Page 6 - Zenith 2023-웹용

Zenith 2023 ↘ 1) Political Issues 6

The Principles Utilized in Political Figures'

Election Campaigns

Candidates can use methods such as text messaging, sending campaign information through the internet
and websites, and transmitting campaign details via email at any time. This allows voters to remake songs
or post posters on the internet using their election numbers, targeting the younger audience and even
participating in entertainment programs. Additionally, outside of election days, candidates can individually
engage in verbal campaigning, excluding the use of loudspeakers and avoiding organizing rallies.

Campaigning is also a form of self-promotion. Therefore, there are companies that handle election
planning, which shares similarities with marketing. Marketing involves planning and executing the
promotion of someone or something, much like what a brand manager does to promote a product. Philip
Kotler, a marketing guru, argues that "political candidates are also products," emphasizing a marketing
approach to election campaigns. From a marketing perspective, voters can be seen as consumers, the
candidates' policies as products, opinion polls as market research, and promotional ads as election
promotion activities.

During a period of economic prosperity in the United States, an election
was held with over 15 million voters choosing Calvin Coolidge. The
reason behind this was his unconventional marketing strategy. To
counter the Democratic Party, Coolidge attempted to communicate with
voters with the slogan “Coolidge, making America cool”. However, the
Democratic Party attacked the Republican Party rather than focusing on
individual personalities. In contrast, Coolidge concentrated on his personal image, which was considered
a groundbreaking strategy at the time, portraying himself as a down-to-earth figure. He eventually won the
presidency with a vote difference of 25.2%, ranking second in the history of U.S. presidential elections.

In 1952, South Korea also implemented election
marketing for the first time. Korea formulated a marketing
strategy actively utilizing contemporary media. During
an era when radio and newspapers played a significant
media role, voters had to come out to the streets. The
third presidential election in Korea is evaluated as the
'Slogan War,' marking the emergence of slogans in
election history. The Democratic Party is praised for
the most powerful slogan to date, 'I can't stand it. Let's
change it.' The opposition party responded with a counter-
slogan, 'Even if you change, you can't live better.' The
voter turnout was over 94%, and ultimately, Syngman Lee won the presidency with a 31.8% difference.

In this way, effective use of election marketing can lead to high voter turnout and successful election
outcomes.

Gwag Ga-ram
(English-Spanish dept. 2nd grade)
gwaggalam07@gmail.com