Análisis del storytelling como estrategia de campaña en las elecciones presidenciales de Brasil, Colombia y México 2018

Abstract

Storytelling is a strategy used in the advertising domain that has acquired great space in the political arena generating new formats for campaigning that activate the emotions of the voters to create a link with the candidate. Elaborating these political stories requires a structure and planning that defines the leadership profile and reinforces the loyalty of its followers. The general objective of this research was to analyze the use of storytelling as a political communication strategy in Latin American Presidential Election Campaigns 2018. The specific objectives that emerged are: a) To determine the importance of the use of storytelling as a political campaign strategy. b) To analyze the use of storytelling as a strategy within the electoral campaigns for the 2018 Latin American Presidential elections and c) To analyze the impact of people in the face of the storytelling strategy applied in the 2018 Latin American Presidential elections. This research has a descriptive methodology, aimed at a qualitative case study in which the use of storytelling in Latin American electoral campaigns of the selected candidates is analyzed. For this purpose, nine communication pieces published on their official Facebook pages were analyzed. As a complement, interviews were conducted with experts in the field who also have a long history in electoral contests, and netnography was used to analyze the impact of this strategy on citizens. As a result, the candidates used the connection stories, challenge stories, creative stories, stories that guide the future, springboard stories and stories that transmit knowledge. From the above, it was evident that candidate Jair Bolsonaro directed his stories to detail the problems Brazil was going through and the solutions he proposed within his government plan. For his part, Andrés López Obrador highlights his successful experience in public office as a letter of introduction and Iván Duque, bets on stories that show a positive scenario of the future where young people are the protagonists. Among the contributions of the interviewees is that the most employed stories revolve around the life of the candidates and their proposals. It was also identified that social networks are a great tool to disseminate this strategy, but it is necessary to consider that digital illiteracy and Internet access may be obstacles to consider. It is important to mention that the digital communities registered low interaction in the support pages for the candidates, but, their interactivity turned to the official pages of the candidates that were analyzed. In conclusion, storytelling is a strategy that, if properly managed, can become a powerful tool to persuade voters that with new technologies they are increasingly informed, more dispersed, and wary of getting involved in politics. Furthermore, storytelling creates a new and creative way of doing politics, leaving aside the traditional speeches that have lost impact and influence on the electorate. Likewise, social networks are a strong means of disseminating this strategy at a low cost.