Thai Political Marketing Strategy 2019 : Case study: Future Forward Party

Abstract

Thai politics seen in a communication dimension provides another interesting study that can shed light on the viewpoints of political parties, their approach to message design, strategies on the use of media, and publicity policies.  Invariably, they are all made with an interesting appeal in such forms as electioneering posters, election campaign events, canvassing, and especially communication in online social media.  All this is a communication phenomenon with strategic designs adopted by political parties to show their identity, image and stance intended to win public interests and popularity. The ultimate aim is, of course, to win the election.  In this paper, the author uses the Future Forward Party as a case study to analyze communication strategies during the election campaign, especially its political marketing strategies and media use, together with possible explanation for the phenomenon.

The finding reveals that the Future Forward Party makes a full use of political marketing as seen in its clear policy formulation, communication with its members, and unifying slogan, including its projection as a political party with a new outlook, focusing on the polarity of the new against old model, offering a space for members of younger generation who want to do away with the old political regime.  It is a political party not afraid to negotiate with the ruling authority. It has a clear target group whose members are individuals with different messages or themes of their own. The membership is a network covering several regions by way of online social media. The online channel makes it possible for the party to gain greater visibility in the mainstream media. Importantly, the popularity surveys conducted by a number of agencies also contribute to its communication effectiveness in winning more popularity.