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The development of a marketing plan assumes a reflection prior to a product, its market potential and the tools available and to create, with a goal: to facilitate product information and membership of the market, in time the shortest and the most impactante, at the best price if possible.
This means that the input current presidential campaign does not match this pattern ideal, if only because the product (the candidate, his program) is alive and constructed as to the progress towards the 'election.
It did not for three other reasons: Internet technologies are emerging, still experimental, is not the Internet, unlike traditional media, controlled by a few and finally, the political class phenomenon generation, discovered just this new world.
The technical marketing on the internet, by youth and by necessity, akin to the guerrillas. They are of movement, flexibility, adaptation to the terrain, beatings carried out by small decentralized and autonomous.
A national political campaign, led by or with a party, is more akin to traditional warfare, made of frontal troops large scale movements, which are necessarily slower.
Techniques not being net net
The current campaign is the first in France to be used in support of traditional techniques, marketing Internet, which has made its first evidence in the United States during the 2004 presidential.
What do we see? A mixture of old techniques, tested with traditional media, reassuring for teams of candidates, and new technologies.
In the old techniques, of course, buying space comes first. I do not know the figures, but from the look of the team of Nicolas Sarkozy is the one that has the most heavily invested in the purchase of keywords. Impact? Very average, from my point of view: the emergence of a strip "Sarkozy" on a dedicated website or referring to the suburbs and even the candidate (on a blog which is contrary to him), is not necessarily likely to cause the accession of a player, provided he has spotted the banner.
Another old technique: the proliferation of sites or blogs "official" parties and their regional branches. Platelets corporate, Decorated with pictures, audio or video clips, centralizing these devices are required, but relatively infrequently.
Third technique: flatter and buy bloggers identified as "influential" in the same manner as are privileged number of journalists. Thus, at the end of the summer, several parties have invited some bloggers to attend seminars or meetings. Some, out of politeness, pride in being recognized by taste of the information, others by servility or cynicism, went along. Links have been established, networks were built.
But overall, it is likely that the impact of these operations is poor PR, a number of bloggers giving their freedom a price higher than some petits fours.
The novelty coming from elsewhere. It is not necessarily ragoûtante. Just as there is no good literature with good feelings there on the net, as elsewhere, a premium vilification, as rightly noted Thierry Crouzet The fifth power.
The viral allow a repeat, without a lot of effort, the impact of a message, especially if it is destructive, some campaign teams have worked so hard to mount dirty tricks, as they did during previous campaigns.
But this time, the Internet has become the main vehicle rumors, denunciation and video montages polemics, intended to destroy opponents. On several occasions, they, as you tour of the blogosphere, have acquired a "legitimacy" they earned to be taken by traditional media. We are far from any netiquette.
The real news of the campaign
The most interesting and most truly innovative in this campaign will remain the speech by citizens.
It took two forms: the first was prompted by Segolene Royal, the second, no less interesting and perhaps lasting, is the spontaneous generation.
With Wishes for the Future, Royal has risen workbooks of grievances, the speech of the public about their problems and, to a lesser extent, the solutions they recommend. Much has been glosses on this technique, sometimes described as a populist, demagogic, marketing operation, mesto on a wooden leg, cache-misery, sometimes by spontaneous and truly unprecedented.
In any event, it marked a break with an unambiguous political practice, pyramid, from top to bottom, a call to bring air from the bottom up. This will remain.
It will take time for the world of politics can really finely analyze, draw conclusions, metamorphosed into action what can be made of all contributions to this type of solicitation. But there is, in any event, could well contribute to the regeneration of democracy,
This track has been simultaneously for the first time explored by individuals or groups who have made, in the margins of politics, so most often crafted, political analysis, societal or proposals for action.
These sites or blogs, born out marketing, more or less participatory, as the Other Campaign, Imagine 2012 or other, complemented by the emergence of networks, more or less informal, like the Freemen, no doubt continue to work after the presidential elections.
If civil society vocation or no capacity to replace the parties, such initiatives will multiply and eventually may be a breeding ground for which will be rejuvenated professional politicians.
Overall, the techniques of the Internet have sunny days ahead. While there is no doubt that they will take their full effect by 2012. We can hope that the share of marketing, mostly inspired by the old world, not only stifles the true creativity.
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