Vote No. 1 – Just do it!
Posted by Kevin Kent on June 05, 2009 in Politics, Strategic thinking with 0 CommentsToday Ireland goes to the polls for local and European elections and two by-elections in Dublin. After months of canvassing and a month of postering the streets of the country, the people will cast their votes.
Looking at the posters around the city, I am truly amazed at the poor messaging in every single election poster and banner I have seen.
The only message that any candidate wants to give me is "Vote No. 1 for Joe Bloggs". Well Joe, why should I? The posters are the main way for the candidates to communicate with the electorate and do they really think that this is the message that the people want to hear? Do they not think that the electorate needs to be convinced why they should give Joe their number one vote?
Where is the candidate who has a promise for the people or who wants to differentiate themselves from other candidates? Where is the party that wants to tell the people that they have a plan? I presume/hope they are out there but I can't tell from their communication to me.
There are endless radio and TV hours given to debates but how many of the electorate hear or see these? Candidates regularly talk about calling to doors of the electorate - I have had one local election candidate call to my door in the run up to the election. That is one of roughly 15 or 16 candidates between the local and European elections. We have had 3 pieces of direct mail sent to us by candidates with the strong call to action of "Vote No. 1..." but little if any argument for why we should? My primary way of seeing which candidates are running is the postering and all they tell me is that Joe Bloggs wants me to give him my number one vote! Well Joe, any chance you would tell me which election you are running in? Are you running for the local or European election? I don't know from your posters anyway.
There are thousands of euro being spent on the election by candidates and their parties, thousands of hours being devoted to canvassing but why was none of this money or time given to developing some messaging? Great design and messaging does not take a huge amount of extra hours or money than poor design and messaging but can make a difference. That effort can mean that you can communicate your message in a strong, engaging and informative way. Your audience will know who you are, what you offer, how you are different and why they should give you their time and money.
Best of luck to all candidates today!
Kevin Kent 's focus is on brand management, with extensive experience across numerous industries. He is interested in the role of new media in marketing and the development of the marketing function within companies.Find out more at Kevin's Profile. Don't forget to subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
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