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research strategy. In 1998 the party introduced a marketing concept in its campaign,
locating and targeting voters as political consumers. With market and focus group
research they tested their campaign slogan ‘Strong and Social’.The other parties still use
a selling or persuasion concept, aimed at convincing voters of the qualities of the
party’s policies and politicians.

Thirdly, paid publicity is considered a must in an increasing media logic, but hardly an
option in light of the limited financial space of political parties in the Netherlands. In
times of partisan and public logic, access to free publicity was almost limitless and
while journalists might be critical, parties felt they could get their story across.That has
changed. The introduction of commercial television has altered the landscape of
television, fragmented the audience and partly dramatised and sensationalised the
style of political television. Journalists are more conflict- and scandal- oriented, and
more inclined to set the political agenda themselves.To control publicity through paid
means is only a marginal option, however. Allocation of free air time to all parties
participating in the elections has existed since 1959, but the audience ratings have
dwindled from 40% to a mere 1 or 2%; this form of political communication has always
been considered an electoral sideline. Since 1998, paid political advertising on both
public and commercial channels is allowed, at the cost of the traditional newspaper
advertisements. In 2002 and 2003, all parties had some paid TV advertising, including
even the orthodox reformed Christian Union. Parties are now reserving some 40% of
their campaign budget for party spots, but this is still far less than a professional ad
campaign would need. From Accommodation to Professionalisation? The Changing Culture and Environment of Dutch Political Communication

Fourthly, the use of information and communication technologies, as another form of
controlled publicity, has become part and parcel of the Dutch election campaign since
2002 (Voerman & Boogers, 2005). Since the 1998 elections, the number of hits has
increased fifteen fold, to 1.5 million users, while 30% of the electorate claim to regularly
visit party web sites. Even the party manifestos, which used to be ignored by voters
when only available in printed versions, have now become popular objects for
downloading. Every party and each party leader now has its own site – with mostly
volunteers doing the work – informing about policies, ideas, as well as the schedule of
the party leaders’ visits. More and more, ICT is also being used to personalise
communication: hesitantly some politicians have started web logs (notably the VVD
leader Zalm,who is also Minister of Finance),but more informative personalised sites by
lower-placed candidates have become commonplace. In the US, the internet has
become an important tool in fundraising,but in the Netherlands the primary function is
to inform the rank and file and hopefully to convince visiting floating voters. The
Christian democratic CDA used a special intranet in 2003 to coordinate and streamline
the communication of all candidates.

Finally, a well considered publicity strategy characterises a modern, professional
campaign. The larger parties nowadays seriously consider media strategies, but the 107