Customer Research – in the political world

“You can’t fatten the pig on market day” 

– Times Interview, 4th July, Lord Feldman – Chief Executive of Conservative Campaign HQ

The need for long-term planning

Politicians are famously short-termist – after all, they are judged on results, even though the underlying issues may have been years in the making.

So it was refreshing to come across this interview with Lord Feldman who detailed the extent of long-term planning that had gone into the Conservative’s 2015 Election Campaign….planning which began just weeks after the 2010 Coalition was formed.

Customer research: the 4 elements to winning

1. Research “I learnt a lot of lessons in the first campaign – we spent too much on the wrong things, such as posters, and there were too many voices in the room.”

2. Message discipline “This had to be around our core values and based on research, not people’s pet theories. This was the hardest to crack.”

3. Differentiated messages “We needed very tailored messages on the ground; you don’t say the same thing to someone who is considering voting LibDem as someone who is thinking of UKIP”

4. Different channels “Some people prefer direct mail, others a phone call, some use Facebook. You have to do it through trial and error. It’s the opposite of the essay crisis – it’s long-term planning that matters”

Conclusion

Running a political party is one the one hand very different to running a business –  “only a few people lecture you about your business; in politics, everyone has a view” – but on the other it is very similar:

“You need a strong leadership, a great product, a clear chain of command, good finances, absolute clarity in your message, and targeted communication.”

The common denominator is, that like all well-run businesses, knowing your customer is a key element to winning.

And here endeth the political broadcast….

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