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This book focuses on the U.S. presidential election spectacle, from the primaries through to the November 2020 election and the subsequent events leading up to the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president. A follow-up to Political Marketing in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election,it uniquely focuses on the political marketing and branding strategies of presidential candidates, with particular attention to how those strategies have changed since the 2016 election. The 2020 election was as much about a continuous strategy of targeting and maintaining voter enthusiasm as it was about swaying undecided voters in the electorate, distinguishing it from the horserace and implications of vote targeting in 2016. Donald Trump had a base of support that was unwavering. Likewise, Joe Biden and the Democrats counted on the same proportion of the electorate to vote against Trump. The election was also a harbinger of major new branding and marketing strategies, including innovative uses of social media and direct appeals to voters. This book presents diverse scholarly perspectives and research, with practitioner-relevant content on practices and discourses that will advance our current understandings of political marketing theories.
List of contents
Introduction: The Right Candidate at the Worst Time.- 1. Playing Catch Up from a Basement in Delaware: How the Biden Campaign Marketed 'Joe'.- 2. Replicating The 2016 "Lightning in a Bottle" Political Moment: Biden, Trump and Winning the U.S. Presidency.- 3. The 2020 Campaign: Candidates in a New World.- 4. Trump's Marketing Strategy and Communication in Government and the 2020 Election: Failing to Adjust to the White House and Governing.- 5. Democracy and Disinformation: An Analysis of Trump's 2020 Reelection Campaign.- 6. Donald Trump: The Brand, the Disjunctive Leader and Brand Ethics.- 7. Trump, Populism and the Pandemic.- Conclusion: The 2020 Election and Aftermath was One for the Ages.
About the author
Jamie Gillies is Associate Professor of Communications and Public Policy and Acting Director of the Frank McKenna Centre for Communications and Public Policy at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
