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Lobbying business on a knife-edge in elections
PR firms will watch the elections like a hawk - the results will tell them whether to bother developing a political lobbying arm or not. This prediction comes from Johanna McDowell, managing director of Hyde Park PR and communications company, Integrated Communications-BMC.
"In the past, the ANC has been highly successful at building national consensus around its policy framework," she observes. "For a significant boost to our infant lobbying industry, the election results would have to indicate that question-marks now hang over key policy issues and that more flexibility is required.
"This would create an opportunity for lobbyists to provide information in strategic areas. The need for professional lobbyists would also grow if a more credible opposition were to emerge.
"The more credible political players there are, the bigger the need for resources and a trained staff to distribute the data. In other words, you need professional lobbyists once the policy variables and the key political players start to multiply."
McDowell decided a year ago against a bigger lobbying investment in her own business and developed a 'masstige' model instead (prestige plus mass appeal). Integrated then bought BMC, a brand communication, media space bartering and product placement company. It complements PR (the reputation or prestige side of the business) with a sales-driven element (the mass appeal).
Integrated's strategy has worked (with 81.6% growth by its new division) and McDowell remains sceptical of lobbying as a big growth point.
She identifies three key issues:
Says McDowell: "In the USA, the unions and major employers know they have to reach a wide universe of decision-shapers among both Democrats and Republicans. In South Africa, the ANC is positioned as an inclusive national movement that can accommodate the demands of both labour and capital.
"Scale is important. To get your views to two or three different parties and numerous experts you need organized, professional lobbyists. If you merely need solid relationships with a handful of decision-makers, a business leader can rely on the personal touch.
"If the ANC wins big, the personal touch at the top will remain the norm."
Another hurdle to growth is cultural rather than political.
In Africa, oral communication is shared. It is there for everyone to hear in the form of stories or a spoken historical record passed down the generations.
Speaking in private can be perceived as conspiratorial.
McDowell notes: "Since the first democratic elections, PR professionals have speculated about the growth of a local lobbying industry. It has yet to happen because our politics don't fit the UK or US mould. The ANC has been highly successful at the polls and in the positioning business. It has established itself as the natural party of government.
"Its agenda drives the national agenda. Lobbying at the moment has a limited role in certain niche areas. You can't imagine lobbyists instigated a policy U-turn in any major field.
"The election will tell us whether lobbying will develop in a slow and low-key way or whether a great leap forward is possible."
Editorial contact
Integrated Communications.bmc
Joslynne Smith
Tel: 011 880 8820
