Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Branding in Prabowo-Gibran's Campaign: Insights and Strategies from the Indonesia Presidential Election 2024
Abstract
The 2024 Indonesian Presidential Election marked a significant shift in political campaigning, with Generation Z and millennials comprising 56.45% of the electorate. This study examines how the Prabowo-Gibran campaign used AI as an instrument for political branding. Employing a qualitative approach integrating bibliometric analysis, multimodal discourse analysis, and expert interviews, the research reveals three key amplification mechanisms: precision segmentation through digital platforms, cultural adaptation by leveraging viral trends including the "Gemoy" avatar and "OK Gas" song, and visual affection production that reshaped Prabowo’s public image. Bibliometric findings position "AI branding" and "visual politics" as emerging themes, with "authenticity" as a niche concern. This study finds that Prabowo-Gibran used AI for public engagement and data infrastructure within their political campaign. This study extends Aaker’s brand equity framework by demonstrating how the integration of frontstage immersive technology, backstage data infrastructure, and collaboration with influencers provide new insights into how brand equity is configured in political campaigns during the digital era. However, the authenticity issue points to the post-election risks of the identity-image gap, where algorithmically constructed personas confront governance realities, potentially triggering political brand transgression. This research bridges political science, media studies, and communication technology while highlighting the challenges of AI-driven political branding beyond campaign periods.
Keywords: Political branding, artificial intelligence, segmentation, augmented reality, digital native.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Aaker, D. (2010). Editorial: Marketing challenges in the next decade. Journal of Brand Management, 17(5), 315–316. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2010.2
Aaker, D. A. (1991). Managing brand equity: Capitalizing on the value of a brand name. The Free Press.
Aaker, D. A. (1996). Building strong brands. The Free Press.
Alnsour, Y., Alsharo, M., Al-Essa, M., & Smerat, A. (2025). AI-powered election insights: Predicting the 2024 Trump vs. Kamala election showdown with machine learning. Journal of Intelligent Systems and Internet of Things, 15(1), 185–197. https://doi.org/rq5n
An, J. (2025). Performance analysis and scientific mapping of the literature on political marketing and brand: A systematic review. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 22(2), 327–347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-025-00430-3
Anom, E., Vina, E., & Samani, M. C. (2024). Political communication strategy in the 2024 Indonesia’s presidential election. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 40(2), 296-311. https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2024-4002-17
Antaranews.com. (2024, January). Cara baru dukung Prabowo-Gibran, TKN luncurkan aplikasi Fotober2.ai. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/3896487/cara-baru-dukung-prabowo-gibran-tkn-luncurkan-situs-fotober2ai
Au, C. H. (2025). Political brand transgression: An expanded stimuli-organism-response (SOR) framework perspective. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 22(3), 517–547. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-025-00436-x
Banerjee, S., & Ray Chaudhuri, B. (2016). Factors responsible behind political brand preference: An empirical study on Indian voters. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 34(4), 559–582. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-05-2015-0095
Bruter, M., & Harrison, S. (2020). Inside the mind of a voter: A new approach to electoral psychology. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvs9fh53
Dongoran, H. A. (2026, February 22). Lucian Despoiu: Perancang “Gemoy” Prabowo. Tempo.com. https://www.tempo.co/investigasi/lucian-despoiu-gemoy-kebijakan-prabowo-2116871
Duberry, J. (2022). Artificial intelligence and democracy: Risks and promises of AI-mediated citizen-government relations. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/rq5q
Ducange, P., Fazzolari, M., Petrocchi, M., & Vecchio, M. (2019). An effective decision support system for social media listening based on cross-source sentiment analysis models. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 78, 71–85. https://doi.org/gjt7mh
Engawi, D., Gere, C., & Richards, D. (2022). The impact of artificial intelligence on graphic design: Exploring the challenges and possibilities of AI-driven autonomous branding. In G. Bruyns & H. Wei (Eds.), [ ] With design: Reinventing design modes (pp. 3567–3576). Springer Nature Singapore.
Farkas, J., & Schou, J. (2018). Fake news as a floating signifier: Hegemony, antagonism and the politics of falsehood. Javnost - The Public, 25(3), 298–314. https://doi.org/gd8m69
Farkas, X., & Bene, M. (2020). Images, politicians, and social media: Patterns and effects of politicians’ image-based political communication strategies on social media. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 26(1), 119–142. https://doi.org/gmh3nb
Foto ber-2 AI [@fotober2.ai]. (2024). Instagram profile [Instagram profile]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/fotober2.ai?igsh=MW05emlpYWVicGRqNg%3D%3D
Garland, R. (2026). Executing a personal political branding campaign from within government: The case of the UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and social media (2020–2022). Journal of Political Marketing, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377857.2026.2613805
GerindraTV. (2023, December 13). Prabowo Gibran memang istimewa [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBkN9I9RUpA
Google Trends. (n.d.). Gemoy. https://trends.google.com/explore?geo=ID&date=today%205-y&q=gemoy
Grusell, M., & Nord, L. (2023). Not so intimate Instagram: Images of Swedish political party leaders in the 2018 national election campaign. Journal of Political Marketing, 22(2), 92–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377857.2020.1841709
Hadiz, V. R. (2020). Dinamika kekuasaan ekonomi politik Indonesia pasca-Soeharto (R. T. Wiratama, Ed.). Pustaka LP3ES Indonesia.
Haenschen, K. (2016). Social pressure on social media: Using Facebook status updates to increase voter turnout. Journal of Communication, 66(4), 542–563. https://doi.org/f884c8
Hakumi Chan. (2023, November 25). Prabowo Gibran • Makan siang & susu gratis ver. 2 • TVC edisi 2023/2024 • Iklan Indonesia 30 sec [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MUMZRdPmis
Hardiantoro, & A., Nugroho, R. S. (2024, February 4). Daftar artis dan influencer yang diklaim dukung Prabowo-Gibran. Kompas.com. https://www.kompas.com/tren/read/2024/02/04/150000865/daftar-artis-dan-influencer-yang-diklaim-dukung-prabowo-gibran
Jain, V., Gupta, D. G., & Sharma, H. (2025). Political branding of parties and leaders: A bibliometric clustered analysis of two decades. International Journal of Market Research, 67(2–3), 341–359. https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853251321567
Jain, V., Pich, C., Ganesh, B. E., & Armannsdottir, G. (2017). Exploring the influences of political branding: A case from the youth in India. Journal of Indian Business Research, 9(3), 190–211. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIBR-12-2016-0142
Lilleker, D. G., & Pack, M. (2016). Introduction. In D. G. Lilleker & M. Pack (Eds.), Political marketing and the 2015 UK general election (pp. 1–10). Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58440-3_1
Lloyd, J. (2005). Square peg, round hole? Can marketing-based concepts such as the ‘product’ and the ‘marketing mix’ have a useful role in the political arena? Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 14(1–2), 27–46. https://doi.org/10.1300/J054v14n01_03
Lucarelli, A., Fuschillo, G., & Chytkova, Z. (2020). How cyber political brands emerge: A socio-material analysis of the Italian Five Star movement and the Czech pirate party. European Journal of Marketing, 54(10), 1130–1154. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-04-2019-0336
Luhtakallio, E., & Meriluoto, T. (2024). Fame democracy? Social media and visuality-based transformation of the public sphere. Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 25(3), 318–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2023.2263818
Mantalean, V., & Prabowo, D. (2023, July 2). KPU tetapkan DPT pemilu 2024, total 204.807.222 pemilih dalam dan luar negeri. Kompas.com. https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/07/02/14163511/kpu-tetapkan-dpt-pemilu-2024-total-204807222-pemilih-dalam-dan-luar-negeri
Mendoza, M. E. H. (2022). Philippine elections 2022. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 44(3), 389–395.
Newman, B. I., & Sheth, J. N. (1985). A model of primary voter behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 12(2), 178–187. https://doi.org/10.1086/208506
Norris, S. (2019). Systematically working with multimodal data: Research methods in multimodal discourse analysis. Wiley Blackwell.
Ohme, J. (2019). When digital natives enter the electorate: Political social media use among first-time voters and its effects on campaign participation. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 16(2), 119-136. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2019.1613279
Pich, C., & Armannsdottir, G. (2022). Political brand identity and image: Manifestations, challenges and tensions. In M. Moufahim (Ed.), Political branding in turbulent times (pp. 9–32). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83229-2_2
Pich, C., Armannsdottir, G., Dean, D., Spry, L., & Jain, V. (2019). Problematizing the presentation and reception of political brands: The strategic and operational nature of the political brand alignment model. European Journal of Marketing, 54(1), 190–211. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-03-2018-0187
Prasasti, G. D. (2023, October 31). Viral di medsos, begini cara bikin poster ala Disney Pixar pakai Bing AI. Liputan 6. https://www.liputan6.com/tekno/read/5436239/viral-di-medsos-begini-cara-bikin-poster-ala-disney-pixar-pakai-bing-ai
Reisach, U. (2021). The responsibility of social media in times of societal and political manipulation. European Journal of Operational Research, 291(3), 906–917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2020.09.020
Relawanpride [@relawanpride]. (2023, December 16). Konsolidasi digital Prabowo-Gibran: Memanfaatkan AI untuk kemenangan [Video]. TikTok. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSmw5Sd82/
Sahel, S., Alsahafi, M., Alghamdi, M., & Alsubait, T. (2021). Logo detection using deep learning with pretrained CNN models. Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, 11(1), 6724–6729. https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.3919
Setiawan, G., & Taufik, G. A. (2022). A tale of trust and betrayal: Jokowi’s anti-corruption brand creation and transgression. In M. Moufahim (Ed.), Political branding in turbulent times (pp. 51–67). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/rq5r
Steffan, D. (2021). Visual politics: Investigating the visual communication strategies of political parties and candidates from a longitudinal and comparative perspective (Vol. 10). Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748925415
Susila, I., Dianne, D., Raja Nerina Raja, Y., Anton Agus, S., & Wajdi, F. (2020). Symbolic political communication, and trust: A young voters’ perspective of the Indonesian presidential election. Journal of Political Marketing, 19(1–2), 153–175. https://doi.org/jx5m
Swaminathan, V., Sarkhel, S., & Mitra, S. (2021). Utilizing artificial intelligence to generate enhanced digital content and improve digital content campaign design. US Patent. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/7f/f6/4a/ab3275dd831c4a/US10887640.pdf
Tempo.com. (2023, November 4). Cara membuat poster Disney Pixar yang lagi viral. https://www.tempo.co/digital/cara-membuat-poster-disney-pixar-yang-lagi-viral-124846
Ubaidillah, U., Santoso, W. M., Purwadi, P., Widyawati, N., & Windarsih, A. (2025). Memes and the Indonesian 2024 presidential elections: Performative politics in an illiberal setting. Advances in Southeast Asian Studies, 18(1), 59–82.
Vidio.com. (2023). Pelan pelan kejar cintanya Mas Gemoy [Video]. https://www.vidio.com/watch/7765333-pelan-pelan-kejar-cintanya-mas-gemoy
Wood, M., Corbett, J., & Flinders, M. (2016). Just like us: Everyday celebrity politicians and the pursuit of popularity in an age of anti-politics. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 18(3), 581–598. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148116632182
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
e-ISSN: 2289-1528