By Lolu Akinwunmi
With this tenth and final edition, we conclude our special series on Building the Political Brand. Our objective has been clear: to encourage a more strategic, professional, responsible and citizen-centred approach to political communication.
Too often, political campaigns are dominated by personalities, slogans, propaganda, attacks and the pursuit of visibility. Yet effective political communication should help citizens understand who seeks to lead them, what they stand for, what they offer and why they deserve public trust.
Throughout the previous nine editions, we have explored the principles of political branding, positioning, messaging, voter understanding, storytelling, consistency and reputation management, drawing lessons from campaigns across different countries.
Our central argument is simple: Political communication must go beyond winning attention. It must build understanding, establish credibility and earn trust.
As we conclude MSS-9, one question brings everything together:
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What meaning are we building in the voter’s mind?
This is important because:
Activity is not strategy
Visibility is not positioning
A slogan is not a proposition
Communication is not necessarily persuasion.
A political candidate is not a commercial product, but can be understood as a brand around which citizens form perceptions, expectations and judgements. Being famous is not enough. What are you known for? What do citizens associate with your name? Let us revisit the essential lessons:
1. POSITIONING: What Does The Candidate Stand For?
A candidate cannot represent everything simultaneously. Effective communication requires a central organising idea. Margaret Thatcher became associated with markets and national strength. Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign emphasised hope and change. Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign focused on economic concerns and putting people first. Different personalities and politics, but each had identifiable positioning. Voters should understand what a candidate represents.
2. PROPOSITION: What Is The Candidate Offering?
What problems will the candidate address? What solutions are proposed? Why should citizens believe the promises? A catchy slogan attracts attention. A meaningful proposition gives the slogan substance. Strategy must precede creative expression, not follow it.
3. MESSAGE: Can The Candidate’s Message Be Understood?
Campaigns often communicate too many messages. Every speech introduces another promise. Every spokesperson emphasises something different. Eventually, there is plenty of communication but little clarity. A campaign needs one central message connecting its policies and activities.
4. LISTENING: Does The Candidate Understand What The People Want?
Effective political communication begins with listening, not speaking.
Listen. Engage. Organise.
Understand citizens’ concerns, frustrations, aspirations and expectations before deciding what to communicate. You cannot communicate effectively with people you do not understand.
5. RELEVANCE: Is The Candidate’s Messaging Relevant?
Governments and candidates love statistics:
Roads constructed.
Investments attracted.
Schools built.
Jobs created.
But citizens ask a simpler question: So what?
Who benefited?
What changed?
How did the policy improve people’s lives?
This is the difference between outputs and outcomes. People don’t live inside statistics. They live with the consequences of government decisions.
6. AUTHENTIC STORIES: Who Is This Candidate?
Policies explain what candidates propose. Stories reveal the people behind those proposals. Personal experiences, values and authentic encounters reveal character and create emotional connection. But authenticity cannot be manufactured. Good political storytelling should reveal the truth, not invent it.
7. CONSISTENCY: Does Everything Fit?
Consistency is not repeating identical words everywhere. It is ensuring that every communication strengthens the central message. Advertising, speeches, interviews, social media, spokespersons and the candidate’s behaviour must reinforce the same political identity. What you say must match what you do.
8. REPUTATION: Who Defines the Candidate?
Opponents will attack. Misinformation may spread. Mistakes and crises will occur. Campaigns must correct falsehoods, provide evidence and accept responsibility when necessary. But responding to every provocation can surrender control of the campaign’s agenda. Don’t let your opponent control your story. A political brand must be defined by what it stands for, not merely by what it opposes.
9. TRUST: The Ultimate Test
Everything ultimately comes down to Trust:
Strategy establishes positioning.
Advertising creates awareness.
Storytelling builds emotional connection.
Consistency strengthens recognition.
But Trust requires more.
Trust is earned when four things align:
Words
Supporting Evidence
Behaviour
Experience
When these reinforce one another, credibility grows. When they contradict one another, communication loses its power. No amount of advertising can permanently compensate for conduct that undermines promises. Trust must be earned, not merely requested.
BEYOND WINNING ELECTIONS…
Winning an election is not the end of political communication. It marks the beginning of a different responsibility. Campaign promises must become measurable commitments, political messaging must give way to transparent communication of policies and results, and citizens must remain central to the conversation. The credibility established during a campaign must be sustained through performance, accountability and honest engagement. Ultimately, good governance is the strongest validation of a political brand.
Political communication should do more than help candidates compete for office. It should help citizens understand their choices, evaluate promises, examine evidence and appreciate how policies might affect their lives. Meaningful political communication should leave voters understanding five things:
Who is the candidate?
What does he/she stand for?
What is he/she offering the people?
Why does this matter?
Why should the people believe the candidate?
The objective of an effective political campaign is not simply to communicate more, but to communicate with clarity, relevance, consistency and credibility. However, winning an election is only the beginning. The real test comes when campaign promises must be translated into policies, measurable results and improvements in citizens’ lives.
Ultimately, political communication must move beyond winning elections to earning public trust, demonstrating accountability and strengthening democracy. Good governance is the ultimate proof of a credible political brand.
’Lolu Akinwunmi
Publisher, The MarCom Strategic Series (MSS)
lakinwunmi@primagarnetafrica.com
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