The politics of marketing

Basic marketing principles have found their way into the coalition Government’s decision-making processes.

The Government’s use of ‘behavioural economics’, reported by the Evening Standard, aims to be more effective in getting the British public to take action on various issues, such as improving their health. Behavioural economics uses psychology and economics to understand how consumers make decisions and how small changes to the decision-making process can produce different and better outcomes. For instance, when one US state showed the average household bill alongside the customer’s cost, it was much more effective at reducing energy use than the public education campaigns used in the neighbouring state.

Understanding your customer and how they make decisions is nothing new – it’s the core of response marketing. But now the Government has realised the power of understanding their customers, will we see innovative ways of getting public messages across?

We hope so, especially as the Government has set stringent new criteria for public sector marketing spend. ‘Non-essential’ spend must demonstrate measurable benefits in terms of public health and safety. These are the same type of criteria that business looks at, focusing on delivery of measurable results.

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