David and Goliath

Parliamentary elections in Poland, 2001

Mainz, October 30, 2003

David and Goliath

One of the best known characters of Bible is David, who as a lowly shepherd boy defeated the giant Philistine warrior

Goliath, and then grew up to be King David of Israel

Goliath

Post-communists

Post-Solidarność

Who is Goliath?

Socialism Liberalism

Laic

Conservative (close to church)

Social democratic

Alliance (SLD)

Polls leader

Action Election

Solidarność

(AWS)

Government

Union of Freedom

(UW)

left AWS-UW

governmentPeasant Party (PSL)

SLD ally

Samoobrona (SO)

Protest populists

Q2, 2001

(values)

(economy)

Who is Goliath?

50%

5 % thresholdparties

9% thresholdcoalitions

30%

10%

20%

40% SLD

AWS

UWPSL

Who is Goliath?

„Powerful” „Controls” / supported by the most influential media

3 nationwide stated owned TV channels (49% of average TV reach) national stated owned radio (50% of average radio weekly reach)

SLD, PSL, UW

the leading Polish newspaper (28 % of average daily reach) UW

Well organized regional and national structures

„Traditionalist” Believes that ideological roots: post-communist / post- „Solidarność”

are very important for voters Believes only in internal marketing resources

„Stranger” Speaks „foreign” „unclear” language

UW, AWS

Goliath`s perception

The worst attitude towards politicians/political parties after

1989:

„they do not care about ordinary people”

„ they do care only about their position”

„they do nothing to solve our problems”

Positive ratings regarding the „past communists Poland”

the first time after the 1989

Government: 50% of negative ratings

Parliament: 70% of negative ratings

Politicians: 88% of negative ratings

David

Who is David?

The Civic Platform - Platforma Obywatelska Founded in January 2001, 8 months before the elections

Founded by former UW and AWS politicians

Founders: Andrzej Olechowski, „pragmatists, manager”, independent

Former minister of foreign affairs, former minister of finance

The second score in the 2000 presidential election

Maciej Płażyński, „rigorous, traditionalist”, former AWS Former parliament speaker and former internal opposition leader in AWS

Donald Tusk, „young, modern, liberal”, former UW Deputy speaker of the parliament, former internal opposition leader in UW

Profile: Conservative liberals

Lack of regional structures, limited financial resources Election campaign financed by commercial credit

Battlefield

Goliath`s reaction to David`s birth

„Silence” or negative comments in national stated owned

TV and radio

Very negative coverage in the leading Polish newspaper

Politicians negative comments in the key media

Media headlines:

„Three refugees found rescue boat”

„Losers escaped from UW and AWS”

„The will disappear in three months”

Key message:

Political initiative without future and any chances for success

David`s goals

PO - the second party in the parliament after the elections

SLD - unable to govern independently

UW and AWS - outside the parliament after the elections

David`s strategy / key messages

Platforma Obywatelska (PO) is a civic movement not a political

party

PO is a mass movement supported by huge number of Poles

PO stands for COMPETENCE not ideology

Modern image appealing to young voters

Anti-establishment movement

republican populism

PO offer address key voters needs

Liberal instruments with „attractive” social package

Key projects

Primary elections

42 regions in the whole country

MP candidates elected by PO „members”

100 000 participated

Program:

21 obligations

only the most important issues related to the voter`s needs

Ban for parties finance by state budget campaign

PO leaders road show

400 000 signs under the PO`s project of ban bill

David`s brother

Prawo i Sprawiedliwość – Law and Justice Founded in May 2001, 5 months before the elections

Founded by former AWS politicians

Founder: Lech Kaczyński, „the sheriff”,

extremely popular former minister of justice

Profile: Christian democrats

Lack of regional structures, limited financial resources Election campaign financed by commercial credit

Who is David?

The Civic Platform - Platforma Obywatelska Founded in January 2001, 8 months before the elections

Founded by former UW and AWS politicians

Founders: Andrzej Olechowski, „pragmatists, manager”, independent

Former minister of foreign affairs, former minister of finance

The second score in the 2000 presidential election

Maciej Płażyński, „rigorous, traditionalist”, former AWS Former parliament speaker and former internal opposition leader in AWS

Donald Tusk, „young, modern, liberal”, former UW Deputy speaker of the parliament, former internal opposition leader in UW

Profile: Conservative liberals

Lack of regional structures, limited financial resources Advertising election campaign financed by commercial credit

Finals

National election results

41,04

12,68

10,2 9,5 8,98 7,87

5,6 3,1

0

10

20

30

40

50

SLD

-UP

PO

Sam

oobr

ona

PiS

PSL

LP

R

AW

S

UW

thresholds

Americanization

`93 `97 `01

Parliamentary campaigns - total spendings (PLN)

60 MM

30 MMSLD

PO

SLD and PO in top 5 advertisers (08 - 09/2001)

Party leader`s image more important than ever

Program less important than image

Media define the shape and content of political campaigns

Profesionalization

Research driven campaign

Strategy based on extensive research program

significant % of campaign budget

PO and SLD spent more than key FMCG players in Q2 – Q3 2001

Extensive role of external consultants

Key players served by external professional consultancies

strategy advisors, ATL/BTL/e-marketing agencies, creative boutiques

Profesionalization

F in an cia l d irec tor

e -m arketingw ww

e-m arke ting

O u td o or/Print

T V /R ad io

A d vertis in g Dep t.+ spec ia l e lec tions p rog ram s P T V / PR

S p ec ial even tsE ven t m arke ting

P u b lic R e latio n s D ep t.C om m un ica tion s tra tegy deve lopm ent

R esearch D ep t.

E x tern a l co nsu ltan tsC re tives, m ed ia p lanne rs and buye rs

e -consu ltan ts

H ead o f cam pa ign

Effective corporate structure

Modernization

New marketing tools

E-marketing

Virus marketing

Creative and diversified media planning

New media

Comic book for young voters

David`s growth

50%

30%

10%

20%

40%

PO

SLD

XII - 2002 IX - 2003

PO - potential winner of 2005

m.grabowski@unitedpr.pl