The case about the use of an influencer marketing ‘strategy’ continues to cost the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM), since the Toluca Regional Chamber of the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Branch (TEPJF) annulled the election for a federal deputation.
The case
The Toluca Regional Chamber annulled the election of the federal deputation in district 3 of Zitácuaro, in Michoacán, which was obtained by the coalition “Together We Make History” made by Morena, Labor Party and PVEM, This was reported However.
Last Tuesday a public session was held, where the Toluca Regional Chamber ended up resolving the lawsuits of disagreement against the electoral results on the federal councils by a relative majority. It was determined that the triumph of the winning candidate, Mary Carmen Bernal Martínez, should be annulled for having disseminated electoral propaganda on social networks under a ‘strategy’ of influencers.
According to the information, the members of the Toluca Regional Chamber indicated that the propaganda was “a planned, systematic and coordinated electoral campaign strategy that violated the principles of legality, certainty and equity in the contest.”
(The) “violation was deemed serious because of its systematic, comprehensive, simultaneous, recidivism and the benefit obtained,” it was stated.
Likewise, the Chamber commented that the use of this campaign strategy could have affected the result of the electoral contest, since the ‘elected’ candidate obtained 74 thousand 302 votes (46 percent of the total), while the candidate of the PRI coalition , PAN and PRD in that same district reached 64 thousand 741 votes.
Given this, the magistrates ordered the National Electoral Institute (INE) to organize an extraordinary election in district 3 of Zitácuaro, Michoacán, to find the new elected candidate.
Green Party, influencers and INE
The sanction imposed by the Toluca Regional Chamber comes days after the INE approved to fine the Green Party 40.9 million pesos, as well as the suspension of radio and television spots for one year.
The sanction took place after the INE indicates that the PVEM did not report the expenses of the influencer marketing campaign that amounts to 20 million 466 thousand 784 pesos, which were distributed in different amounts to 104 ‘influencers’ who published messages in favor of the party during the electoral season.
Despite the fact that the PVEM has repeatedly denied that it had done such an act, the INE investigation concluded that the party committed a crime by asking the influencers to speak on their behalf for a payment of between 15,000 to 100,000 pesos.
Likewise, it was pointed out that they would accept the fine imposed, but the secretary of elections of the National Executive Committee, Raúl Bolaños Cacho, assured that the resources for actors and drivers did not come “from the party’s coffers.”
“The determination of the electoral authority against the Green Party reiterates the considerable bias that exists around the use of social networks, it is not clear who or who can use them and for what purpose, since it should be remembered that there were open campaigns during the ban election on the useful vote, which were clearly orchestrated to benefit the PAN on election day, and these are not being valued in all their dimensions, ”the party declared in a release.
The lesson on influencer marketing
In Merca2.0 we got in touch with Jorge Avila, Growth Marketing Director of Creative Society, who assured that there is a lack of structure within the Mexican advertising world, where the situation of the Green Party is a case of many that have occurred throughout of the years.
Likewise, for the expert, the case of the Green Party could be anything but an influencer marketing strategy, because in the end I do not meet an essential characteristic for these to work, that both the influencers and the message share DNA.
READ MORE