Political consulting

By using many forms of marketing-suitable media, including advertising and press releases, the general goal of political consultants is to make voters aware of their candidates' party platform.

[12] One such example is Brazilian political consultant João Santana, who simultaneously led three winning presidential campaigns in Latin America: Danilo Medina, in the Dominican Republic; Hugo Chávez, in Venezuela; and José Eduardo dos Santos, in Angola, in the African continent.

[13] Venezuelan political strategist JJ Rendon (who lives in United States),[14] has also been recognized internationally, having been ranked as one of the top five most prominent Latin American consultants by the U.S.-based publication Campaigns & Elections[15] (Latin American edition)[16] and who was the 2014 winner of The Victory Awards[17] for his work as the lead strategist of successful presidential campaigns of Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia (including his reelection campaign in 2014),[18] Porfirio Lobo and Juan Orlando Hernández in Honduras[19] and Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico, among others.

[20] Notable political consultants are: David Plouffe, Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Lynton Crosby, Joel Benenson, Brad Parscale, Michael Spreng (Angela Merkel), Dominic Cummings, Anne Méaux, Michel von Tell, Alastair Campbell, Paul Manafort, Ivan Redondo, Michel Barnier, Philipp Maderthaner, Prashant Kishor.

Such political consultants routinely appear on television news programs, write books and are treated as social media celebrities.

In 2007, the Washington Post noted that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards employed Harrison Hickman, a principal at Global Strategy Group, as his campaign pollster.

The article described this hire as evidence of the "pitfalls of hiring consultants who conduct work for corporate clients and campaigns at the same time", noting that:"...Edwards's own pollster, Harrison Hickman, is a principal at Global Strategy Group, which represents a range of corporate clients -- including oil and pharmaceutical companies -- that don't always mesh with the candidate's message.

[32][33] With younger and more tech-savvy citizens entering into the voting population, social media are the platforms on which the politicians need to establish themselves and engage with the public.