PR consultants

Following Superstacja’s report, Proto.pl reported that regardless of the program and the political option, the voters will most likely vote for the presidential candidate whom they perceive to be the most attractive and who looks great on pictures.

“It is the most beautiful ones, not the wisest ones, that have the greatest chance of winning” – noted the reporter Anna Garaj. In his statement for the station, Mirosław Obarski, an image specialist, said that up to 70 % of the message relies on the politician’s looks.

Therefore, the journalist asserted that politicians undergo tremendous transformation for the needs of the campaign. In order to distinguish themselves, they will show not only a beautiful face but also, for example, a naked torso, while the things they say are of lesser importance. Psychologist Izabela Kielczyk added that the audience would not understand most of what politicians are saying anyway and, additionally, they do not believe politicians, so they make their voting decisions on the basis of looks.

The editorial staff of efi24.com asked experts whether the European Union’s agreement with Russia in the matter of early warnings about problems with natural gas deliveries would really increase Poland’s and Europe’s energy security.

Mirosław Obarski emphasized that the agreement in the matter of early warnings about problems with natural gas deliveries pertained to ad-hoc issues only.

“It protects the natural gas recipients against problems with infrastructure that needs to be prepared for reduced flow of natural gas or for abrupt discontinuation of its delivery, which could result in a system failure. This may improve management of inventories of this raw material significantly.

However, the actual energy security of the EU and Poland depends on something else, namely diversification of natural gas deliveries, especially taking into account the approach taken by Russia, which is using the natural gas scare to subordinate gas buyers. Additionally, in the current situation as a monopolist, it is able to dictate its own pricing terms. Moscow will definitely not want to change this situation because the sales of natural gas and oil are “to be or not to be” of its economy.

The pipeline laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea will provide some security to the EU (but the natural gas will still be provided by the same supplier). For the time being, Poland has no official access to that natural gas, although Chancellor Merkel has recently outlined a plan for Poland’s use of those supplies.

PRoto.pl cited a conversation that appeared in Superstacja between Karolina Kawska and image specialist Mirosław Obarski about the election campaign to the European Parliament. Obarski noted that an effect of the campaign was to discourage Poles from participating in the elections. According to him, the negative campaign run by PiS [Law and Justice party] and, partially, SLD [Democratic Left Alliance] contributed to this. Obarski also noted that the results of a poll conducted by TNS OBOP on May 22 indicated that politicians’ actions had discouraged 43% of Poles from voting. Only 17% had been encouraged to vote by the campaign, while 32% did not notice it.

“Discouraging voters from voting and a low turnout could be advantageous for PiS, because this party’s electorate is disciplined – as opposed, for instance, to the people who support PO [Civic Platform party],” Obarski said. “Otherwise, this anti-campaign is a waste of money. PiS set itself the sole aim of discouraging people from voting for PO. They treated winning votes for their own party as a marginal objective.”
The discussion also brought up the elements of the campaign that would be remembered the best, including the “prettified” Wojciech Olejniczak (SLD) on the cover of Wprost, the use of a PO ad from previous elections in a spot for PiS, an ad discrediting an individual PO politician, Janusz Palikot, and a terrible radio spot for SLD.

The four (undone) buttons of Wojciech Olejniczak’s shirt in his photo placed on the cover of the weekly Wprost have shocked Polish public opinion. It inspired a discussion about the “prettification” of politicians between Piotr Kraśko and Mirosław Obarski in the morning program “Pytanie na śniadanie” [“A question for breakfast”] on Polish Television TVP 2.

Wojciech Olejniczak is cashing in on a move that was fairly risky for the politician’s image. Wprost, having noticed the popularity of its issue with the unbuttoned politician, used the cover for its own marketing campaign. What Poles think about the whole thing is indicated by the results of an Internet poll about the next politician whose torso they’d like to see. The survey respondents mentioned… Ryszard Kalisz, immediately followed by Jarosław Kaczyński.

A series of three articles devoted to Starbucks coffee shops appeared in Dziennik’s Społeczeństwo [Society] section two weeks ago. The phenomenon of this extraordinary interest is explored in the blog Mediafun, which included commentary by Mirosław Obarski on the subject:

“Right now I’m sitting in a Starbucks outlet and I don’t see any evidence that excessive sweetening has given this chain any trouble – actually, coffee without sugar has a much weaker effect.

Surrounded by emo kids sitting with mugs sporting their names (the check-out girl asks you your name when you pay – a mega-clever trick to make you instant friends with the chain), neither do I see the slightest influence of the Dziennik articles on their purchase decisions. In a world of “faits journalistiques” cloying praise disgusts us, and rightly so, just as very few people are able to drink a coffee sweetened with six packets of sugar.

Keep in mind that Poles, young or old, like to try new things. Starbucks could achieve success because no chain has entered the Polish market in a long time; maybe that’s the reason for the interest, which has bordered on hysteria at times. Lousy articles are not doing it any harm, even in Dziennik. It owes more to its organizational culture and original approach to customers. Well, and to sugar.”

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“Poles outside large urban areas have much higher regard for direct contact than apartment bloc dwellers do. That’s why, from the standpoint of political marketing, this tactic makes sense,” said Mirosław Obarski, commenting upon Lech Kaczyński’s visits to such towns as Wisła, Krotoszyn, Nysa, Dębica, Wejherowo, Puck and Skwierzyna for Rzeczpospolita and Życie Warszawy.
The president’s road show and face-to-face meetings with voters are typical tools of political marketing, though they are characteristic of advanced election campaigns. It should be noted that the electorate of PiS, the party the president comes from, largely consists of people who live in small towns. Direct contact with a politician, and all the more with the president, is always an event and has a chance to positively impact behavior in the voting booth, particularly that of loyal voters from small towns. To recapitulate: the tactic of collecting small points is well chosen. But will it suffice ahead of the looming presidential elections?
President Lech Kaczyński has been systematically criss-crossing the country for many months, visiting small towns as well as large conurbations. The article “Prezydencki rajd po kraju” [The President’s Rally around the Country], published in Rzeczpospolita and Życie Warszawy, mentions that the president has already visited 33 cities and towns. But only recently have the effects become evident – an uptick in the previously declining support for the president.

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