Introduction

Public relation is a vital component in any political endeavour. The various attributes of public relations are phenomenal in the realization of the anticipated political visions and missions. Politicians, political parties and electorates are bound together by the various distinctive features of public relations. For politicians to be able to pass across their agendas to the public, better strategies ought to be undertaken. Politicians and political parties need to uphold their reputation to the public in order to maintain their popularity and ensure direct selection during the election periods. Personalities and parties that seek for positions do so because of various reasons. The major reasons for such efforts include re-election in cases of political incumbents and fresh election in the case of new political entrants. Therefore, for the politicians and political parties to acquire an upper hand in the public domain, certain prevailing conditions need to be realized. For instance, an effective communication and management practice need to be put in place. The communication practices help to uphold the reputation of the candidate or the party by mobilising people to join in due to the various benefits that are accrued and associated with the process. Through efficient communication procedures and practices, the target public group will be convinced by the embedded message hence the positive reaction. Through such convictions, the electorate will be able to elect a certain personality or party with ease. Strategic filtering, dissemination and evaluating the client’s information about the politician is essential in bringing about increased levels of reputation. Politicians and political parties will always conflict amongst themselves so as to improve and otherwise maintain their brand reputation. A strategic and tactical strategy needs to be adopted by the politicians in order to maintain reputation to the public and further discourage their prospective competitors. This gesture will be instrumental enough in rebuilding the trust and confidence of voters.

In this paper, my client is a political candidate who is seeking a brand reputation proposal. The paper is meant to provide sound and strategic communication practice that is essential to upholding the reputation of my client. The paper will lengthily examine the SMART communication objectives that are relevant to my client. Additionally, the essay will explore a certain strategic communication plan that will be instrumental to the client in a bid to seek public recognition and hence ability to be voted in. The various communication strategies that the client may adopt will be discussed too. The essay will coincide the strategic plan of the client with his communication techniques with an aim of increasing his reputation. The essay will describe the various mechanisms that the client may adopt in order to protect and maintain his brand reputation to the public. Further on, the paper will provide vivid evidence that depict the significance and workability of the anticipated reputation mechanism. The ability of my client to express himself in writing by the use of a certain appropriate style will be fully expounded in this piece of work.

Improving the Client’s Communication Management Practice

Communication is a vital component in relying on political decisions, visions and strategies between the concerned parties. The ability of the organization to learn will ultimately affect its effectiveness (Stromback & Kiousis 2011). Therefore, the adoption of a sound communication strategy is phenomenal in conveying political messages from the political parties, candidates or political incumbents. The three groups always aim to convince the public of their credibility and worthiness as far as politics is concerned. Like a political candidate, my client will require a thorough communication strategy that will enhance his communication skills, plan and tactics. The three attributes of communication are vital in upholding his reputation and convincing power. Observing the fundamentals of communication such as audits, planning and evaluation will be important facilitating the communication processes of my client. The candidate will be obliged by circumstances to review the existing gaps of communication with the electorate. This phenomenon is referred to as communication audit, and its main aim is to bridge the gap between the parties involved. The evaluation of communication entails the process in which the outcomes of the communication process are highlighted with regard to the specific communication plan. My client will require to initiate the process of communication planning by upholding the SMART communication methods. The specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely communication methods are paramount to each and every political personality. Upholding specific and clear objectives for communication will be essential in ensuring a sound interaction between the candidate and the voter. The ability of the client to measure the levels of conviction by the voters is equally important in binding the two parties together. The objectives, in this case, are met, and further the reputation of the candidate in the public domain increased. The ability of the communication strategy to overcome the existing limitations and barriers ensures that the information from the candidate is passed on swiftly to the electorate who will be ultimately convinced. The realistic communication may be depicted by the failure of the opponent’s communication to reach and convince the electorate as anticipated. The communication strategy ought to be time bound in order to facilitate the dissemination of information from the candidate to the voters. Strict timelines need to be adhered to since the campaigns periods have time limits. Additionally, the aspect of time frame is essential to reducing the influence of other prospective candidates thereby keeping them at bay.   The communication and the information should be formulated in such a way that they command higher levels of acceptance from the target audience. In such a context, the reputation of the candidate is bound to the acceptance rate of the voters. By accepting the candidature’s manifesto and visions, the reputation of my client will be upheld.

Drawing up a strategic communications plan will be essential for ensuring that my client get the best and the highest number of votes from the electorate. The plan must embrace the target audience (voters), the message to be conveyed, proper timing, desired results and the channel through which it will take place. My client is a senatorial aspirant hence the target audience is the voters in that state. The manifesto of the client is the message to be conveyed. The message, in this case, could be conveyed through the traditional or audio visual tools (Maarek 2011). The communication plan, in this case, will include the use of traditional tools, audio-visual tools, partisan and non-partisan press. Effective application of the plan will result in higher voting levels and hence the realization of the stated objectives. Traditional tools are face-to-face contact, grass-root campaigning, creating special relationships with the main contributors. The grass-root campaigning process should be initiated and carried out by the aspirant and his local campaign teams. The local members of the campaign teams should engage in face -to-face verbal communication with the voters to convince them. The maintenance of a special relationship with contributors may involve the inclusion of wealth donors and prestigious supporters. This will be achieved through various confessions by the candidates about some of the support that he receives from prominent personalities in the region such as football icons and basketball players. To further address this issue, the use of donors is highly emphasized. The donors will offer significant wealth and contributions to the candidate and further increase his reputation among the people. The affordability of a large fleet of cars and use of private plane will help in materializing the endeavours and prospects of my client.

The use of audio-visual tools for campaigns is another communication strategy that might positively affect the campaign processes to seek full support and election of my client. The effective use of the audio visual tools such as television has proved successful in various political campaigns over time. The accessibility and availability of the tool to reach many homesteads and households is another factor that contributes to the success of the audio-visual pathways for the campaign. The engagement in political debates with fellow competitors is aired live on different television stations. Therefore, a thorough preparation for the debate ensures that the candidate will be able to largely convince the voters by getting laid of any bias and incredibility issues. The use of television debates tends to scare away the political incumbents whose performance in various economic and political scenes has been questioned. The client should, therefore, make maximum use of the available debate time to fully convince the voters of their manifestos, long and short term plans. The use of radio can also facilitate the process of political marketing. The use of radios is convenient in political marketing as it facilitates the dissemination of vital information about the candidate’s agenda and manifesto capabilities. The use of audio-visual sources ought to be critically analysed due to the various short-comings that are related to it. For instance, there may be some delays in disseminating vital information about the candidature of my client thereby giving a chance for the fellow competitors to thrive.

The non-verbal communication is another strategy that might be embarked on to improve the political marketability of any prospective candidate. In this context, special attention is given to the physical appearance, gestures and the vocal attributes of the candidate. The strategy involves the use of appealing images and portraits of the contesting fellows with clear and straightforward tips about their manifestos. The television appearance of the candidate should be emphasized because it results in positive and negative consequences for the viewers. Additionally, the clarity of voice and speech in the audio-visual set-up is essential in relying on the intended information and also in convincing the voter to vote in his favour. The use of appropriate gestures by the political aspirant increases his ability to convince and rule voters on his side.

Another vital communication strategy that can be adopted by a prospective candidate is the use of unidirectional tools. In this case, the press and printed matter play a great role in conveying the aspirant’s message to the voter. The press in this scenario might be partisan or non-partisan (Maarek 2011). The non-partisan press is essentially vital in upholding better communication about the candidate since they are not linked to any political party. The use of magazines and newspapers to convince voters has been used for some time. Through the use of such communication strategies, the voter will ultimately be convinced, and his decision about the candidate will be tilted. Through such strategies, the voter conviction rates are upheld; hence the candidate amasses large numbers of votes against his competitors.

Improving and Protecting Brand Reputation

Conclusion

Works Cited

Stromback, J., & Kiousis, S. (Eds.). (2011). Political public relations: principles and applications. Taylor & Francis.

Maarek, P. J. (2011). Campaign Communication and Political Marketing. New York, NY, John Wiley & Sons. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-201412028547.

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