• c) all modern media provide only an excellent opportunity to convey the images and ideas of candidates to the electorate, and the frequency of appearance of a candidate in the media is not an end in itself.
• 11. Development of a financial plan for the campaign

The organizers of the election campaign are primarily concerned about the issue of ways to raise funds for its implementation. To do this, you need to determine the structure of the campaign budget, the costs that should be included in the estimate:

• - for the purchase of "information space" in the media;
• - for the publication of election materials (programs, leaflets, posters);
• - to organize rallies, meetings of voters;
• - for postage;
• - to pay for the services of external experts and consultants and the work of the candidate's own team;
• - for rent for the headquarters premises, security, transport;
• - travel of the candidate and his representatives around the constituency;
• - to conduct charity events;
• - on specific procedures for working with the electorate, etc. The list of expenses should be as detailed as possible so that it does not appear that there are not enough funds for any important events. The law requires keeping records of both all receipts to the electoral fund and the expenditure of its funds. Therefore, it is extremely important to compile a rigorous accounting report of income and expenses in a form that can be obtained from the district electoral commission.

technologies ”E. Malkin and E. Suchkov, two parts: strategy, which answers the question what it is necessary to convey to voters so that they vote for this candidate, and tactics, defining, in what form do it. Based on this distinction, practical activities are carried out on the organization and conduct of the election campaign. Accordingly, the used electoral technologies can be divided into technologies strategic and tactical character.

The terms “strategy” and “tactics” in relation to the election campaign are defined in the literature on electoral issues in different ways. In accordance with the widespread point of view, a strategy should be understood as a set of goals and objectives of any kind of activity, and tactics - a set of ways to achieve goals and solve problems. This interpretation of strategy and tactics is generally correlated with the election campaign. However, in our opinion, it is not instrumental enough. Suppose there are two candidates in the election and the goal of each is to win. In this case, how will the strategies of their election campaigns be radically different? If we consider the strategy as a substantive component of the campaign, then such differences will appear.

So, the campaign strategy is her meaningful the component on which the organization and conduct of the entire campaign are built.

The backbone of the strategy constitutes the image, or image, of the candidate (party), which is the core of the informational impact on voters. The choice of the main parameters of this image will determine the essence of the strategy of the election campaign.

As part of the implementation of the strategy of the election campaign, a number of technologies are used, the main one of which is the technology of image formation. But since electoral technologies belong to the group of marketing-type technologies, the formation of the image is preceded by the study of voters' preferences. However, one should even start not with the study of the electoral market, but with the goals of the campaign.

1. G. Saratov on the competition among students, graduate students and teachers of higher educational institutions of the Saratov region for the best work on electoral law and the electoral process, improving the legal and political culture of voters

   Contest

   ... . Selective Process Features electoral campaigns on elections deputies State Duma Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the sixth convocation. Peculiarities electoral campaigns on elections ...

2. I. Nomination by political parties of federal lists and lists in single-mandate constituencies

   Document

   ... elections, several times. So, at the beginning electoral campaigns on elections State Duma... there are other informal factors. TO example, in group number 14 (Orenburg, ... deputy State Duma of the Russian Federation from the Union of Right Forces, President of the Institute Regional projects ...

3. Election campaign technology

   Document

   ... Example... One woman really wanted to become deputy regional Duma... information about competitors 4.2 Project"the right of the first night" ... By the law on elections by means electoral campaigns... tool electoral campaigns to local and regional ...

4. On the results of the work of the Regional public reception of the Chairman of the Party D. A. Medvedev in the Udmurt Republic and public receptions of local branches of the Party in 2014, on the implementation of the party project "United Russia" advises "

   Document

   Base The regional public reception is being implemented regional project"UNITED RUSSIA" advises ". Implementation the project... during the election period campaigns... In 2014, in connection with the electoral campaigns on elections Heads of the Udmurt Republic ...

5. Constitutional law of Russia

   Document

   AND regional authorities, as well as between regional structures (to example, between... elections deputies State Duma carried out on rules of mixed electoral systems: 225 deputies elected on single-mandate selective ...