In the PR industry, we talk a lot about management—reputation management, client management, PR as a management function, the list goes on—and when the worlds of public relations and politics collide, as they often do, another type of management surfaces: expectations management.
For the candidates involved in the political horserace that is election season, it’s all about expectations. Some candidates are met with the challenge of shattering expectations, while others are learning to walk the fine line between conforming to the public’s expectation of how they should be and acting how they think best represents their ability to lead our nation.
For example, Donald Trump and his PR team have become experts at managing the wide range of expectations associated with his campaign. In late January, Trump announced that he would be boycotting the last GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses. His rationale? Fox News’ Megyn Kelly was being mean to him.
This announcement caused an immediate uproar. The media, the public and political scientists alike couldn’t decide whether this was an act of bold individuality, further accentuating Trump’s tendency to march to the beat of his own drum, or a sign of weakness and inconsistency. It wasn’t clear whether Trump would follow through with skipping the debate until, on the night of the event, he was nowhere to be found. This example, for better or worse, shows an incredible understanding on the part of Trump’s PR team about how to effectively manage expectations. If Trump didn’t show up, his opposition might lash out against him, but his followers would almost certainly support his defiance against the “biased” and “unfair” Kelly and Fox News. If he did show up, on the other hand, he would have been the brave political contender who wants this presidency so badly that he is even willing to face Kelly.
Hillary Clinton is another candidate who has had to manage the expectations this election season, in this case about what it means to run for president as a woman. During the 2008 primary season, Clinton’s campaign released this ad, which emphasizes her leadership capabilities:
This year, Clinton’s campaign team took a different approach.
This ad portrays Clinton as warm, nurturing and family-oriented, three things that are generally expected of women. The more recent ad was significantly more successful than its predecessor, and much of that can be attributed to the fact that by conforming to society’s expectations how a female presidential candidate should be, the ad felt more comfortable to viewers.
Running a political campaign takes immense strategy from competitors’ public relations teams. Without a clear understanding of what the public expects from a presidential candidate, a campaign can easily, and unbelievably quickly, become irrelevant. Next time you tune into a debate, read the news or watch a campaign ad, take a moment to analyze it on a deeper level—what you find might not be anything like what you would have expected.
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