Campaigning for the Presidency
Sorry! Oops!1
Rick Perry and Communication Strategies
in American Presidential Campaigns
By Sune Tønner Nielsen
Supervisor: Mads Clausen
Aarhus University – Business and Social Sciences - March, 2012
Master Thesis – Cand. Ling. Merc. English, PR & IMC
The title is a reference to an utterance by Rick Perry following a stumble during a debate – The image is from the
debate at the moment of the stumble.
1
Summary
Rick Perry’s 6 months long presidential campaign is the object of analysis in this thesis. The
objective is to evaluate the use of communication strategies as well as give an example of how to
develop a political campaign in the U.S. by using theory from the market place. Firstly, the subject
is introduced which includes politics in the U.S. with special focus on the communicative aspects.
Rick Perry is mentioned as the example that the thesis will revolve around. Barack Obama and his
successful presidential campaign is the model used to compare to Perry’s unsuccessful campaign.
The problem statement asks the question “what communication strategies are
particularly effective when campaigning for the presidency of the US?” In order to answer this
question it is necessary to first mention the environment in which it is taking place. The
environment is politics in the U.S. Next is to mention theory on effective communication strategies
and how they are implemented in a contemporary political campaign. The other question in the
problem statement is “what mistakes were made in Rick Perry’s presidential campaign since he
could go from being a favorite to win to being the loser of the primaries?” This question is
answered by analyzing Perry’s campaign and comparing it to Obama’s campaign.
Once the subject and problem statement is introduced, the structure, use of theory and
empirical data, methodology, and delimitation are mentioned to give an overview of what is to
come.
This next section of the thesis explains the environment in which Perry’s campaign is
taking place. It is a very helpful section in that it provides the thesis with knowledge necessary in
order to process the following sections. First is an introduction to the subject of politics in the U.S.
Then the subject of running a political campaign in the U.S. is mentioned. The last two sections
explain what the ballot is and the complex issue of the American voter.
The following section is about communication strategies. First is an introduction to
the subject which is mostly theoretical but also contain key observations that are of benefit to
communication strategists. The communication strategies are in the genres of political
communication, public relations and political PR. First, political communication is defined. In
addition, the different factors that influence this communication, such as the context, are mentioned.
Also, the new technological ways of communicating in politics are mentioned. The discussion goes
on to mention the media and particularly the Internet and its influence on the public. Also how some
media may be bias towards a political party. In addition, the subjects of mass media and social
media are mentioned. Finally, the definition of public relations and its subgenre political PR is
mentioned.
Next, excerpts of the campaigns of President Barack Obama and Governor Rick Perry
are mentioned. Obama’s campaign is told chronologically from start to end of his presidential run.
Rick Perry’s case is a mention of his past gubernatorial work, his affiliation with the Tea Party, the
electorate he is pursuing, his top strategist Dave Carney, and finally his use of social media, which
is then analyzed.
The final section before the conclusion is build up to view Perry as a brand. This
section is an analysis and evaluation of Perry’s campaign in the primaries. It also provides with an
example of how to develop communication strategies by using theory from branding in advertising
and campaign management in the business world. This is all compared to Obama’s campaign for
the purpose of making a comparison between a successful campaign opposite an unsuccessful
campaign. It joins the different sections of the thesis together and give an answer to how branding
can be implemented in political communication. The analysis includes how to develop a strategic
plan with particular focus on the development of communication strategies.
Finally, the conclusion sums up the findings in the analysis and answers the questions
in the problem statement. It was determined that despite an otherwise well planned and executed
campaign, Rick Perry himself and his inadequacies as a debater was to blame for the ultimate
demise of his presidential bid.
Abstract
Campaigning for the presidency of the United States is a massive undertaking. It includes a
comprehensive strategic plan, which is planned well in advance of announcing a politician’s
candidacy to become the next president. This strategic plan includes communication strategies,
which are developed by campaign strategists. These strategists will try to shape the candidate into a
role, which is similar to a brand or product. In the market place there is a way to develop a strategic
plan. It starts with selecting a target audience as well as understanding target audience decision
making. Next, is to determine the best positioning in order to initiate the campaign at a favourable
vantage point. Then, it is possible to develop a communication strategy. Finally, a media strategy
based on the communication strategy can be set.
All contemporary presidential campaigns go through this process. What is of interest
to campaign managers is how to make a candidate achieve a positive brand attitude and to achieve
awareness of his presence in the election. There is a lot of risk involved in trying to achieve these
goals. The challenge for campaign managers is to select the right communication strategies in order
to create the best chances for their candidate.
This thesis explores Texas Governor Rick Perry’s 6 months long campaign during the
2012 primaries. The unsuccessful campaign will be compared to President Obama’s successful
campaign in 2008 for the purpose of establishing where Perry may have made mistakes.
The objective of the thesis is to demonstrate that the theory learned in the different
courses during the master’s program can be used to analyze a comprehensive campaign filled with
communicative challenges. This especially concerns acquired skills within the context of
international market communication as well as public relations.
In order to demonstrate these skills, the question of what communication strategies are
particularly effective when campaigning will be answered. The comparison will help to establish
what mistakes Rick Perry made that caused his eventual demise in the primaries.
Ultimately, the conclusions of the thesis can be used to understand what
communication strategies to focus on when campaigning. The analysis of the campaign not only
provides an evaluation of Rick Perry’s campaign but also a method for developing a strategic plan
for a campaign.
Number of characters: 149,053
Number of normal pages: 67,726
Table of Contents
Page(s)
Abstract
1. Introduction
1.1 Problem statement
1-3
4-5
1.2 Structure
5
1.3 Theory
6
1.4 Empirical data
6
1.5 Methodology
7
1.6 Delimitation
2. Politics in the United States
2.1 Political Campaign in the United States
7-8
8-9
9-11
2.2 The Ballot
11-12
2.3 The Voter
12-14
3. Communication Strategies
3.1 Political Communication
14-15
15-18
3.1.1 Definition of Political Communication
15-16
3.1.2 Political Communication and its Context
16-17
3.1.3 Political Communication on the Internet
17-18
3.2 The media
18-19
3.2.1 Media Political Bias
19-21
3.2.2 Mass Media
21-22
3.2.3 Social Media
22-24
3.3 Public Relations
3.3.1 Definition of Public Relations
3.3.2 Political PR
4. Cases
24-25
24
24-25
25-26
4.1 Barack Hussein Obama
26-27
4.1.1 The Campaign
27-36
4.1.2 Epilogue
4.2 James Richard ‘Rick’ Perry
4.2.1 Gubernatorial campaigns
4.2.2 Donations and favours
36
36-37
37
37-39
4.2.3 Moving Forward
39-40
4.2.4 Tea Party connection
40-41
4.2.5 The Electorate
41-42
4.2.6 Dave Carney and the Eggheads
42-44
4.2.7 Social media updates in the primaries
44-46
4.2.8 Analysis of ‘tweets’ and Facebook updates
46-49
5. Rick Perry as a brand - evaluation and analysis of campaign
49
5.1 Creating a Positive Brand Attitude
50-51
5.2 Developing the Strategic Plan
51-52
5.2.1 Selecting the Target Audience
52-53
5.2.2 Understanding Target Audience Decision Making
53-54
5.2.3 Determining the Best Positioning
54-55
5.2.4 Developing a Communication Strategy
56
5.2.4.1 Category Need
56
5.2.4.2 Brand Purchase Intention
57
5.2.4.3 Brand Awareness Strategy
57-58
5.2.4.4 Brand Attitude Strategy
58-60
5.2.4.5 Cognitive and Affective Components of Brand Attitude
60-61
5.2.4.6 Motivation and Involvement
61-64
5.2.5 Setting a Media Strategy
5.3 Chapter summary
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography
7.1 Books
7.2 E-books
7.3 Websites
64-65
66-67
67-69
70
70-72
72
72-76