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Aug 14, 10, 02:10AM
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Two students decided to scam. I wrote two essays for them and below is the email from their tutor and the two essays(same subject)
From:
<willis.gates@manchester.ac.uk>
Add sender to Contacts
To:
tom.academichelp2005@yahoo.com
Hello Tom
The first Essay 1st standard. Student passed.
Second Essay 2.1
So they cheated?. Please call me via my phone i passed on to you.
Thank You
Willis
FIRST ESSAY(1st standard)
Is Advertising And Public Relations Enough To Re-Launch A Political Party? : A Focus On UK's Conservative Party
By
lisa.....
word count :4802
Executive Summary
The purpose of this essay is threefold. Firstly, it examines streams of literature informing marketing, advertisement and public relations. Secondly, branding as a concept is examined throughout the essay and special attention is given to political branding within the wider political marketing discipline. The essay then narrows its focus to the UK's Conservative Party, a party that has been trying to rejuvenate itself, and addresses the possibility of advertisement and public relations exercises being enough to re-launch a political brand.
Upon examination of available literature, it becomes evident that whilst the two marketing efforts are important in re-launching a political brand, they cannot fully help in re-launching a political brand especially when there is no commitment from party members.
Table of Contents
Content Page
Introduction............................................................... ...........................4
Advertising and Public Relations: A General Perspective...................................6
Political Parties Branding................................................................... ......10
A Brief Overview of the Conservative Party ................................................14
Re-Launching The Party: Can Advertisement And Public Relations Help?.............15
Conclusion................................................................. ..........................20
References ........................................................................... ...............21
Introduction
Marketing literature unanimously agree that effective conceptualisation, constitution and execution of advertisement and public relations exercises by any profit or non profit organisation must effectively be aligned with the expectations, desires and values of the target audience(see for instance Freitag 1998). This not only applies in the spheres of the 'traditional marketing' commercial arenas (de Chernatony et al 1998) but also in the more volatile, socially driven world of political marketing (Henneberg, 2004) . Although, political marketing, viewed from the narrowed viewpoint of advocacy, lobbying , policy formulations and subjection of political advocacy to marketing concepts , is a relatively young field of research enquiry (O'Shaughnessy, 1990), several scholars have began perceiving UK's political parties as social-economic products, or even brands (Schneider, 2002) that require constant evaluation, renovation and repackaging if they are to remain relevant to the target audience- the electorate.(O'Shaughnessy, 1990) . As promising, support-seeking products of social and economic beliefs, values and ethics, and as brands requiring constant evaluation and assessment, political parties, in UK or elsewhere, must constantly audit their socio-political status against the general feelings of the citizenly( Lees-Marshment, 2001) if they are to succeed in not only achieving their vast objectives but also in ensuring that their policies and aspirations rhyme with the expectations of their would-be or existing supporters( Lees-Marshment, 2001) . It'd appear that UK's political parties have embraced strategic political marketing as a way of winning support. Lees-Marshment, (2001) reports that political marketing has taken a new, forceful approach, with key strategists ensuring that the parties' policies are in tune with the prevailing 'conditions' in 'the market place'. The web site <http://flowtv.org >
reports that 'in Britain, a lot of recent interest has been generated in "political re-branding." This phrase indicates a project that, using some of the methods developed in commercial marketing, attempts to reposition a political party within political space (to a large degree a matter of cultural space and media space)' . This approach is, at the conceptual level, a direct imitation of brand management process where companies research and implement branding strategies reflective of the expectations of the consumers (Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000). Needless to say, such political branding process is, in the end, intended to bring about victory of the parties during electoral processes (Lees-Marshment, 2001). However, unlike in the traditional branding process experienced in the commercial world, political marketing is prone to several other key challenges. Prominent among the challenges are sensational scrutiny of politicians personal lives, personalisation of issues and ,generally, 'tabloidic' reporting( Ross 2002). Further, politics is a highly volatile social phenomenon and one cannot fully contextualise political marketing within the traditional frameworks associated with commercial marketing without making serious flaws (Henneberg, 2004). Consequently, political marketing(in the present context considered to incorporate advertisement and public relations ) cannot be deemed to be effective if the yardsticks used are extracted and moulded from the dynamics shaping up traditional varieties of commercial marketing (Henneberg, 2004). This scenario poses a very intriguing albeit legitimate question: is advertisement and public relations enough to re-launch a political party? . To fully conceptualise and answer this question, it is proposed that political parties are products, brands(Lees-Marshment, 2001) that must undergo some brand management processes if they are to succeed in their vision and programs. Of special interest to this essay is the Conservative Party which has not only witnessed electoral success-in 1979 under Margaret Thatcher- (Lees-Marshment, 2001) through effective political marketing but, of late, has also had it fair share of waning support from the public < http://.www. guardian.co.uk.>
Advertising and Public Relations: A General Perspective
There is no doubt that successful marketing campaigns encompass well crafted out branding strategies that invoke positive responses from the intended consumers (de Chernatony 1998). Essentially, positive responses infer that consumers get the intended message, react to the message and are willing to consume a particular product time and again (Shaw & Clarke, 1998). At the end what branding attempts to achieve is the creation of a particular image, or positive impression in the minds of consumers, leading to the establishment of a productive relationship between the brand and the consumer (Low & Lamb 2000). The branding process incorporates three key activities namely advertising, marketing and public relations ( < http://media.wiley.com> ) . Chang and Thorson (2004) explains that advertisement incorporates undertakings involving communicating with the audience with the intent of promoting a product , a service or even a personality. The underlying aim of advertisement is to establish a presence in the mind of a viewer, a reader or, at least, of the recipient and inculcate a desire to be associated with, and consume, the product or service being promoted ( Reichheld & Sasser 1990) . Ultimately, advertisement not only aims to achieve immediate marketing goals ,but also help in building brand loyalty (Palumbo & Herbig2000 ) . Of course the underlying (truthful) notion amongst marketers is that a consumer, at all times, experience a need which can be satisfied by numerous products serving the same need (Palumbo & Herbig2000). Thusly, the competitive market system requires effective advertisement to succeed (Groth McDaniel 1993).
Public relations is defined as 'the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.'(<www.dictionary.com>.) The role of public relations cannot be underestimated- effective branding and marketing requires a dynamic injection of well crafted public relations exercise that enforces the desired message intended to be communicated by a firm or its contracted PR firm ( Kitchen 1996). Well thought of public relations campaign will not only be instrumental in engineering a firm's marketing success, but also plays an integral role in building the desirable corporate image that a firm envisages( Cutlip et al 1994 ). These two activities, to a greater extent, conglomerate and form the wider paradigm referred to as marketing – itself described as the process of comprehending and communicating consumers' value and satisfaction – for a profit, of course (Kotler et al 2003).
Of paramount importance in the processes of advertisement and public relations is the attempt to positively enhance a product or a service image to the minds of consumer .( Munson & Spivey 1981) . Strictly speaking, advertisement and public relations emerge as two key marketing activities associated with branding and their role cannot be underrated when branding a product (Spaeth, 1993). Hence, within the context of this essay- i.e. re-launching a political brand- once can analyse advertisement and public relations using branding within the resultant functions of the brand to the consumer. This is under the proposition that effective advertisement and public relations will ensure a successful branding strategy and the brand in question can thus play its role to the recipient. This approach has been inspired by two streams of literature. Firstly, several researchers (e.g Río et al 2001; Moore & Lehman (1980) have argued that successful advertisement and public relations exercises are essential ingredients in any branding process. If they are executed appropriately, then chances are that effective branding will be achieved and the brand will be able to play its rightful role to the consumer.
Secondly, other researchers(e.g Schneider, 2002) in the political marketing sub-discipline have opined that political parties are brands that must undergo brand management, with all appropriate techniques and tools applied to ensure that the brands are successful . Successful implementation of the branding process( including advertisements and public relations) will ensure that political parties meet their objectives and aspirations and thus can be deemed to be successful brands ( Schneider, 2002).
Using these two viewpoints, it is appropriate to examine what brands in general achieve, or are supposed to achieve, with the consumer. This approach, in the preceding sections, will be streamlined to focus on the Conservative party -as brand attempting to re-launch through advertisement and public relations- and examine if these two exercises are adequate in ensuring that this political brand meet its functions. .
According to Kapferer (1997), a successful brand is supposed to satisfy several needs to the consumer. Firstly, it is supposed clearly identifiable, be visible and make some 'sense' to the consumer. This will make the consumer to easily and quickly identify the brand and relate with it in an immediate manner. Secondly, the brand should offer guarantee in that it will be of the same quality any time its bought or consumed. This will ensure that the consumer will be able to trust the brand all the times. Thirdly, the brand should have optimisation qualities. This means that it is the best product in its category and serves the consumer best under its category. Fourthly, the brand should enhance the development of the consumer's desirable character and image. This means that it should enhance the image the consumer wants to portray to others. The brand should also offer continuity that is it should bring about intimacy and satisfaction to the consumer even afters years of using it. The brand should also be Hedonistic. This implies that is should offer the consumer satisfaction based on its attractive packaging, its logo, its communication and other aesthetic features it possesses. The brand should also be ethical in terms of how it relates with the society on the moral-ethical front.
If a brand can meet these functions, then it is deemed to be successful. As it has been earlier observed, these functions can only be met through effective branding process incorporating effective advertisement and public relations. This leads to a key hypothesis of this essay:
H1: if advertisement and public relations are enough to re-launch a political party('the conservative party' ) then they must ensure realisation of effective branding of the party. Additionally if, the two exercises are to be deemed adequate, then, at the end, they must deliver a brand that fulfils the above discussed brand functions.
Political Parties Branding
From a more general, socially oriented perspective, political parties have mostly been defined using two pendulums of social engagement and practice i.e. power and the capacity to organise. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes political parties as 'organized groups seeking political power, whether by democratic elections or by revolution'. The world of political parties have changed dramatically especially in terms of how actors in any political party realigns their parties policies to reflect the aspirations of the electorate.( Lees-Marshment, 2001). This has seen, at least in the marketing sphere of political parties, a change in how the parties are perceived. Keller(1999), for instance advances the idea that political parties are to be perceived as brands which incessantly attempts to offer a valued brand that has values commensurate with the aspirations of the electorate. This trend has not only been witnessed in the political stage (Lees-Marshment, 2001) but also in the research field where it is has become norm to apply the theoretical concepts of marketing to the political field (see for example Niffenegger (1989).
This trend, though with challenges ( Niffenegger 1989), cannot be underestimated. The modern interplay of politics, marketing, public relations and effective communication will remain critical and decisive elements in the success of any marketing (Lees-Marshment, 2001). A particularly important case study of how effective political marketing can resonate and attract the voters is the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher. Scammell(1994) reports that the 'iron lady' managed to effectively introduce well a coordinated political marketing model that could resonate well with the electorate and which, in latter, years was even adopted by her opponents. The author elaborates that Thatcher managed to strike a balance between all the facets of her political marketing program with her political convictions – and was, to a large extent, successful. But political marketing is not enough guarantee of support from the electorate. Shaw(1994) shows that the Labour party failed to win the 1992 elections partly because , although it had changed its policies to reflect the aspirations of the electorate, the party was nonetheless not fully transformed from within – its activists, its procedures and even its language all played part in alienating the electorate. This was despite its efforts (in political marketing) to woo the voters. At this point it is beginning to emerge that, indeed, advertisement and political marketing might, after all, not be sufficient to re-launch a political brand. Of course this issue needs further scrutiny if a conclusive viewpoint is to be established.
To fully appreciate the extent and dimensions of political marketing and thus subject the Conservative party's attempts to re-launch itself from a more theory backed perspective, it is paramount to establish what constitutes applied political marketing, strictly from a research based viewpoint. Henneberg(2004) reports that there are six main developments of applied political marketing that have emerged in the recent times. The author also offers the main researchers associated with each development. These developments include increased levels of sophistication in political communication (Kavanagh, 1995), development of strategies for effective product and image management in the political activities(Scammell, 1995), news management (Franklin, 1994), well executed and coordinated political marketing strategy development (Butler and Collins, 1999) political market research (Huber and Herrmann, 1999) and great emphasis on political marketing , organisation and professionalisation( Lees-Marshment, 2001).
However, it is important to note that these practical foundations of applied political marketing are not necessarily visible in the practice of politics. The author notes that 'most political actors are far from having an integrated and sophisticated understanding of marketing applications for their political exchange situations.
Political marketing management in politics has caused some 'leading' parties and candidates to adopt a simplistic and populistic 'follower'-mentality, contributing to the disenchantment of the electorate and a resulting cynicism regarding politics in general' (Henneberg, 2005).
The complexity of political marketing is now emerging. This , in part, might be explained by the fact that political marketing is always interweaved with diverse ethical issues that must mix and result in negative responses from the electorate(Henneberg, 2004). Two examples adopted from the Guardian newspaper proof this. In one article titled new race row for Tories(March, 28 2007) the Guardian newspaper(www.gurdian.co.uk ) reports that :
"Every time. Just as David Cameron appears to have rebranded his party as a caring, huggable, liberal, centrist organisation, one of his minor councillors or MPs makes a remark which threatens to set his whole project back by decades. Earlier this month, Patrick Mercer, the then-homeland security spokesman, suggested that many ethnic-minority soldiers used allegations of racism "as cover for their misdemeanours".
In another article titled Cameron brand is failing to set the Tory grassroots on fire(September 17th , 2006), the same paper notes that :
"The David Cameron 'brand' is failing to percolate down to the grassroots of his supposedly transformed party, according to a leaked presentation to his inner circle.
............................. it reveals concerns that the Cameron revolution is not reaching the grassroots. It adds that 'problems can occur if the expectations or promises that goes with it are not met' and warns of the consequences 'if Cameron creates the right perception - but [the] grassroots [are] slow to respond'. The party is now dealing with a 'sophisticated electorate's perception of brand', the memo warns, adding that it is now 'crucial that all members of the Conservative Party and associations buy into the leader's brand in three ways: consistency of policy and political theme, consistency of visual image, consistency of customer experience"
Two key issues emerge from the two extracts. Firstly, the impression, to any casual observer, is that the conservative party leader –James Cameron- is attempting to re-brand his party- implying that the party has witnessed diminishing support from the electorate. This has been through 'consistency of policy and political theme '(see above extract), 'consistency of visual image' and 'consistency of customer experience'. Interestingly, these aspects of the party has previously been found to be the hallmarks of a successful brand(Scammell, 1995; Kapferer 1997) .
Secondly, it emerges that, despite the part leader's efforts,( incorporating advertisement and public relations) the general feeling is that the re-branding efforts have not fully yielded that desirable results. This leads to the researcher to tentatively hold the opinion that advertisement and public relations, though at times effective (Henneberg, 2004) are in themselves not enough to re-launch a political brand. Consequently, the succeeding section analysis why such marketing efforts are not without critical challenges.
A Brief Overview of the Conservative Party
According to The BBC (www.bbc.co.uk ) 'the name "Conservative" was first used in 1830 although the word Tory (the Irish for "robber" or "savage") is often used as an alternative. In 1886 the Liberal Party split over the issue of Irish Home Rule and the Liberal Unionist Party was formed. This party worked in alliance with the Tories before finally being absorbed into the Conservative Party in 1912 resulting in the current party's full title of "The Conservative and Unionist Party".
Traditional conservatism stands for the monarchy, law and order and free enterprise with a minimum of state interference in business. Despite being largely a middle-class organisation it has always attracted a great deal of working-class support. The party has also enjoyed the regular backing of the land owning aristocracy and of successful businessmen.'. Reports (e.g Cameron brand is failing to set the Tory grassroots on fire(September 17th , 2006 and new race row for Tories(March, 28 2007) from the Guardian newspaper(www.Gurdian.co.uk) indicates that the party is attempting to re-brand itself after years of being out of the government. On reading and analysing several articles relating to the branding efforts of the conservative party to repackage itself, it becomes clear that these efforts, while being political and social in nature, are all geared towards ensuring that the party is able to meet certain roles associated with successful brands . This, ultimately, leads to success during the voting periods. Reeves (2004) reports that 'The British Election Study (BES) (2001) confirms the importance of functional variables, in that 65.8% of respondents felt that the political brand that offered the best policies was the core driver of voter choice. This view is well established in the broader political marketing literature, which tends to define functional benefits as simply political issues'.
Re-Launching The Party: Can Advertisement And Public Relations Help?
Of paramount importance to this essays is an article appearing on the Guardian newspaper titled 'David's brain' transforms Tory brand' (September 2nd , 2006.(<www.guardian.com>). The articles addresses how a 'marketing guru' - Steve Hilton might 'put his leader in Downing Street' through transforming the Tory brand . The article's contents, though not fully comprehensive in expounding on how Hilton has transformed, or at least helped to transform the Conservative Party's image, will be scrutinised against political marketing theories earlier on provided with a view of establishing how Hilton's efforts are adequate in transforming the party's brand .
The article notes that Hilton's capabilities lies in 'his ability to make friends across the divides, his belief that the Tories were rapidly becoming irrelevant - and, detractors say, his lack of real political belief' . Political marketing, in a large way, deals with people and of fundamental importance in this genre of marketing is the ability to undertake a broad based, inclusive marketing strategy that is inclusive and geared towards appealing to the target audiences, no matter their opinions political (Butler and Collins, 1999). Arguably, Hilton's traits and capabilities come in handy- that he can make friendship across the divide is not only an asset in political marketing but also a ingenuous way of ensuring that a political brand appeals to all people regardless of their political convictions (Lees-Marshment, 2001) . With such an open approach devoid of rigid political convictions, it becomes inevitable that marketers of a particular political brand are able to positively reinforce their image to the electorate (Olins, 1995) . This is through effective PR .
Another positive attribute of Hilton's beliefs is that 'socially responsible businesses can do better than the state's bureaucracy' and no doubt that he has used the same perception to re-launch the Tory brand. This all boils down to development of effective strategies for effective product and image management, whereby a political party, as a brand, is bound to achieve even greater success, if , to the minds of the public, the brand handlers hold opinions that rhyme with the general opinion of the public( Scammell, 1995) more so in this era where social concerns from members of the public play an important role in shaping up their political convictions and , ultimately, their choice of the party to support (Scammell, 1995). It would appear that the Tories have really taken the brand image concept with the seriousness that it deserves. In an article titled Project Africa: Tories' drive to re-brand party(19/03/2007) , the Sunday Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk) writes that :
"Up to 50 Tory MPs will visit Rwanda in July as part of a "social responsibility" initiative during which they will sleep in mud huts and carry out manual labour.
Others have already been involved in British anti-poverty projects, including working at homeless hostels and in drug and alcohol addiction centres. Earlier this month, Oliver Letwin, the Conservative policy chief, spent a week working at Belmarsh jail in London.
In a further attempt to lose the "nasty party" label, all prospective election candidates have been told by Tory headquarters that they must undertake "social action" projects in their constituencies, such as renovating a community centre or church hall"
All these efforts appear to be carefully crafted out PR and advertisements campaigns meant to change the perception of the party in the minds of the public. However, effective political advertisement and public relations campaigns must include well undertaken market research, with the perceptions of the public being incorporated in the branding efforts (Huber and Herrmann, 1999). On this, Hilton appears to an asset as his strength is described as originating from his ' message development, what things turn people off and on. He is also very good at presentation'. It is assumed that message development in the Conservative Party is based on concrete research as this is paramount in effective delivery of appropriate communication to the electorate (Huber &Herrmann, 1999). It also reported that 'Hilton believed the problem was not Tory policies, but the Tory brand'. This is important when considered from two related perspectives. Firstly, how a brand is perceived by the consumers is all that matters in deciding whether the brand will be successful or not (de Chernatony 1998). As Hilton opined, what matters is how people perceive the conservative party as a brand, and not its policies. This rhyme well with political brand image management theories of Scammell (1995) where effective strategies aimed at ensuring that the desirable political party image is accessible to members of the public is one important feature of a successful political brand. All these brand management efforts must, in the end, be channelled using appropriate communication skills( Franklin, 1994). Hilton is critically aware of this. He is quoted in the same article as saying that 'you can't just sell politicians like washing powder ... It's messages that matter, not the medium'. This is the hallmark of political communication- no matter the content of the message, it must be communicated in ways that are geared towards ensuring that the audience get the intended message, in the appropriate social and linguistic etiquette and such communication must not alienate segments of the electorate (Franklin, 1994).
However, it is important to note that political branding must not be perceived by the electorate as mere gimmicks meant to hoodwink and deceive.( Katz et al 1994). In fact, good branding management processes recognises the role of effective communication, with the appropriate, well trained staff mandated with the responsibilities of corporate communications (O'Cass & Frost, 2002). In political marketing, this boils down to who is responsible for communicating the values of a brand to the audience. The conservatives are aware of this . A memo from this said article explains that :
"For those who do not understand the point of branding - an obssession within the Cameron inner circle and particularly with his chief adviser, Steve Hilton - the presentation uses an analogy of sexual prowess: 'You're at a party and see an attractive person across the room. You go over and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed" - that's known as direct marketing... You're at a party and see an attractive person across the room, they walk over to you and say "Hi, I hear you're fantastic in bed" - that's known as branding.' In other words, voters should hear about Cameron's virtues from people other than him."
All these efforts by the conservative party can either be perceived as advertisement or public relations exercises meant to make the party more appealing to the members of the public. Once can rightly argue that these measures have at least tried- or a geared towards meeting the qualities of a successful brand as spelt out by Kapferer (1997) i.e. Identification of the CP with social issues, CP making 'sense' to the public, guaranteeing of performance and ethical issues(like visiting and aiding Africa) .Have they been effective in transforming the Tory brand ? to answer this question it is important to briefly discuss what brand management process entails . According to Urde(1999) brand building involves concerted efforts where all efforts and all the people involved work in a coordinated style, guided by the same mission of ensuring that the brand in question is developed based on the aspirations of the consumer. The key issue here is that all departments and staff work towards fulfilling the needs of the consumer .
However, a look at the Conservative Party reveals a different picture which proofs that advertisement and public relations cannot be enough to re-launch a party. Of course, according to the articles examined, it is obvious that the party might have achieved some success in their attempts to re-launch the party but several drawbacks are evident.
Firstly, it appears that the re-branding efforts are not concerted. In the article previously, quoted it is observed that when attempts by James Cameron attempts to re-launch the party 'one of his minor councillors or MPs makes a remark which threatens to set his whole project back by decades. This clearly shows that all the party members are not really passionate about reviving the party. Further, it is a proof that advertisement and public relations, if not supported by all the concerned persons, will not be successful and achieve the intended objectives. The inadequacy with advertisement and public relations campaigns is further exemplified by these extracts adopted from the article Cameron brand is failing to set the Tory grassroots on fire:
A 'cold-calling' survey, in which party workers emailed local constituencies pretending to be members of the public interested in joining, found that only a third even got a response after the first attempt.
And
.......and warns of problems ahead if the notoriously stuffy constituency clubs across the country fail to live up to the image of their new leader.
These extracts clearly show a party which, though trying to advertise itself and trying to deploy effective PR measures, lacks a coordinated approach coupled with lack of commitment by party members across the entire hierarchy. The first extract confirms that grassroots officials are not dedicated to brand building. The second extract shows officials who are not living to the image of their leader.
Accordingly, it is concluded that whilst advertisement and PR are essential tools for re-launching a political brand, commitment and appropriate conduct by party members is crucial in giving a political brand a new lease of life. Without commitment from all the stakeholders, then PR and advertisements will not be adequate to re-launch a political brand.
Conclusion
This essay has achieved several objectives. Firstly, it has examined the concept of marketing, and specifically advertisement and public relations from a general perspective to aid in conceptualisation of the subject matter. The essay has then narrowed down and examined political advertisement and several research works informing this sub discipline have been provided and then used to study a particular situation – The conservative party attempts to re-launch itself . Using various research works, it has been proven that advertisement and public relations, though essential, aren't enough to re-launch a political brand.
To summarise, the researcher finds it appropriate to conclude that political branding is a multi-faceted task that requires coordination and support of all the concerned parties, especially when building a brand image. Advertisement and public relations, the author opines, are just but some of the basic ingredients required in the process of building a successful political brand. Commitment by all members is, well, mandatory if parties such as the Cameron's Conservative Party are stop attracting such headlines as 'Cameron brand is failing to set the Tory grassroots on fire'. Definitely, that's not the most appealing headline for a party trying to re-launch itself.
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The branding process. (2007). accessed from http://media.wiley.com. (26th april , 2007).
URDE, M ATS (1999), "Brand Orientation: A Mindset for Building Brands into Strategic Resources", Journal of Marketing Management, 15, 117-133.
SECOND ESSAY(2.1)
The Efficacy of Advertisement and Public Relations in Rejuvenating a Political Brand
Executive summary
Of late, UK's Conservative party has engaged itself in series of advertisement and public relations campaigns to endear itself to the public. This essay addresses the issue with special references to the available theories on political marketing. A hypothetical case of 'Tony Cameron' is provided to offer more insightful perspectives on the issue.
Findings shows that whilst advertisement and public relations campaigns can rejuvenate a political brand, they must be backed by strong marketing intelligence reports if they are to be productive
Table of Contents
Content Page
Advertisement and Public Relations in Politics ...............................................4
Political marketing in UK .......................................................................8
A framework for Political branding ...........................................................10
Political brand as an evolving entity ...........................................................10
Political brand as a functional device ...........................................................11
Political brand as a source of differentiation ...................................................11
Political brand as a social device ................................................................13
Political Brands as a Self Concept Device .....................................................13
Political brand as a relationship builder ........................................................14
The Conservative Party advertisement and public relations program ......................16
Tony Cameron: a disgruntled, former Conservative party supporter .......................17
Political brand dimensions Vs Conservative party's efforts to re-launch....................19
Tony....................................................................... ............................21
Conclusions ........................................................................... ...............22
References................................................................. ..........................23
Advertisement and Public Relations in Politics
Advertisement and public relations play an important role in ensuring that consumers receive and interpret crucial information relating to brands that they consume (Gardner & Levy 1955). Researchers in the marketing discipline have always stressed the need for branding strategies, product re-launch, product positioning , brand values and rejuvenation to be undertaken in a collaborative manner, with emphasis on how these marketing efforts are supported by facilitative advertisement programs and public relations being given prominence (Reynolds & Gutman 1984). Advertisement and public relations exercises, in their most bare essence, communicate to the audience particular information and values relating to the products or services being marketed (Leahy 1994). Moreover, advertisement and public relations strategies practices determine the final image of a brand that is perceived by the different segments of a given market (Kapferer 1997). To the end consumer, brand image is a subjective reality given shape by socialisation processes, personal values and cultural and economic contexts which, in an intricate manner, determines the consumer's perception and consumption of that brand.( Onkvisit & Shaw, 1989). Consequently, for a brand to be potentially success in the market, it must possess an image matrix that is identical to the consumer's idea of self image (Sirgy & Samli,1985). The influential power of brand image has, therefore, been one of the greatest pillar of modern marketing, with most of the branding efforts attempting to distinguish and differentiate a particular brand from others, and create an appealing, distinguishable image around that brand( Aaker, 1991). In the end, marketers are driven by the desire to instil certain values and images about a particular brand in the minds of consumers, the rationale being that the consumer, on coming into contact with a brand, will retrieve positive attributes about it from the internal memory ( Anderson ,1983) thusly recalling the intended meaning of the brand(Maclnnis et. al., 1991).
A political brand- in terms of its relationship with its 'consumers' -, in modern times, follows the same conceptual pattern: people(or electorate) seeks a brand(Party, or even and individual) that(or who) meets, or possesses , or nearly matches their aspirations, values, self images and expectations( Popkin, 1994). As a brand therefore, a political party needs to constantly advertise itself to the public, as constant advertisements have been linked to reinforcement of brands' images and success in the market (Assael, 1998) and this is especially important in modern politics where the public has shed off ideological convictions and adopted a consumerist approach to politics (Davidson 1992). Apart from market driven political advertisements, it follows naturally that a political party, as a brand must possess good public relations with the consumers if it is to amass support (Ehrenberg 1991). This prerequisite is not only confined in the political stage, but is also the basis of effective branding and a requirement for any successful brand (Macrae, 1999).
Commercial markets are very dynamic and brands, at different points in times, perform differently in terms of how they are received by the consumers. A brand can suffer rejection or diminished enthusiasm from different market segments and good marketers appreciate brand rejuvenation as an inevitable remedy for such poorly performing brands (Park et al., 1986). Similarly political parties, as brands, witness fluctuating levels of support, depending on the prevailing public mood, party policies and leadership competencies and other social swings (Hinich & Munger, 1997). Here in the UK, the Conservative Party has experienced declining public support that has reduced its prospects of getting back political power. Reeves et al (2003) writes that 'the electorate generally perceive the Conservative Party as not being relevant to contemporary British society, as some would argue its policies are outdated based on the Thatcher legacy of the 1980s. In addition, the party itself is not currently perceived as being representative in terms of gender, age, and ethnicity of the British public. The Conservative Party recognises this, and is attempting to undergo a re-branding or 'modernisation' programme to become relevant and valued by voters'.
To comprehend political parties as brands with functional attributes, one must first understand the ideological platforms that enable sprouting of political organisations and beliefs. Political science theorists( like Besley & Coate 1997) agree that modern forms of governments and power structures require organised podiums for articulation and implementation of social and economic agendas and these platforms are, in most functioning democracies, political parties. Political parties manifest the unity of ideology, and the mirror that reflects the expectation of the masses( Davidson 1992). Without a concrete relationship between a political party's policies and the general public mood, odds are that such a party is likely to suffer backlash from the public and this is mainly manifested during voting (Reeves et al 2003) . When a brand poorly performs in the market, it is important that rejuvenation strategies, involving various strategies of reviving the brand, are undertaken (Bhat, et al 1998). This happens not only in commercial marketing but in political marketing as well. A good example of a political brand requiring rejuvenation is the Conservative party. Reeves et al (2003) writes that 'Indeed it can be advanced that the position of the Conservative brand mirrors the evolution of the Labour Party in the mid 1990s, which needed to rejuvenate itself as New Labour in order to re-become a successful political entity'.
Two approaches in rejuvenating political parities are identified: advertisement and public relations( Aldrich, et al 1996). The two approaches are deemed to be successful if they can communicate a party's agenda, manifesto and policies to the electorate and the latter appreciates and is positively impacted on by the message (Popkin, 1994). This is concisely what branding is all about: 'branding is about communicating a message that is rooted in emotion. Every successful brand has some kind of emotional appeal. Emotion is the human element that gets our attention '( <http://www.spalding-group.com>) . How advertisement and public relations in politics can enhance rejuvenation of a political brand is an issue that requires a multidisciplinary, creative approach if objective conclusions are to be made. This is brought about by how politics and political parties are constituted relative to the present conditionings and moods of the electorate (Giddens 1998).
This essay meets its objectives of assessing the efficacy of advertisement and public relations in rejuvenating a political brand by adopting several interrelated approaches. Firstly, UK political marketing practices are examined and important viewpoints influencing how political parties position themselves are noted. Secondly, a framework for branding a political party is adopted and used to project what successful branding of a political brand is all about. Thirdly, a hypothetical individual 'Tony Cameron' is introduced and cast as a dissatisfied and disoriented consumer of political brands. 'Tony' is projected as an ideal consumer of a political brand, and using brand theories, his expectations as a potential consumer of the conservative party are noted. Newspaper reports are also used to examine the advertisement and public relations activities that are being used by the Conservative Party in its efforts to rejuvenate itself. Finally, advertisement and PR activities of the conservative party are audited against the branding framework adopted, and against 'Tony' thereby enabling generation of a perspective that addresses the effectiveness of the two rejuvenation activities.
Political marketing in UK
Political parties in the UK have lately been characterised by attempts to engage in serious market research, discover voters' wishes and packaging themselves as entities that reflect the feelings of the electorate on the ground (Harris & Lock, 2001). This has inevitably converted them to brands that are all too willing to constantly metamorphose, remain relevant and win crucial public support (Harris & Lock, 2001). The parties have adopted a marketing mentality and their support seeking missions are deeply ingrained with the principals and practices evident in modern marketing fields (Popkin,1994) . Lees-Marshment(2001) writes that ' major British parties are applying not just the techniques of marketing, but its concepts. They appear to be determining their policies to suit voters' concerns (using findings from survey research and focus groups), rather than basing them on ideological considerations. Thus, they are attempting to become what in business terms is called 'market-oriented' and designing their 'product' to suit consumer demands. This would imply a new role for political parties, one at odds with the traditional role assumed by the standard literature'. This has essentially made political parties to use voters' aspirations to shape their own agendas- in other words they have become what is labelled 'Market oriented parties' . The author further observes that 'A 'Market-Oriented Party' (MOP) is one which seeks to determine its entire behaviour in order to provide voter satisfaction and in doing so satisfy its own goals. A Market-Oriented Party is not concerned with changing people's minds, but in following them.' Arguably, recent trends in political marketing has seen political parties engaging in branding processes with the overall objective being to transform the parties into brands that have images corresponding to the desires of the citizenly. This concept is similar to the traditional branding processes whereby the aim is to create an image of a brand that can appeal to potential consumers (Onkvisit & Shaw, 1989). Nevertheless, it is important to note that traditional branding practices might not be fully compatible with political branding as the latter is more socially oriented , requiring different styles of branding approaches. (Popkin, 1994). The next section examines a model that treats political parties as brands. The recommended features of the political brand are essential in ensuring that a political brand is successful ; since political marketing is a wide field incorporating many styles of branding and rejuvenation (Livingston 1981) this model will form the basis for assessing the effectiveness of advertisement and public relations in the revival efforts of the Conservative party .
A framework for Political branding
Reeves et al(2003) writes that 'With the growing interest in political parties behaving as though they are brands, this paper critically analyses the extent to which voter choice can be conceptualized as akin to consumer brand choice' . this perception conforms well with other researchers who have began perceiving political parties as brands akin to the traditional, commercial brands found in the modern market . According to Reeves, a political party as brands has six dimensions namely as an evolving entity, as a functional device, as source of differentiation, as a social device as a self concept device, and relationship builder.
Political brand as an evolving entity
As an evolving entity, a political brand is generated to offer certain values that should be aligned with the changing expectations of the electorate. He writes that 'a key rationale for the formation of a political party is to offer a credible and valued brand offering which aligns with the evolving nature of the electorate. As such it is important to understand that voter choice evolves in line with the changing social and economic characteristics of the nation' . Expectedly, branding of political parties should largely draw from what the public want. The branding process, just like in the commercial branding, is thus a variable that draws its values from the market and incorporates them to enhance acceptability and success (Vigneron et al. 1999).
Political brand as a functional device
As a functional device, a political brand becomes a unit of fulfilling demands and expectations of the citizenry. These demands and expectations include appealing policies, and the performance of the party once in power. Reeves et al (2003) writes that 'one component of political brands is functional benefits, which can be conceptualised as the policies and programmes a particular political brand promises to enact if elected. These values are practical, and are concerned with what is offered to the electorate, as well as the overall level of perceived performance, and quality of the brand'. In commercial branding, a brand can be viewed as a functional concept that satisfies a particular need (Park et al., 1986) . If the brand is able to effectively fulfil its functional objectives, then it is deemed appropriate by the consumers (Park et al., 1986) and similarly a political brand must be functionally helpful to the electorate if it is to achieve success (Reeves et al 2003). This all boils down to how the politicians act and conduct their affairs, in respect to the promises they made to the electorate. (Lees-Marshment 2001)
Political brand as a source of differentiation
Political brand as a source of differentiation addresses how a political brand needs to distinguish itself from the competitors if it is to attract support. Reeves et al(2003) further writes that 'Consumer brand theory argues that for a brand to be successful it needs to be perceived by consumers as being different from competitors' brands. The brand therefore need
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Aug 14, 10, 02:11AM
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The complete second essay is this:
The Efficacy of Advertisement and Public Relations in Rejuvenating a Political Brand
Executive summary
Of late, UK's Conservative party has engaged itself in series of advertisement and public relations campaigns to endear itself to the public. This essay addresses the issue with special references to the available theories on political marketing. A hypothetical case of 'Tony Cameron' is provided to offer more insightful perspectives on the issue.
Findings shows that whilst advertisement and public relations campaigns can rejuvenate a political brand, they must be backed by strong marketing intelligence reports if they are to be productive
Table of Contents
Content Page
Advertisement and Public Relations in Politics ...............................................4
Political marketing in UK .......................................................................8
A framework for Political branding ...........................................................10
Political brand as an evolving entity ...........................................................10
Political brand as a functional device ...........................................................11
Political brand as a source of differentiation ...................................................11
Political brand as a social device ................................................................13
Political Brands as a Self Concept Device .....................................................13
Political brand as a relationship builder ........................................................14
The Conservative Party advertisement and public relations program ......................16
Tony Cameron: a disgruntled, former Conservative party supporter .......................17
Political brand dimensions Vs Conservative party's efforts to re-launch....................19
Tony....................................................................... ............................21
Conclusions ........................................................................... ...............22
References................................................................. ..........................23
Advertisement and Public Relations in Politics
Advertisement and public relations play an important role in ensuring that consumers receive and interpret crucial information relating to brands that they consume (Gardner & Levy 1955). Researchers in the marketing discipline have always stressed the need for branding strategies, product re-launch, product positioning , brand values and rejuvenation to be undertaken in a collaborative manner, with emphasis on how these marketing efforts are supported by facilitative advertisement programs and public relations being given prominence (Reynolds & Gutman 1984). Advertisement and public relations exercises, in their most bare essence, communicate to the audience particular information and values relating to the products or services being marketed (Leahy 1994). Moreover, advertisement and public relations strategies practices determine the final image of a brand that is perceived by the different segments of a given market (Kapferer 1997). To the end consumer, brand image is a subjective reality given shape by socialisation processes, personal values and cultural and economic contexts which, in an intricate manner, determines the consumer's perception and consumption of that brand.( Onkvisit & Shaw, 1989). Consequently, for a brand to be potentially success in the market, it must possess an image matrix that is identical to the consumer's idea of self image (Sirgy & Samli,1985). The influential power of brand image has, therefore, been one of the greatest pillar of modern marketing, with most of the branding efforts attempting to distinguish and differentiate a particular brand from others, and create an appealing, distinguishable image around that brand( Aaker, 1991). In the end, marketers are driven by the desire to instil certain values and images about a particular brand in the minds of consumers, the rationale being that the consumer, on coming into contact with a brand, will retrieve positive attributes about it from the internal memory ( Anderson ,1983) thusly recalling the intended meaning of the brand(Maclnnis et. al., 1991).
A political brand- in terms of its relationship with its 'consumers' -, in modern times, follows the same conceptual pattern: people(or electorate) seeks a brand(Party, or even and individual) that(or who) meets, or possesses , or nearly matches their aspirations, values, self images and expectations( Popkin, 1994). As a brand therefore, a political party needs to constantly advertise itself to the public, as constant advertisements have been linked to reinforcement of brands' images and success in the market (Assael, 1998) and this is especially important in modern politics where the public has shed off ideological convictions and adopted a consumerist approach to politics (Davidson 1992). Apart from market driven political advertisements, it follows naturally that a political party, as a brand must possess good public relations with the consumers if it is to amass support (Ehrenberg 1991). This prerequisite is not only confined in the political stage, but is also the basis of effective branding and a requirement for any successful brand (Macrae, 1999).
Commercial markets are very dynamic and brands, at different points in times, perform differently in terms of how they are received by the consumers. A brand can suffer rejection or diminished enthusiasm from different market segments and good marketers appreciate brand rejuvenation as an inevitable remedy for such poorly performing brands (Park et al., 1986). Similarly political parties, as brands, witness fluctuating levels of support, depending on the prevailing public mood, party policies and leadership competencies and other social swings (Hinich & Munger, 1997). Here in the UK, the Conservative Party has experienced declining public support that has reduced its prospects of getting back political power. Reeves et al (2003) writes that 'the electorate generally perceive the Conservative Party as not being relevant to contemporary British society, as some would argue its policies are outdated based on the Thatcher legacy of the 1980s. In addition, the party itself is not currently perceived as being representative in terms of gender, age, and ethnicity of the British public. The Conservative Party recognises this, and is attempting to undergo a re-branding or 'modernisation' programme to become relevant and valued by voters'.
To comprehend political parties as brands with functional attributes, one must first understand the ideological platforms that enable sprouting of political organisations and beliefs. Political science theorists( like Besley & Coate 1997) agree that modern forms of governments and power structures require organised podiums for articulation and implementation of social and economic agendas and these platforms are, in most functioning democracies, political parties. Political parties manifest the unity of ideology, and the mirror that reflects the expectation of the masses( Davidson 1992). Without a concrete relationship between a political party's policies and the general public mood, odds are that such a party is likely to suffer backlash from the public and this is mainly manifested during voting (Reeves et al 2003) . When a brand poorly performs in the market, it is important that rejuvenation strategies, involving various strategies of reviving the brand, are undertaken (Bhat, et al 1998). This happens not only in commercial marketing but in political marketing as well. A good example of a political brand requiring rejuvenation is the Conservative party. Reeves et al (2003) writes that 'Indeed it can be advanced that the position of the Conservative brand mirrors the evolution of the Labour Party in the mid 1990s, which needed to rejuvenate itself as New Labour in order to re-become a successful political entity'.
Two approaches in rejuvenating political parities are identified: advertisement and public relations( Aldrich, et al 1996). The two approaches are deemed to be successful if they can communicate a party's agenda, manifesto and policies to the electorate and the latter appreciates and is positively impacted on by the message (Popkin, 1994). This is concisely what branding is all about: 'branding is about communicating a message that is rooted in emotion. Every successful brand has some kind of emotional appeal. Emotion is the human element that gets our attention '( <http://www.spalding-group.com>) . How advertisement and public relations in politics can enhance rejuvenation of a political brand is an issue that requires a multidisciplinary, creative approach if objective conclusions are to be made. This is brought about by how politics and political parties are constituted relative to the present conditionings and moods of the electorate (Giddens 1998).
This essay meets its objectives of assessing the efficacy of advertisement and public relations in rejuvenating a political brand by adopting several interrelated approaches. Firstly, UK political marketing practices are examined and important viewpoints influencing how political parties position themselves are noted. Secondly, a framework for branding a political party is adopted and used to project what successful branding of a political brand is all about. Thirdly, a hypothetical individual 'Tony Cameron' is introduced and cast as a dissatisfied and disoriented consumer of political brands. 'Tony' is projected as an ideal consumer of a political brand, and using brand theories, his expectations as a potential consumer of the conservative party are noted. Newspaper reports are also used to examine the advertisement and public relations activities that are being used by the Conservative Party in its efforts to rejuvenate itself. Finally, advertisement and PR activities of the conservative party are audited against the branding framework adopted, and against 'Tony' thereby enabling generation of a perspective that addresses the effectiveness of the two rejuvenation activities.
Political marketing in UK
Political parties in the UK have lately been characterised by attempts to engage in serious market research, discover voters' wishes and packaging themselves as entities that reflect the feelings of the electorate on the ground (Harris & Lock, 2001). This has inevitably converted them to brands that are all too willing to constantly metamorphose, remain relevant and win crucial public support (Harris & Lock, 2001). The parties have adopted a marketing mentality and their support seeking missions are deeply ingrained with the principals and practices evident in modern marketing fields (Popkin,1994) . Lees-Marshment(2001) writes that ' major British parties are applying not just the techniques of marketing, but its concepts. They appear to be determining their policies to suit voters' concerns (using findings from survey research and focus groups), rather than basing them on ideological considerations. Thus, they are attempting to become what in business terms is called 'market-oriented' and designing their 'product' to suit consumer demands. This would imply a new role for political parties, one at odds with the traditional role assumed by the standard literature'. This has essentially made political parties to use voters' aspirations to shape their own agendas- in other words they have become what is labelled 'Market oriented parties' . The author further observes that 'A 'Market-Oriented Party' (MOP) is one which seeks to determine its entire behaviour in order to provide voter satisfaction and in doing so satisfy its own goals. A Market-Oriented Party is not concerned with changing people's minds, but in following them.' Arguably, recent trends in political marketing has seen political parties engaging in branding processes with the overall objective being to transform the parties into brands that have images corresponding to the desires of the citizenly. This concept is similar to the traditional branding processes whereby the aim is to create an image of a brand that can appeal to potential consumers (Onkvisit & Shaw, 1989). Nevertheless, it is important to note that traditional branding practices might not be fully compatible with political branding as the latter is more socially oriented , requiring different styles of branding approaches. (Popkin, 1994). The next section examines a model that treats political parties as brands. The recommended features of the political brand are essential in ensuring that a political brand is successful ; since political marketing is a wide field incorporating many styles of branding and rejuvenation (Livingston 1981) this model will form the basis for assessing the effectiveness of advertisement and public relations in the revival efforts of the Conservative party .
A framework for Political branding
Reeves et al(2003) writes that 'With the growing interest in political parties behaving as though they are brands, this paper critically analyses the extent to which voter choice can be conceptualized as akin to consumer brand choice' . this perception conforms well with other researchers who have began perceiving political parties as brands akin to the traditional, commercial brands found in the modern market . According to Reeves, a political party as brands has six dimensions namely as an evolving entity, as a functional device, as source of differentiation, as a social device as a self concept device, and relationship builder.
Political brand as an evolving entity
As an evolving entity, a political brand is generated to offer certain values that should be aligned with the changing expectations of the electorate. He writes that 'a key rationale for the formation of a political party is to offer a credible and valued brand offering which aligns with the evolving nature of the electorate. As such it is important to understand that voter choice evolves in line with the changing social and economic characteristics of the nation' . Expectedly, branding of political parties should largely draw from what the public want. The branding process, just like in the commercial branding, is thus a variable that draws its values from the market and incorporates them to enhance acceptability and success (Vigneron et al. 1999).
Political brand as a functional device
As a functional device, a political brand becomes a unit of fulfilling demands and expectations of the citizenry. These demands and expectations include appealing policies, and the performance of the party once in power. Reeves et al (2003) writes that 'one component of political brands is functional benefits, which can be conceptualised as the policies and programmes a particular political brand promises to enact if elected. These values are practical, and are concerned with what is offered to the electorate, as well as the overall level of perceived performance, and quality of the brand'. In commercial branding, a brand can be viewed as a functional concept that satisfies a particular need (Park et al., 1986) . If the brand is able to effectively fulfil its functional objectives, then it is deemed appropriate by the consumers (Park et al., 1986) and similarly a political brand must be functionally helpful to the electorate if it is to achieve success (Reeves et al 2003). This all boils down to how the politicians act and conduct their affairs, in respect to the promises they made to the electorate. (Lees-Marshment 2001)
Political brand as a source of differentiation
Political brand as a source of differentiation addresses how a political brand needs to distinguish itself from the competitors if it is to attract support. Reeves et al(2003) further writes that 'Consumer brand theory argues that for a brand to be successful it needs to be perceived by consumers as being different from competitors' brands. The brand therefore needs to be distinctive in terms of the brand itself, but also in the perception of its consumers'. Obviously , a political brand need not distinguish itself from others for the sake of it ; differentiation will only be useful if a particular brand has superior offers that are definitely better than the competitor's and this enables consumers to be able to distinguish the brand due to its positive attributes (Macrae, 1996). Reeves et al(2003) reports that Ehrenberg (1991) has argued that although there might be some subtle differences between politicians, there is a tendency amongst the electorate to perceive them as being similar and, therefore, substitutable. This perception amongst the electorate is particularly evident in the UK . Reeves et al(2003) , quoting Bromley & Curtice,( 2002) further observes that statistics ' shows only 17% of voters perceived there to be a 'great deal of difference' between the Conservative and Labour party brand'.
Expectedly, political branding must effectively communicate fundamental concepts of social responsibility , democratic principals and policies frameworks if voters are to differentiate one political brand from another (Lees-Marshment 2001) . Positive differentiation process can be effectively achieved if a political brand engages in market intelligence with a view of obtaining the electorate wishes and using the expectations of the public as the raw materials for formulating policies and agendas, that , firstly, appeals to the public and, secondly, differentiates the political brand from competitors (Lees-Marshment 2001) . Lees-Marshment(2001) gives a good example of the Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher. She writes that to win the election the party 'employed the Opinion Research Centre (ORC) to do its polling and it conducted surveys in the run-up to the 1979 election which identified lower taxation, the sale of council houses and proposals likely to gain votes'. This differentiated the party from the Labour Party, bringing about success in the 1979 elections. This, definitely, is one purpose of branding from a general perspective: associating a brand with an appealing image that, more often than not, is developed based on the likes, preferences and desires of the consumers ( Heath & Scott 1998).
Political brand as a social device
As a social device, a political party is deeply rooted and influenced by social and cultural forces in a particular political ecosystem ( Besley & Coate 1997). Accordingly, it is not possible to study political parties within a framework devoid of the respective social contexts that prevail ( Besley & Coate 1997). Further political decisions, either amongst the voters or the politicians are normally informed by traditions of the society, and therefore culture plays an important role in influencing how a political brand is consumed (Reeves et al, 2003). The authors observe that 'it is clear that the 'mainstream' electorate will only choose a political brand that is within zones of acceptability as determined by societal norms, traditions and behaviour. For example, although there is currently public concern about illegal immigration, culture conditions the 'mainstream' electorate not to support extremist parties, as racism is not regarded as acceptable to the cultural norms and values of British Society'. The role of culture in consumption of brands is not only confined in politics; culture influences and shapes a person's view of the world, thus has the potential to influence the consumption of brands ( Appadurai, 1986) .
Political Brands as a Self Concept Device
Reeves et al (2003) observes that 'has been substantial interest in the consumer behaviour literature on brand choices reflecting the self concept of the consumer. As such, a number of researchers have attempted to assess the congruency between the self image of the consumer and the image of the brand (Birdwell, 1968; Delich, 1969; Grubb and Hupp, 1968; Landon, 1974)'. What this really means is that the concept of the self plays an important role in determining the choice of brands. Self concept is defined as 'a person's self-perceptions formed through experience with, and interpretations of, his or her environment, which are influenced especially by evaluations by significant others, reinforcements, and attributions for the individual's own behaviour' (Marsh & Hattie (1996: .58). The implication is that the self concept helps in formation of individual beliefs and influencing the choice of brands. Reeves et al (2003) argues that a political party that reflects the self concept of the electorate is likely to succeed during voting time.
Political brand as a relationship builder
Reeves et al(2003) advances the argument that people develop relationships with parties in the same way that consumers develop relationships with various brands. The authors report that 'Fournier (1998) has written extensively on the different types of relationships people develop through the choice and use of their brands. It is apparent that if the Campbell et al (1960) study is to have explanatory power, voters choose political brands on the basis of what Fournier (1998) would term as a 'committed partnership', whereby a long term and voluntary relationship is developed between the individual and the political brand' .
This is similar to the same relationships visible in commercial branding where efforts are made by sellers of brands to develop a long lasting relationship with between their brands and the consumers, which leads to consumers identifying themselves with the brands in the long term.( Sirgy, 1982).
To summarise this section, it has emerged that a political party can be thought of being a brand with certain dimensions such as being a relationship builder, a social device and so on. If, as a brand, a political party is to fulfil its obligations then it must meet these dimensions (Reeves et al 2003) . Deductively, the Conservative Party, as a political brand, ought to possess the identified attributes so as to be considered successful. Of course if the present political events are anything to go by, and considering that the party has been out of power for quite sometime, it is obvious that the party cannot be thought of as being a successful brand. This explains why the party need to rejuvenate and re-launch itself if it will ever win back public support (Reeves et al 2003). If it is to be successful as a brand, it must possess the six brand dimensions earlier mentioned.
To discover whether its revival efforts (through advertisement and public relations), can help the Conservative Party brand attain the identified six brand attributes, it is important to undertake these activities :
discuss a hypothetical case involving an 'ordinary' voter by the name 'Tony Cameron' with a view of establishing how Tony, as a consumer of a political brand, is influenced in his choice of a political party and how advertisements and public relations can influence his political decisions
Identify the advertisement and public relations efforts and activities that the conservative party has been undertaking to win support from the public.
Match the said efforts and activities with the brand dimensions framework earlier discussed , with a view of proofing whether the advertisement and public relations efforts are enough to transform the conservative party into a six dimensional political brand
Match the said efforts and activities with Tony's perceptions and expectations of the Conservative party to discover whether the efforts are sufficient enough to re-launch the party .
Tony Cameron: a disgruntled, former Conservative party supporter
Tony is 42. For several years , he's been a passionate supporter of the Conservative Party. For the last 10 years, his support for the Tories has greatly subsidised, perhaps resulting from the feelings that the Conservative Party is no longer relevant to the aspirations of modern day UK. These feelings have been noted by researchers as some of the fundamental causes of falling support for the Conservative Party (Reeves et al , 2003) .Tony' conceptualisation of the self is largely based on his 'British' values , embracing the concept of democracy, liberalism , political mannerism and lack of political extremities .
Of late he has been witnessing the Conservative Party's attempts to re-package themselves as 'caring' and very relevant to modern day issues affecting the country. Tony might not be aware of this, but his self image, according to Sirgy(1982), is made up of the actual self image- i.e Tony's current individual image, the social self image- i.e Tony's image viewed within the wider context of his social background , the ideal self image- i.e what Tony envisages to be his self image and Ideal social self-image- i.e Tony's envisaged self image in his social location.
Brand theorists agree that the desire to enhance the self concept is one the principal reasons that drive people to consume certain brands (Dolich, 1969). This is not only evident in commercial branding but also in political branding, where a party brand that strikes a chord well with the individual concept of self enhancement is the one likely to attract support from the individual(Reeves et al ,2003). Assuming that the Conservative Party's efforts to rejuvenate itself are geared to appeal to the individual and promise and enhancement of his sense of the self, are its advertisement and public relations exercises sufficient enough to promise Tony that his self(desires, wishes, aspirations) will be enhanced? . This question is very essential since a political brand must communicate values and policies that essentially promise the electorate a chance to fulfil their wishes(thusly enhance their collective sense of the self ) on ascending to power(Popkin,1994). To answer this question, it is important to first study what constitutes advertisement and public relations efforts of the Conservative Party.
The Conservative Party advertisement and public relations program
It has been previously observed that the Conservative Party has faced numerous challenges in its attempt to return to prominence and that the conservative leadership has discovered the need to reform the party so as to reflect the wishes of the majority(May, 2002).
To figure out the key areas that the conservative party has been engaging itself with in an attempt to advertise and promote its 'new' brand image, several newspaper articles were consulted. These include: 'David's brain' transforms Tory brand ( Saturday December 2, 2006) (www. Guardian.co.uk), Project Africa: Tories' drive to re-brand party (9/03/2007)( www. telegraph.co.uk) and Cameron is about to discover his big problem: the Conservative party( October 2, 2006)( www.guardian.co.uk ) .
These articles highlight several advertisement and public relations exercises that the Tories have launched in a bid to salvage the party from further diminishing support. They include:
Offering 'a vision of a Tory Britain which encourages "social responsibility, not state responsibility"; that earned him applause for denouncing ID cards, over-regulation and a Labour government that has promoted "the nationalisation of everyday life'( www. guardian.co.uk )
Offering a new way of doing things for the party and aligning the party's objectives with the expectations of the people 'today people want different things, the priorities are different ... people want a sensible centre-right party - and that is what they have got'. ( www. guardian.co.uk )
willingness to collect their past mistakes of ignoring the electorate wishes 'instead of talking about the things ordinary people wanted to talk about" - schools, mortgages and suchlike - "we talked about the things we wanted to talk about ... banging on about Europe".( www. guardian.co.uk )
Involvement of the party leaders in charity works in part to make the party look more caring ( www.telegraph.co.uk ) .
Hiring of a marketing executive - Steve Hilton- to run the party's communication and advertisement programs, and to change the party's brand image.( www. guardian.co.uk )
These endeavours by the party attempt to change its image and policies in line with the changing political environments and wishes of the people. They are all carefully implemented advertisements and PR campaigns meant to change the image of the party. But can they revive the party?
Political brand dimensions Vs Conservative party's efforts to re-launch.
The first attribute of a political brand is that of an evolving entity where it reflects the aspirations of the public (reeves et al 2003). When David Cameron says that 'today people want different things, the priorities are different ... people want a sensible centre-right party - and that is what they have got'(www.guardian.co.uk), he subscribes to the evolving entity creed and admits that the party has to reflect what people want. In this aspect, it is clear that the party, in its advertisement and public relations campaign, is attempting to achieve this brand attribute. However, what matters at the end of the day is whether the public take believe in this change of heart by the party (Popkin,1994).
The second attribute for a political brand is functional device. This means that the party can fulfil its objectives and promises to the people. From the advertisement campaigns of the Conservative Party, it emerges that the party is willing to implement policies and programs that people want . David Cameron is quoted as saying that the party's new vision is that of 'social responsibility, not state responsibility' . If this message can trickle to the people, then it can be deemed promising to the electorate and promote the party's popularity (Reeves et al 2003).
The third attribute of a political brand is 'social differentiation' where a brand is differentiated from other political brands. By casting the party as caring and socially responsible, what the Conservatives are attempting to do is differentiate themselves from the failures of the Labour party(especially over the war on Iraq) and capitalise on that to gain some popularity. This is the essence of political branding(Reeves et al 2003).
As a social device, the conservative party is trying to appeal to the emotions of its potential supporters by engaging in charitable works. This all boils down to branding, which has been found to capitalise on communicating messages with an emotional appeal (Dubois and Laurent 1994). This is more so in modern political marketing where social responsibilities by parties and even individuals has been found to play an important role in gaining support from the public (Lees-Marshment2001).
Self enhancement is also another attribute of a political brand. This attribute relates to how well a political brand enhances the self , mostly through projecting an image that relates well with the perception of the public. Cameron captures this essence well 'instead of talking about the things ordinary people wanted to talk about" - schools, mortgages and suchlike - "we talked about the things we wanted to talk about ... banging on about Europe'. What this statement means is that the conservative party has discovered that what really matters in image building is the perception of the public and not of the party. If then, the Conservative Party can indeed focus on enhancing the desirable image within the public, then it can be appreciated more by the public as it will simply be enhancing their collective self .
The last attribute of a political brand is relationship builder. This deals with the type of relationship that exists between the public and the party. All the listed attempts by the Conservative Party are directed towards ensuring a long lasting, positive relationship which leads to electoral victory.
To summarise this section, it has been noted that efforts by the Conservative party are intended to give the party some crucial attributes of a political brand and it can be said that , these efforts can bear fruits, if the theories backing political marketing are accurate. But can these efforts make Tony change his mind and support the conservative party?
Tony
Evidently, what the conservative party is trying to do is to ensure that 'Tony' sense of the self and self enhancement is reflected in its policies and activities. That the party has recognised the need to realign its policies with the expectations of the ordinary people is a clear evidence that it seeks to instil into the minds of the voters a sense of promise and enhancement mostly through engaging in activities that are highly regarded by the ordinary people(like charitable work ). So in a way, advertisement and public relations are sufficient to re-launch a political brand.
However, political branding comes hand in hand with several challenges. for one, it has been observed that people do not generally trust politicians and tends to treat their activities as simply PR exercises(Ehrenberg 1991). It might be possible that efforts by the CP to revive itself are, to the public, empty rhetoric meant to return the party to power. This makes advertising and public relations campaigns somewhat prone to public scepticism and indifference. This can only be minimised if such campaigns are backed by credible marketing intelligence reports that analyse what the people on the ground think about a particular political brand and its policies(Lees-Marshment 2001). If people on the ground approve of such efforts as those of the Conservative Party, then, to some degree, advertisement and public relations campaign can rejuvenate a political brand.
Conclusions
Efforts have been made to examine diverge research works contributing to the discipline of marketing and branding. Further, political branding has been examined from theoretical perspectives and such perspectives have been used to examine how advertisement and public relations can turn around the fortunes of the Conservative Party. It has been discovered that advertisement and public relations, if backed by marketing intelligence, can help rejuvenate a political brand. The author takes the opinion that the essay was a success especially on illuminating practical efforts of the CP with academic theories.
References
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Aldrich, John H. and David W. Rohde, 1996, "A Tale of Two Speakers: A Comparison of Policy Makingin the 100 th and 104 th Congresses," paper delivered at the 1996 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Aug. 29-Sept. 1, San Francisco, CA.
Anderson, J. R. (1983) "A spreading Activation Theory of Memory", Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 22, 261-295.
Assael, Henry. Consumer Behavior and Marketing Action. 6th Ed. South Western College Publishing, (1998): 104.
Besley, T. and S. Coate (1997). An Economic Model of Representative Democracy. Quarterly Journal of Economics 112(1), 85-114.
Bhat, S., and Reddy, S. (1998) 'Symbolic and functional positioning of brands', Journal of Consumer Marketing, 15(9): 32-43.
Branding. Available from http://www.spalding-group.com> . ( accessed on 20th April, 2007)
Cameron is about to discover his big problem: the Conservative party available from www.guardian.co.uk . accessed 20th April, 2007
'David's brain' transforms Tory brand available from (www. Guardian.co.uk). accessed 18th April, 2007.
Davidson, M. (1992) The Consumerist Manifesto, Routledge: London.
Davidson, M. (1992) The Consumerist Manifesto, Routledge: London. Davis, S. (2000) Brand Asset Management:
Dolich, I. (1969) "Congruence relationshipssbetween self images and product $an$$YV Journal of Marketing Research, 6 (Dee), pp 80-84
Dubois, B. and Laurent, G. (1994) "Attitudes toward the concept of luxury: An exploratory analysis," Advances in Consumer Research, 1(2), 273-278.
Ehrenberg, A. (1991) Politicians' Double Jeopardy: A Pattern of Exceptions, Journal of the Market Research Society, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp.347-353
Gardner, B. B., & Levy, S. J. (1955) "The product and the brand," Harvard Business Review, (Jan/Feb), 33 - 39.
Giddens A. (1998) The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy, Cambridge
Harris, P. and A. Lock (2001) Establishing the Charles Kennedy Brand: A Strategy for an Election the Result of which is a Foregone Conclusion, In, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 17 No. 9/10, pp 943-956
Hattie, J,A.C. & Marsh, H. W. (1996). The relationship between research and teaching—a meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 66, 507-542
Heath, Adam and Don Scott (1998). "The Self-Concept and Image Congruence Hypothesis. An Empirical Evaluation in the Motor Vehicle Market," Journal of Marketing, 32 (11/12), 1110-1123.
Hinich, M. J. and M. C. Munger (1997). Analytical politics. Cambridge [England]; New York, NY, USA, Cambridge University Press.
Kapferer, Jean-Noël(1997), Strategic Brand Management, Great Britain, Kogan Page.
Leahy, Terry (1994), "The emergence of retail brand power.In P. Stobart. Brand Power, Basingstoke, Macmillan.
Lees-Marshment, J. (2001) Political Marketing and British Political Parties, Manchester University Press, Manchester
MacInnis, J., Park, C. W., & Jarwoski, B. J. (1986) "Strategic brand concept-image management," Journal of Marketing, 50(Oct), 135 - 145.
Macrae, Chris (1999), "Brand Reality Editorial", Journal of Marketing Management, 15 No. 13, pp. 1 – 24.
Onkvisit, Sak and J.J. Shaw (1989), "Service marketing: image, branding and competition", Business Horizons, 32 (1), 13- 18.
Peter Reeves, Prof. Leslie de Chernatony(2003) . POLITICAL BRAND CHOICE IN BRITAIN available from http://www2.bham.ac.uk/core/core_picker/download.asp?documenttable=libraryf iles&id=1186. accessed (20th April 2007)
Popkin, Samuel L. 1994. The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns. 2nd ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
Popkin, Samuel L. 1994. The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns. 2nd ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
Project Africa: Tories' drive to re-brand party available from www. telegraph.co.uk) .accessed 20th April, 2007
Reynolds, T.J. and Gutman, J. (1984). Advertising is Image Management. Journal of Advertising Research, 25, 27-37.
Sirgy, M. J. (1982), ìSelf-concept in consumer behaviour: A critical reviewî, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 9, pp. 287-300.
Sirgy, M. Joseph and A. C. Samli (1985). A Path Analytic Model of Store Loyalty Involving Self¬Concept, Store Image, Socioeconomi Status, and Geographic Loyalty. The Journal Of The Academy Of Marketing Science, 13(Summer), 265¬291.
Vigneron, Frank, & Johnson, W. J. (1999) "A review and a conceptual model framework of prestige-seeking consumer behaviour," Academy of Marketing Science, 1999, 1 - 14.
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| the_devill |
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Sep 22, 10, 04:17PM
| #3 |
Joined: Sep 14, 10
Threads: 1
Posts: 10
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What a waste of such good writing :(
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| VeronicaM |
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Nov 2, 10, 08:04PM
| #4 |
Joined: Aug 24, 10
Threads: 5
Posts: 24
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This is very well-written.
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| FreelanceWriter |
Writer |
Nov 5, 10, 05:40PM
| #5 |
Joined: Oct 8, 08
Threads: 3
Posts: 604
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Why would you ever complete an essay (let alone 2 of them), much less actually send them to the customer before being paid in full? Someone has to take the risk and rely on trustworthiness (especially on the first transaction) and at least writers can provide samples and references from satisfied clients and let prospective clients Google their information; there's no comparable way of trying to check out a client's record of honesty and good faith.
I don't even schedule work on my calendar until it's paid in full. If other prepaid work happens to come in before it's paid, I never turn it down waiting for payment on other inquiries. Customers sometimes say they want work and then just email later saying that they changed their minds or chose a different writer or company. That's fine, but that's exactly why I have a very strict prepayment/scheduling policy ever since the first (and last) time that I ever passed up on another assignment because I'd already blocked off that time based on a verbal agreement after which the customer subsequently changed his mind at the last minute before issuing prepayment.
Also, could someone explain to Americans how the British "standards" system works? I always thought it was just a reference to grades after the fact. Apparently, that's not the case based on your post. What are the respective criteria for the different standards? It's obvious to me that some of my clients are British based on their spelling but they never specify any specific standards.
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| jwolfe2 |
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Nov 5, 10, 06:36PM
| #6 |
Joined: Jan 22, 10
Threads: 7
Posts: 79
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um...uk business writer, i have a few essays i need written. i need you to write them and send me the essays ahead of time, and then i will look them over and pay you 1-2 weeks later. please get in touch.
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| WRT |
Company Representative |
Nov 6, 10, 02:30AM
| #7 |
Joined: Sep 29, 09
Threads: 14
Posts: 1,808
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FreelanceWriter: Also, could someone explain to Americans how the British "standards" system works? I always thought it was just a reference to grades after the fact. Apparently, that's not the case based on your post. What are the respective criteria for the different standards? It's obvious to me that some of my clients are British based on their spelling but they never specify any specific standards.
It is different, FW. I'll send you some material which explains it all. Give me a day.
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Edited by: pheelyks Nov 6, 10, 03:00AM
| #8 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,436
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I had a teacher who had recently arrived from the UK during my last year in school here in the states, for a class in the arts that was by its nature somewhat subjective; there was always room to improve. She gave everyone Cs and Ds on the midterm (not a test, but the production of a certain artwork--that is, it was not merely a question of knowing or not knowing something, but of creating something) and was shocked when many of us protested. Apparently in the UK, anything above a 75% is considered really good work, and she thought she was being generous giving no grade lower than a 60%. She corrected this by finals, or all of our GPAs would have been royally screwed (no pun intended), but there is definitely a difference.
As to how the 2:2, 2:1, and other specific standards work, I don't really know, but their whole perspective on grades is radically different from our own.
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| WRT |
Company Representative |
Nov 6, 10, 03:06AM
| #9 |
Joined: Sep 29, 09
Threads: 14
Posts: 1,808
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pheelyks: 75% is considered really good work
More than very good - considered a First in the majority of universities :) Difficult to come by.
Distinction - 85%-100% is extremely difficult to come by.
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| jimraynor |
Student |
Dec 5, 10, 12:06PM
| #10 |
Joined: Dec 5, 10
Threads: 1
Posts: 13
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Where do you live now uk business writer ?
If they scam and you know the tutor email just warning them that you will sent it to the tutor.
Or just up load those work in internet and they will bust.
Btw if you live in London, id like to meet you and ask for help for my essay. Sure ill pay for your hardworking.
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| kkkent |
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Jan 2, 11, 12:47PM
| #11 |
Joined: Jan 2, 11
Posts: 1
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That is ridiculous they didnt pay, really good work! Do or could you write/help a Physical Education diss?
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| HarvardWriter |
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Jan 23, 11, 09:34AM
| #12 |
Joined: Jan 20, 11
Posts: 6
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Yes, agree that the UK and US standards are very different, but good work is good work and both are recognised in the same way... it is only the numerical value of the mark that is different. When I was studying in the USA, there was a lot of talk about "grade inflation" so that is something to consider...
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| AAPROPOSAL |
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Jan 24, 11, 10:24AM
| #13 |
Joined: Jan 21, 11
Posts: 9
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Do you write for phd proposal?
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| desperate student uk |
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May 13, 11, 08:29AM
| #14 |
Joined: May 13, 11
Posts: 2
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uk writer do you have free sample papers on financial crises within UK banks? thank you
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
May 13, 11, 12:17PM
| #15 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,436
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desperate student uk: uk writer do you have free sample papers on financial crises within UK banks? thank you
No private writers are going to provide you with free sample papers on a specific topic. We all have samples of our previous work that you can see, but a) the odds that we have written on your specific topic are slim (this topic is broad enough that it's actually possible, but my guess is you have more details you want to see in your "sample") and b) we have no interest in providing you with free work that someone else had to pay for.
You're also reaching out to a guy with 4 posts that hasn't been here since January. Good luck all around.
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| Lazy Skeptic |
Student |
May 13, 11, 12:45PM
| #16 |
Joined: Mar 15, 11
Threads: 8
Posts: 55
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FreelanceWriter: It's obvious to me that some of my clients are British based on their spelling but they never specify any specific standards.
40% to 49% = D = 3rd
50& to 59% = C = 2.2
60% to 69% = B = 2.1
70% to 79% = A = 1st
Below 40% is a fail.
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| MeoKhan |
Writer |
May 13, 11, 02:00PM
| #17 |
Joined: Jan 9, 11
Threads: 3
Posts: 1,046
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Lazy Skeptic: 40% to 49% = D = 3rd 50& to 59% = C = 2.2 60% to 69% = B = 2.1 70% to 79% = A = 1st
It seems to me to be the "grade criterion". Do you not have the GPA system over there?
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| essay business |
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Jun 20, 11, 08:21PM
| #18 |
Joined: Jun 20, 11
Threads: 1
Posts: 3
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uk business writer......i find you can do go essays....instead of pasting them here i will be buying them if they dont pay at $5 per page.
thank you and get back!
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| good student |
Student |
Edited by: good student Nov 15, 11, 05:45AM
| #19 |
Joined: Nov 15, 11
Threads: 1
Posts: 3
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i am suprised. I had a case where a writer completed my dissertation and i didnt pay because my job got lost. I had turned in the paper. The writer now threatens me . I TOLD him i will pay in march next year.
ukbuswriter, how is it that you took that action for the two student? Did they try to explain?
i am worried.........why arent writers understanding.
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| pheelyks |
Writer |
Nov 15, 11, 09:17AM
| #20 |
Joined: Jan 20, 09
Threads: 8
Posts: 3,436
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good student: why arent writers understanding.
Because f*ck you, that's why. You expect your writer to wait until March for payment on work they've already completed? Would you do that? What if your school took your tuition money and then said, "we don't actually have a spot for you now, but we swear we'll have on in March, just chill out"? You'd probably be a little pissed off.
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| ineedawriter |
Student |
Nov 25, 11, 01:54PM
| #21 |
Joined: Nov 25, 11
Threads: 2
Posts: 31
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hi uk business writer,
can you please get back to me? need you to hlp me write my essays....specify uk degree standard...
looking forward in working with you.
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| queen sheba |
Observer |
Yesterday, 07:35PM
| #22 |
Joined: Jan 29, 12
Threads: 8
Posts: 57
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Clearly, those students DID SUBMIT their essays for grading. Good that they were busted. Now, where the hell is this ****** WB????. Can her arguments that students don't submit their works as their own stand?
Just check that against what i said here http://www.essayscam.org/Forum/12/queen-sheba-vs-writersbeware-dismantling- wbs-all-american-students-3041/
i guess those two students were Americans.
WB?
Once more, i win an argument by submitting verifiable facts, not resorting to meaningless hypothesis like WB
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| WritersBeware |
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Yesterday, 09:02PM
| #23 |
Joined: Apr 19, 07
Threads: 144
Posts: 8,395
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queen sheba: Can her arguments that students don't submit their works as their own stand?
Hey, too bad I never stated any such thing, hah? F*cking idiot . . . .
I have submitted the only verifiable facts in the form of Federal lawsuit documents. You have posted message board hearsay.
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| queen sheba |
Observer |
Yesterday, 09:47PM
| #24 |
Joined: Jan 29, 12
Threads: 8
Posts: 57
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WritersBeware: Hey, too bad I never stated any such thing, hah? F*cking idiot . . . .I have submitted the only verifiable facts in the form of Federal lawsuit documents. You have posted message board hearsay.
Look, clueless chump.
The guy up there completed TWO essay for TWO students and the TWO student did submit them as their own.
Mathematically, 2/2*100= 100%
The conclusion is simple 100% of the students who buy essays turn them in as their own.
i am willing to offer you mathematics 101, vacuous nincompoop.
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| WritersBeware |
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Yesterday, 09:55PM
| #25 |
Joined: Apr 19, 07
Threads: 144
Posts: 8,395
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Do you understand what "hearsay" means? Clearly, you don't. Regardless, allow me to play devil's advocate by accepting that your "evidence" carries as much weight as my Federal lawsuit evidence and acknowledge that 2 students bought papers and 2 students cheated. I must then refer to your previous posts in which you claim that my Federal lawsuit evidence consisting of 8 students (only 1 of whom cheated) does not constitute a sufficient sample size. So, in which way would you like to lose this debate? You choose.
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| queen sheba |
Observer |
Edited by: queen sheba Today, 01:03AM
| #26 |
Joined: Jan 29, 12
Threads: 8
Posts: 57
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WritersBeware: Do you understand what "hearsay" means? Clearly, you don't. Regardless, allow me to play devil's advocate by accepting that your "evidence" carries as much weight as my Federal lawsuit evidence and acknowledge that 2 students bought papers and 2 students cheated. I must then refer to your previous posts in which you claim that my Federal lawsuit evidence consisting of 8 students (only 1 of whom cheated) does not constitute a sufficient sample size. So, in which way would you like to lose this debate? You choose.
ha ha ha ha ha.....let me tell you something about statistics that you don't know about: Some small samples carry MUCH MORE WEIGHT and credibility than bigger samples. Look: i assume the guy was defrauded around 2010 implying that my data is more credible as it is the latest. Your data was too old to support formulation of any credible opinion/conclusions.
We rely on the LATEST data to form opinions.
So, are you ready to lose this debate?. And in what way?.
I have provided credible and irrefutable evidence to support my assertions and i hope from this moment on, all members will consider all opinions i formulate to be based on factual information. Still, i don't have all the time to present evidence to support my arguments especially when the opinions i formulate are too obvious as to necessitate the exclusion of supportive data.
After all, i am an 'insider' in the academic field
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