Analysis of Focus Group on Public Relations in Political Campaigns

This report presents the minutes and key highlights from a focus group discussion centered on public relations in politics, with a specific emphasis on the roles of both traditional and digital media. The discussion primarily uses Barack Obama's 2008 US presidential campaign as a case study, examining how media influenced its public relations strategy. The group explored general public relations theories, viewing reputation as a critical factor. The discussion compared marketing strategies in business and political campaigns, highlighting the importance of appealing to public emotions and acceptance. The report details the evolution of communication methods, from traditional media to the rise of social media platforms like Google Blogger and Facebook during the 2008 campaign. It then examines the key aspects of political public relations, including managing relationships with the public and reputation management, particularly online. The report also addresses the importance of engaging stakeholders and identifies different types of publics. Overall, the report emphasizes the crucial role of social media and the internet in contemporary political public relations, recommending a focus on online marketing, social media marketing, online reputation management, and their integration within the broader context of political communication.

Minutes from the focus group discussion.
This is a documentation of the minutes and key highlights from the focus group
discussion on the topic of Public relations in politics and the role of media, both traditional and
digital. The common theme underlying the focus group discussion was Barack Obama’s 2008
US presidential campaign and how that was significantly influenced by the use of media in its
public relations campaign.
The first aspect that was discussed in relation to the issue in question was the theories and
understanding of public relations in general. The UK chartered institute of public relations
defined reputation as the key factor behind public relations. The aspect of public relations was
also discussed from the viewpoint of marketing, the field where managing public relations is
identified as a significant part of promotion. It was discussed that marketing strategies in
business and the promotional aspects of a political campaign are not much different from each
other as both incorporate appealing to the emotions and feelings as well as acceptance of the
public in order to become successful.
In both marketing and public relations, the public is given the highest form of importance
as the chief stakeholder in consideration. The same way hat the public is responsible for the
successful turnover of a particular business, the same way they are also responsible for the
success or failure of a political campaign. In a political campaign, the chief goal and objective of
the politician is not only victory but also how well the victory suits the public demands and in
what ways those demands can be fulfilled so that a positive image can be managed. Therefore, in
all essence, a political public relations campaign is a marketing policy cum strategy.
While in the field of marketing, management of public relations is focused on a particular
brand, product or service, the politician in a political campaign is usually ‘sold’ as the product to
the public. He only difference is that the public will not have direct access to the product in a
political campaign. This is the aspect where the contemporary marketing strategies come into
play where the modernized means of communication play a crucial role in identifying where the
gaps in communication lie that need to be filled in order to make a successful campaign. The
traditional means of political communication included the newspaper, magazines, journals and
articles and through the use of then contemporary electronic media like the radio and the
television. Present day communications means are vast, therefore there is and will be further
future innovations in the field of communication that will make accessing the public easier. In

Minutes from the focus group discussion.
2008, when Obama ran for his first political PR campaign, there were already various social
media sites that were gaining huge popularity very fast. At the top of the carts there were Google
Blogger and facebook with both over 200 million global users at that time. They were followed
by sites like orkut, myspace, flickr, linkedin etc. While not a true global social media experience,
the use of sms was also considered to be a quick and efficient form of communication. Obama’s
campaign used almost all of them as well as set up one of their own. Their sms update service
was phenomenally significant in drawing in a large number of volunteers.
There are several aspectual underpinnings of political public relations. It can be easily
assumed that the aspect of managing a cordial and beneficial relationship with the public will be
one of significance. However, the most crucial aspect of political public relations, apart from
reaching out to the public and informing them of the various changes that a particular politician
is about to bring to their lives or the various goals and objectives of the candidate, is the aspect of
reputation management. Reputation management is an aspect that has been given sufficient
importance, care and attention in order to emphasise its value. In the current context where the
internet is the singular dominating form of connectivity, online reputation management has seen
vital importance as well as development. The internet has been instrumental in connecting the
people of the world, but at the same time has become a dumping ground for valuable
information. This entails that for a politician of a global repute, managing a positive impact
becomes directly relevant with the success of his campaign.
Engaging the stakeholders also becomes an important factor in political PR. One of the
key stakeholders in a political PR is the public, and therefore, identification of the public
becomes another key aspect for the promotion and the campaign to be success. There are a few
distinct styles of publics that are identified. The four main types of public namely active, aware,
latent and non-public are identified based on the roles they play in the political campaign as
enforcers of action after identifying a key aspect of problem that there is.
Going back to online reputation management for a political PR and connecting it with the
publics, we find that the second most significant influence falls upon the public, or more
commonly the stakeholders of the campaign. There are ways in which reputation can be ruined
as well as there are ways it can be upheld. In a world where social media posts are almost
unfiltered, it becomes very easy to target a person through a post on the internet and by the time

Minutes from the focus group discussion.
the harmful nature of the post is identified and mitigated, the damage to the reputation will be
done. Similarly, through highlighting the positive aspects of the campaign and the candidate, the
online reputation can be managed. Social media marketing becomes an important area of study
here in this point.
Overall, the fact remains that in the current context, political public relations will be
incomplete without the incorporation of social media and the internet in its approaches.
Therefore, the areas that we must focus on is the study of online marketing policies and
practices along with social media marketing and ORM and connecting them with the higher
picture of political communication and public relations.