Election 2024: Campaigns do matter

As we approach the presidential and parliamentary 2024 elections, political parties are girding up their loins for the election campaign.

It is a torturous route for politicians to spend sleepless nights crisscrossing the country to canvass for votes.

Campaigns

Campaigns are a series of events to influence an audience and garner support from that audience. It is used by a range of actors, notably politicians, advertisers, social marketers, etc., to either sell presidential material or a product to the target audience through communication channels.

Campaigns significantly influence voting behaviour and election outcomes, with public opinion shifting in response to specific events such as debates, conventions, rallies and keep-fit clubs.

In other words, campaign strategies are crucial in shaping public opinion and influencing outcomes.

Campaigners use strategies to analyse competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, often comparing candidates’ strengths against opponents’ weaknesses.

Former President Evans John Atta Mills was deemed clean and incorruptible, a view endorsed by his political opponents during the 2008 election.

Door-to-door

Door-to-door campaigns are considered the most effective communication tool in political campaigns due to their personal interaction with the audience, allowing them to assess the candidate’s suitability and make informed choices.

Former President Atta Mills successfully won the election through a word-of-mouth campaign, despite facing mockery and ridicule from his opponents.

Celebrity-endorsement

Another technique is celebrity endorsement, thus using musicians, comedians, and actors to campaign messages to the target audience.

In the 2016 presidential election, the NPP utilised popular figures such as A-Plus, Isaiah Ampong, Diana Asamoah and Daddy Lumba, while the NDC utilised Lucky Mensah, Abeiku Santana and John Dumelo.

Message

A campaign message is a compelling statement that serves as a key communication tool with the public and media, ensuring clear and concise communication.

The campaign message should be terse, easily comprehensible, and emphasise the importance of the campaign issue.

Brevity is crucial in concise campaign messages, as it aids in easy recall and engagement with listeners, readers and viewers.

In the 2000 election, the NPP utilised the gospel song “Awurade Kasa” by Cindy Thompson, which gained widespread popularity and led to their electoral victory.

Consistency

Slogans, sayings and maxims are crucial elements in global political campaigns.

President Obama’s campaign slogan “change we can believe in” resonated with voters and beyond the United States during the 2008 presidential election. President Obama’s communication strategists re-seeked the American people’s mandate in the 2012 election, using the slogan “forward” to beat Mitt Romney’s “Believe in America”.

The consistency of the message resonates with the voters. It is important to let the message stay on.

The message, once established, can be easily swayed by current events, negative press, or smear campaigns by opponents or supporters, causing it to lose its impact on people.

Parties can lose messages when they engage in smear campaigns against each other.

The public enjoys the mudslinging between political parties and organisations, but the focus will be on the mud rather than the campaign message.

Media channels

Certain media, such as television, have a significant impact on a large audience.

Other media channels are more flexible and should be tailored to the intended audience.

Research indicates that people don’t remember ads unless they see or hear them three or more times, making complex messages better for print ads than TV commercials.

The campaign message requires repeated exposure to the audience for retention, while identifying the most trusted channels among different populations is crucial.

Conclusion

The December polls will determine our leaders for the next four years, with the campaign slogan of the NDC’s “The Ghana we want” or the NPP’s “It is possible.”

Politicians should make substantial promises that address the bread-and-butter issues of their constituents, such as the economy, health care and education, and they should always strive to be truthful with the electorate.

The writer is a Peace practitioner.
E-mail: okomensah12@gmail.com