Zambia

Challenge:
Due to the death of the Zambian President Mwanawasa, the Vice President, Rupiah Banda assumed the powers of Acting President, however a by-election would have to be held so Banda needed to raise his profile so that he was seen as a natural successor. Vice-President Banda engaged Bell Pottinger Sans Frontières to manage his entire campaign.

Solution:
Bell Pottinger Sans Frontières' initial strategy deployed traditional campaign methods, posters, rallies, speech-writing, battle-bus tours, T-shirt design (the ‘Band 4 Zambia’ was instantly popular, with several print re-runs being ordered), website design and management. The team ran a truly national opinion poll and Acting President Banda was found to be running neck and neck with Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front party. We then initiated a three week media blitz based on the very real concerns of the people. Personal messages were broadcast on radio stations in every province, newspapers' advertising concentrated on educating the public about the candidate and newspapers reported campaign progress.

Results:
After an eight week campaign Rupiah Banda was voted in as the 4th President of Zambia on 30 October 2008.