Campaign 2014: Spending Campaign Funds-A Case Study

Our analysis of Campaign 2014 continues this week with an analysis of spending. We've selected the Hiremath 2010 campaign as an example because Mayor Hiremath went from being a complete unknown to becoming Mayor.  How did this happen? We think a lot has to do with how the campaign was financed, as we reported last week, and how the money was spent.


Create The Image

When a campaign has sufficient capital, it can use it to promote the candidate in a variety of ways.

The main objective, especially with a mostly unknown candidate such as Satish Hiremath, is to create a brand image that will be most pleasing to the voter.

In this case, the campaign created an image a family man, a small business owner, and a "nice guy."

Promote, Promote, Promote

The campaign promoted the image using four vehicles that used more than 80% of the funds:

• Mailings of glossy 4-color postcards: 36%
• Advertising in the local advertising circular and the Arizona Daily Star: 24%
• Events at Stone Canyon, the Oro Valley Country Club and The Hilton : 12%
• Brochures, Flyers and Handouts: 12% 

In addition, the campaign successfully gave palm cards to voter on election day, the day on which Hiremath was most certainly elected, to be sure to select his name right when voting.

Conclusion

In essence, the Hiremath campaign created an image where there was none and successfully communicated that image to the voters using a media blitz. 

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