Brand New Party: Political Branding and the Conservative Party of Canada

Marland, Alex; Flanagan, Tom

doi:10.1017/s0008423913001108

Cited by 23 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Defining political branding is also often debated. For example, Marland and Flanagan (2013) define branding as an "evolution of image management," calling it a "strategic layer to the process of promoting a desired image," and in the political sphere specifically, it provides the "potential for political elites to employ propaganda" (p. 952-953). However, Guzmán and Sierra (2009) argue in favour of traditional marketing theory, where political parties are framed as brands and politicians as products (p. 208).…”

Section: Defining Brand and Imagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Branding in Canadian politics is standardized practice now, but it is still a fairly young strategy. Marland and Flanagan (2013) summarize the changing methods in campaigns and elections: "If market research, spin and advertising were the key signifiers of marketed parties and candidates in the 1980s and 1990s, 'branding' is the hallmark now" (Scammell, 2007, p. 176, as quoted by Marland and Flanagan, 2013). Voter motivation and decision-making researchers relied on Canadian Election studies from 1965 onward, but it was "largely confined to the public mood about politics" (Delacourt, 2013, p. 142).…”

Section: Image Management In the Canadian Political Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1988, p. 729). However, the shift described by Delacourt (2013) and Marland and Flanagan (2013) is key in political branding and voter decision-making in Canada. Delacourt (2013) argues it is the "consumer-citizens' desire for authenticity" in the 1990s that drove the political branding and victory for Jean Chrétien and the federal Liberal Party (p. 148).…”

Section: Image Management In the Canadian Political Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pictures in politics: a visual social semiotics analysis of federal politicians on Instagram

Karas¹

2021

Preprint

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This major research paper (MRP) examines the visual social semiotics of Canadian politicians’ Instagram accounts and their followers’ responses. As a qualitative study, it seeks to address the following questions: From the coded images in the data collection, which qualities do the Instagram followers prefer? From the coded images in the data collection, which qualities do the Instagram followers prefer the least? What do these qualities reveal about the political actors in the data collection? To answer these questions, I coded the most liked and least liked Instagram postings between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015 from two of Canada’s federal party leaders, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. These images were coded through a visual social semiotics analysis under the following categories in my codebook: community outreach, competence, empathy, excitement, ideology, personal, symbols of nationalism, celebrity, and miscellaneous. This codebook was constructed from a literature review encompassing the public’s values of politicians in traditional media. The findings of this MRP expand on visual social semiotic theory in the social media context and build on research about audience perceptions of politicians. The results suggest that photo composition and the presentations of values in an image are important considerations for politicians. Based on the findings, this study is relevant to how professional communicators can construct a persuasive image and story in the political context on a social media platform.

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Section: Defining Brand and Imagementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Image Management In the Canadian Political Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Image Management In the Canadian Political Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pictures in politics: a visual social semiotics analysis of federal politicians on Instagram

Karas¹

2021

Preprint

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“…In this study, we adopt a consumer-oriented rather than a management-oriented approach to examining political brand equity (Marland and Flanagan, 2013; Nielsen and Larsen, 2014). As Johns and Brandenburg (2014: 90) note, there is a relative dearth of political marketing research focussing on voters, with most studies examining the perspectives of ‘sellers rather than buyers in the market for votes’.…”

Section: Political Brandingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political branding: A consumer perspective on Australian political parties

Grimmer

Grube

2017

Party Politics

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Why are voters in advanced democracies turning away from established mass parties to take their electoral chances elsewhere? This article draws on concepts from marketing scholarship, specifically branding and brand equity, to apply a ‘consumer’ lens that assesses the major parties in Australia as failing ‘brands’ being left behind by disillusioned voters. An initial sample of 200 voters were asked what words or phrases came to mind when they thought of each of four Australian federal political parties. The strength of associations for each party, elicited from this sample, was then validated on a broader sample of 1015 voters, in addition to whether the association was considered positive, neutral or negative. Data revealed distinct brand associations for each party and the extent of penetration and brand equity across subgroups of voters. We find that Australian mass parties are caught in a downward spiral of negative brand associations and low brand penetration, leading to voter dissatisfaction.

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“…Interestingly, his analysis is also cited approvingly by cognitive psychologists studying embarrassment(Keltner & Buswell, 1997;Keltner, Young, & Buswell, 1999). While the differences between the sociological and psychological study of emotion are too large to detail here, they both point to an important role for embarrassment in preserving social order.162 For an extensive discussion seeMarland and Flanagan (2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

The Fragility of Fear: The Contentious Politics of Emotion and Security in Canada

Rythoven¹

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International Relations (IR) theory commonly holds security arguments as powerful instruments of political mobilization because they work to instill, circulate, and intensify popular fears over a threat to a community. Missing from this view is how security arguments often provoke a much wider range of emotional reactions, many of which frustrate and constrain state officials' attempts to frame issues as security problems. This dissertation offers a corrective by outlining a theory of the contentious politics of emotion and security. Drawing inspiration from a variety of different social theorists of emotion, including Goffman's interactionist sociology, this approach treats emotions as emerging from distinctive repertoires of social interaction. These emotions play a key role in enabling audiences to sort through the sound and noise of security discourse by indexing the significance of different events to our bodies. Yet popular emotions are rarely harmonious; they're socialized and circulated through a myriad of different pathways. Different repertoires of interaction in popular culture, public rituals, and memorialization leave audiences with different ways of feeling about putative threats. The result is mixed and contentious emotions which shape both opportunities and constraints for new security policies. The empirical purchase of this theory is illustrated with two cases drawn from the Canadian context: indigenous protest and the F-35 procurement. Both represent cases where attempts by state officials to frame an issue as a security problem were frustrated and constrained by a contentious politics of emotion. In the conclusion, I argue these findings should push IR theorists to adopt a more circumspect view of the mobilization of This was an emotional and contentious project. As much as I enjoyed writing it, there were periods wracked by serious doubt and uncertainty. Pulling me through these periods was an extensive community of friends, family, and colleagues. Carleton's Department of Political Science has been my home for the entirety of this project. It includes an exceptional group of faculty, students, and administrators-all of which work hard to make the Department a rich and creative home. I would like to thank the administrative staff, especially Brookes Fee, for consistently helping me navigate the University bureaucracy. I'd also like to thank the Department's faculty

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Brand New Party: Political Branding and the Conservative Party of Canada

Cited by 23 publications

References 26 publications

Pictures in politics: a visual social semiotics analysis of federal politicians on Instagram

Pictures in politics: a visual social semiotics analysis of federal politicians on Instagram

Political branding: A consumer perspective on Australian political parties

The Fragility of Fear: The Contentious Politics of Emotion and Security in Canada

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