Celebrificación del candidato. Cultura de la fama, marketing electoral y construcción de la imagen pública del político

Abstract

The centrality of the media in the contemporary public sphere has led political institutions to adapt their communication strategies to its logic. Politics and entertainment are increasingly converging and one of the most significant examples of this trend is the tendency to turn politicians into celebrities, i.e. using elements of celebrity culture to build candidates’ public image. This article aims to develop theoretically what celebrification of a candidate means. Drawing upon the main contributions of celebrity studies and political marketing, we identify three fundamental aspects that become useful to recognise and understand celebrification. Additionally, these three elements are applied to analyse the construction of the candidates’ image in the 2012 Catalan Parliamentary Elections.