INTRODUCTION

Democracies in modern era are mainly based on elections, and politicians at different levels need to convince their target audiences to vote for them to reach the seats. Almost in every election in every part of the world, electoral campaign is the central place that the candidate, its party and the supporters share and coordinate their efforts. Considering the money and number of people involved in every election, campaigns are one of the most important marketing gatherings that in a specific and almost short period of time, communicate immensely with the big portions of public to convince a large number of people with their messages. Huge investments of parties and supporters make elections the arena for a huge marketing campaign and therefore, understanding how to be successful is a much-demanded knowledge that candidates and parties seek to find through the political marketing experts, campaign strategists, media managers, etc.

As an example, the controversial 2020 US election has been recognized as the costliest election in the history of the country, setting a new record for spending for political propaganda and large portion of this money was spent on social media. The total cost of this election is estimated at about $14 billion. It has been said that Biden campaign spent $1 billion and $63 million on the campaign from April 1, 2019 to November 23, 2020, to defeat his inner-party rivals, such as Bernie Sanders and then-rival Donald Trump. Biden was able to win with about 81.271.000 votes. With that in mind, the campaign for the next president has cost more than $13 per vote (www.baratnews.com). In another example, The UK’s snap 2017 General Election cost a total of $262 million according to Politico, which is just $2 million less than the 2016 referendum cost. In fact, during referendums in the UK, there are fairly stringent spending rules, which put $13 million limits on both the Vote Leave and Britain Stronger parties. The country’s 2015 election that saw David Cameron win the majority for Conservatives was a little less costly. The total paid from the UK Government’s Consolidated Fund for the costs of the 2015 UK Parliamentary general election was $214 million. German political candidates are only allowed one TV ad, which means for the major parties, the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) and the SPD (Social Democratic Party), that’s eight times on each channel over the course of the campaign. Angela Merkel secured a fourth term as a German chancellor in the country’s September 2017 election, despite being the CDU’s worst electoral performance since 1949. The election cost a total of $148 million, which is miniscule in comparison to the US (Yahoo finance). Many scholars agree that campaigns and political communications influence individual voting behavior and election results (^{Ansolabehere & Iyengar, 1995}; ^{Bartels, 1996}; ^{Popkin & Kinsey, 1991}; ^{Zaller, 1992}, 1996). Therefore, the study of the communication regime of election campaigns has been a serious issue in many studies (^{Semetko & Tworzecki, 2017}).

Due to the importance of electoral campaign from financial, political and social aspects as well as its effect on the future of countries and societies, exploring the elements of a successful electoral campaign is very essential, and setting media strategy to effectively convey the message to the audiences is the key point. This research addresses the media strategy in the electoral campaigns and to do this, Iranian presidential elections in the last twenty years as well as two last parliamentary elections were studied. In Iran, members of the parliament, as well as the president, are elected by direct popular vote. During the particular days, the candidates and their supporters are authorized to launch campaigns and spend huge amounts of money to attract the voters. Significant financial, human, physical, and energy costs have been spent on these campaigns over the years, both in terms of the economic prosperity they create for some jobs and the enthusiasm they create among the candidates’ supporters (^{Best et al., 2008}; ^{Marcus & MacKuen, 1993}).

At the same time, choosing the effective media mix under the communication regime of election campaigns is one of the serious challenges for the campaigners, so that, the diversity in the media coverage for elections around the world has become both a challenge and an opportunity (^{Elchahabi & Gallagher, 2015}). Before the advent of social media, the mainstream of the electoral media was the formal media (^{Owen, 2018}), but with the spread of mobile phones and the emergence of new media and communication methods (^{Delli Carpini & Williams, 2020}), a wide variety of media was created that has shaped the individual media (^{Crosbie, 2018}). Appropriate media has increased the way it conveys the message to the audience properly. Accordingly, election campaigns have to use a media mix in order to reach the diverse audience. This phenomenon is called multi-platform (^{Doyle, 2013}) and it is so important that advertisers redesign their messages to fit the appropriate media mix for their audience.

The importance of choosing an effective media mix and using a multi-platform approach in these campaigns is so great and the success or defeat of the election depends on it. The campaigns of Barack Obama in 2008 and Donald Trump in 2016 were the examples of choosing the effective media mix that led to their success. Since previous studies have shown that a significant part of the election campaign in Iran is carried out regardless of the appropriate media mix and only with the previous experiences of the campaign agents, the eficiency of such efforts and the effectiveness of expenditures and resources are undermined as a result. Considering the above mentioned, this research seeks to identify a framework for appropriate media mix for electoral campaigns and to answer the question of ‘How to effectively compose media mix to transfer the message of electoral campaigns?’

LITERATURE REVIEW

1.2. Media mix

Digital revolution created a wide variety of media to reach the audience. While mass media and print media were the only types of media before the advent of the digital technology, the emergence of web and social media gave rise to a new type of media never experienced before. Given the prevalence of mobile phones worldwide, social media became ubiquitous and available on always-on mobile devices in every moment of time (^{Hossain, 2019}) This new revolution, second screen media, made users available for marketing purposes; therefore, it is not surprising that electoral campaigns use this type of media for their goals too. Appearance of new type of media did not extinct previous media, but co-existed and sometime accelerated them. For example (^{Khajeheian, 2011}; ^{Su & Zarea, 2020}) coined the word ‘media remediation’ for the evolution of old media toward a new media by the use of new technology to survive. For example, radio remediated toward podcasts to use internet for reaching the listeners.

Faced with such variety of media, choosing the right type is a challenge for marketers as well as campaign managers. To organize different types of media for research and practical uses, ^{Capizzo and Regina (2019)} proposed a typology of media types known as PESO model, including Paid media, Earned media, Shared media, and Owned media. This model focuses on the strategic planning process for campaign development. Figure 1 depicts this model by representing media located in each category and the ones which are common in two or more categories.

Figure 1: PESO Model (^{Capizzo & Regina, 2019}, p. 62) 

Many research addressed the proper mix of media. For instance, ^{Aminian et al (2013)} studied the proper mix of different media to increase awareness of lung cancer patients and to promote the health. ^{Khajeheian et al. (2012)} presented a matrix of media management to manage the proper media mix.

Luttrell and ^{Capizzo (2019)} also presented a different definition of strategy and tactic in managing the media mix. According to their model, strategy is about complimentary channel selection and how to support objectives through complementary channels to convey messages to different audiences (p.58). On the other hand, tactics focus on the effective transmission of messages to “create a memorable campaign-wide and audience-specific message” (p.58) and should reflect audiences, timeline, budget, messaging and team expertise (p.59). A wide range of strategies and tactics are applicable by the use of PESO. It also shows the ways in which these approaches can be combined to support the achievement of organizational and communication goals and objectives. For this reason, the present study uses this model to combine a proper mix of media to convey the campaigns’ messages to the target audiences.

METHODOLOGY

Luttrel and ^{Capizzo (2019)} proposed the ROSTIR model (Research/Diagnosis, Objectives, Strategies, Tactics, Implementation, and Reporting/Evaluation) for the public relations planning process. This model goes beyond the traditional models of public relations including R.A.C.E. (Research, Action, Communication, and Evaluation) and R.O.P.E. (Research, Objectives, Communication, Evaluation). It examines the two components of ROSTIR and PESO in order to examine in more depth the process of planning an integrated campaign to develop a strategy to achieve customer goals.

This research is an exploratory one that has sought to provide a framework of composing different media for electoral campaigns for presidential candidates to maximize the impact of the campaign’s message on the target audience and voters. Term framework implies on identifying the boundaries, the constructing factors and the basics elements of a phenomenon (^{Khajeheian, 2019}, p. 20). To this end, a qualitative approach was followed.

This study used content analysis as the method. The interviews were transcribed and then by the coding system, they were analyzed as open coding, axial coding and selective coding. MaxQDA2010 software was used for the analysis. In the first step, via open coding the key phrases of the interviews were extracted and then labeled by codes. In the next stage axial coding categorized the open coding labels into meaningful groups. Finally, selective coding created the map of meaning and built a ground to interpret the findings.

To collect the data, bibliometric analysis, interviews and content analysis were used as methods for conducting this research. In the first stage, previous materials related to the subject of electoral campaigns were collected and reviewed. These documents included oficial statements of parties and candidates made in the previous electoral campaigns, governmental instructions and policies for advertising in the periods of elections, etc. as well as the contents of advertisements, including social media campaigns and other available materials. In the next stage, in-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of practitioners who ran the previous campaigns to understand how the campaigns’ strategies were set and conducted and what special concerns had already been experienced.

Semi-structured interviews were used as the main tool for data collection. In spite of Covid-19 outbreak, many of the interviewees requested for in-person meeting, amid concerns over possible leak of their political views in digital communications; for this reason, all interviews were conducted during in-person meetings. Each interview started with an open question on the process of setting campaign’s strategy based on the experience of interviewee and how audience, message and media were chosen. Open questions allowed the respondents to freely explain their experience and describe the subjects that may not be covered in pre-set questions. After answering the open questions, the interviewer asked the questions that were left unanswered. The data collection included Iranian presidential elections from 1997 to 2021 when this study was underway. It covered all activities within the electoral campaigns. The interviews took between 40 minutes to three hours and were conducted in person, in spite of Covid-19 outbreak to prevent or decrease the level of conservatism in responses amid respondents concerns over possible date leak in digital communication.

Population of this research comprised practitioners, strategists, campaign leaders, head of electoral campaign’ headquarters and all those who participated in setting electoral campaign strategy in presidential campaigns in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 as well as parliamentary elections of 2015 and 2019. Due to the impossibility of collecting data from such a large population, sampling was inevitable. A purposive and available sampling method was used to select the sample that best conveyed the rich information and specialization. Table 1 presents the sample of this research with their code and the background. The sampling continued until it met saturation. At this point, new interviews provided no more new code. After the 12th interview the saturation was met and no new code was generated from the last 2 interviews.

Data analysis method: Thematic analysis was used for analyzing the collected data. Every interview was first transcribed and then analyzed by coding the content of interview immediately after the interview was conducted. In this approach, the output of each interview was used as the input of the next interview to create more in-depth and enriched questions. Table 2 and 3 lists samples of open and axial codes.

FINDINGS

Analysis of 12 deep interviews extracted 7 main themes, 24 organizing themes and 68 basic themes. Seven main themes included: 1) Campaign’s Structure, 2) Advertising Performance Evaluation, 3) Advertising Tools, 4) Advertising Strategies, 5) Audience Analysis, 6) Message Design Method, and 7) Message Design Features.

Figure 2: Main themes 

4.3.2 Advertising Performance Evaluation

Evaluating the performance of propaganda in campaigns indicates their effectiveness and eficiency that led to the victory in the election. In addition, it can help examine and identify the strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats, and the feasibility of capacities, activities and actions. Evaluating and measuring advertising performance can provide a roadmap to the campaigns, as well as policymakers and agents, to diagnose the failures so that they can make better decisions in similar situations in the future.

Table-5 Advertising Performance Evaluation 

4.3.4 Advertising Strategies

Advertising strategies include the methods and strategies used in the campaign to introduce the candidate and gain maximum votes for him. Based on the received themes from the interviewees of this study, the strategies are divided into two categories: traditional and modern.

Table-7 Advertising Strategies 

4.3.5 Audience Analysis

Paying attention to the audience and audience analysis leads to sending the right message, in the right period of time for the right audience and encourages a large number of audiences. Therefore, taking the needs, values, goals, background and limitations of the audiences into account can help the campaign to target the intended issues and determine the appropriate strategy.

By examining the answers of the participants in this research, 6 themes were extracted for the audience community: ethnic and religious audience, audience of guilds and groups, political audience, special audience, young audience, and urban class audience. Each of these audiences includes other concepts.

Table-8 Audience Analysis 

CONCLUSION

This article aimed to address the question of ‘How to set the effective media mix to deliver the campaign message to the voters in presidential election campaigns?’. The findings suggest the sequence of 1) selecting the target audience, 2) tailoring the message according to the selected target audiences, 3) composing a mix of media that effectively conveys the message to the target audiences.

Figure 3: Sequence of Audience, Message, Media 

In this process, the target audience selection determines the main campaign strategy. At the first glance, this is not surprising because each campaign clearly invests in its target audience and its own voting base. But we understood that in practice, campaign strategist overlooked the characteristics of the audience in strategy-making; and this negatively affected their ability to select the right combination of media to send the election message. Interviews revealed that the electoral campaigns failed to properly select the audiences, messages, and media to persuade the voters into trusting their plan. However, the gap between the audience and the message was less than the gap between the media mix and message. The analysis of the codes also showed that the gap between the media mix and the message is a major weakness of the campaigns held in the previous rounds of elections in Iran.

Analysis of the codes showed that the use of media mix in Iranian electoral campaigns was as follows:

Figure 4: Use of media mix in the sample study (Iranian electoral campaigns) 

Lack of candidates’ confidence about being qualified for the final race by the Guardian Council can be blamed for the poor performance of campaigns in setting the required strategy.

The candidates do not start campaigning before they are qualified due to the high costs. When they are authorized to compete in the final race, they need to determine the key oficials of their headquarters and then, they start setting the strategy under pressure, and they overlook some key processes due to time pressure. This is unlike the US presidential election process which takes about two years, and the campaign is designed and promoted by the head quarter with a view to presenting effective strategies and policies based on the one or few candidates. The strategists of the campaigns conduct audience analysis, message analysis, and media analysis to send the right message through the appropriate media according to its effectiveness to the intended audience. Finally, after achieving success and the desired goal, the effectiveness of the political marketing process is evaluated to identify strengths and weaknesses and use the results in the future elections.

Another explanation for the poor performance in outlining the campaign strategy lies in the decentralized structure of the campaigns that allow the branches to set their own strategy that might not be integrated with the main campaign strategy. Once the candidate qualifies and appears in final list, he or she initially appoints the head of the campaign or the policy council. The criteria are normally close relationship, trustworthiness and political awareness instead of expertise in political marketing and campaign management. Then, the deputies and the committees of the campaign are defined and other active people are engaged in the activities. In many cases these persons are not experts in the electoral campaigns either, and are mostly selected simply, because of their pervious experiences not scientific knowledge. Finally and at the bottom of the pyramid, there are field forces who are usually attracted to campaigns due to their own political orientation and the dynamic atmosphere of the campaigns. They consist of the first-time voters and the youth who perform field advertising, outdoor banner installation and other activities. Journalists and advertising activists in election campaigns are usually present in the advertising and Information deputy and its subcommittees, including speeches, cyberspace, media, etc. They usually comprise the main group of the skilled and professional individuals. This decentralized structure prevents the implementation of an integrated campaign and can be a confirmation for the findings of the study.

The findings of this study stressed that the campaign is necessary but not suficient for winning the election contest. The success of the campaign must be coupled with other factors, the most important ones including the candidate’s personal charisma, strong backing from the influential and powerful supporters, the public environment, the time available for setting and implementing campaign strategy, the performance of an election campaign and efforts to reinforce the campaign performance. Therefore, what has been addressed in this study is a part of the performance of the election campaign, which itself is part of the totality of factors influencing election success.

Figure 5: Effective factors of success in an election (source: extracted from interviews) 

Figure 6 illustrates the final model of this research. It shows how campaign structure impacts the proper formation and implementation of the campaign strategy. Then three mixes are suggested: audience mix, message mix and media mix. 1) Audience mix includes the following factors: a) Social class, literacy, wealth and educational level, b) The degree of locality of the target audience, c) Political/ ideological orientations, d) level of influence by opinion leaders and influencers, e) Economic and social concerns, f) Age groups. 2) Message mix includes a) Ease of memorization of key topics, b) Being operational and measurable, c) Emotionally effective, d) Message proximity (level of locality), e) Ease of understanding (simplicity), f) Culturally fit with the audiences, g) Compassion, h) Expiration (message duration), i) Continuity (repeat), j) Bipolarization (differentiation). 3) Media mix includes a) Proper combination of different media, b) Media richness, c) Ubiquity, d) Shareability, e) Ability to be used in proper time, f) Fitting with media consumption of target audience groups. To measure the performance of this model, economic effectiveness (based on average cost per vote) can be calculated and finally success rate based on the achieving goals can be measured. It is expected that this model will be used as a basis in the future research to develop the strategy setting for electoral campaigns.

Figure 6: The proposed framework for electoral campaign management 

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS

At the very early stage of this research, a participatory workshop was planned as the data collection tool. It was supposed that gathering the samples in one workshop and letting them discuss the strategy development based on their experiences will produce significant results. Due to covid-19 outbreak it became impossible to organize such a workshop. For this reason, deep interviews were used as an alternative data collection method and the data were analyzed via content analysis.

There were also obstacles in conducting this research that needs to be addressed in carrying out similar studies. The first was the selection of those involved in the election campaign. Given the large number of members of the election and media campaigns in the country, it was dificult to select a sample that was both examinable and suficiently comprehensive in terms of generalizability. The choice of available purposive sampling solved this problem to some extent, but it was still dificult to reach people who provided the codes needed for a proper analysis of the research topic. Therefore, selecting sample members who are both well-informed and willing to be interviewed was one of the most serious challenges of this study. Also due to the political concerns, many practitioners of the previous electoral campaigns declined to participate in this research. Others who participated answered the questions conservatively. This may affect the richness of collected information. In the absence of above limitations, different results could have been obtained. Every effort was made by the researchers to reduce the effect of these limitations by using various tools.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Electoral campaigns can be construed as a core element in elections given the huge amount of money and human efforts spent on them, and their impact on the destiny of nations and societies. Therefore, better understanding of strategy setting to convey the core idea and messages to the target audiences and voters are worth a lot for parties, candidates and political faction, as well as marketers, strategists and media managers. To further develop the findings of this research the following are suggested for future studies: