Depok-Is public relations important in the political field? How do you prepare the right campaign program? This problem can be answered in a public lecture with the theme “Political Research and its Implementation in Public Relations” held by the Public Relations study program, Vocational Education Program, UniversitasIndonesia (UI) on October 12, 2023. The guest lecture presented Pangeran Ahmad Nurdin, S.Sos., M.IP., Director of Communication and Business Development for Algorithm Research and Consulting, a political and government research and consultancy company.
On this occasion, Pangeran said that being a publicist in the political field is quite complicated and requires thorough research in every political program, especially campaigns. He explained several important points that require research, such as audience research, demographic mapping, audience segmentation, and program planning. One of the political programs used as an example is the general election campaign.
(Photo: Session presenting political and public relations research material to students)
“Politics requires research to understand what audiences like. For example, a campaign that is currently popular with audiences from a company or party. The point is know your audience and know yourself,” he said. Without understanding yourself, competitors can see the weaknesses of a political actor. Meanwhile, without understanding the audience, political actors risk conveying programs through inappropriate communication strategies. These two things can certainly cause issues that can even develop into a crisis for political actors. He added, “Especially now that we have entered the digital era. Small issues can have big potential because of the rapid propagation of information. Therefore, it is very important to build awareness of yourself.”
In the public lecture, Pangeran emphasized that campaigns must be equipped with good strategies. A publicist must be clever at designing campaign programs that are acceptable and liked by the public, so that they can maintain and even increase trust within society.
Pangeran closed the guest lecture by inserting a reminder to students. “Making a strategy is very important, but don’t forget to prepare a standing statement. A standing statement is a direct statement or question from the public. We do not know which standing statements are positive or negative. And if you answer with limited knowledge and strategy, it will certainly affect the image of a person or company,” concluded Pangeran.
