By the time you read this, Ontario’s new premier will have just been announced. And whoever that winner happens to be, there’s no doubt that some of the credit goes to an effective marketing strategy.
The Liberals took the much ballyhooed ‘high road,’ even including the phrase in alleged ‘kitten eater’ Dalton McGuinty’s television ads. Peter Byrne, CCO at Toronto-based Bensimon*Byrne, headed up a freelance team (unaffiliated with the agency) for the Liberal effort, and says he would have refused to come aboard if anything other than the high road was the strategy.
‘[Attack ads are] anti-democratic,’ he opines. ‘It’s an old way of doing things and its time has come and gone. But I suppose it’ll take a while to die out completely. We have serious issues and they need to be dealt with and it’s not about calling each other names.’
It’s a position the Liberals could afford to take because the Tories already knew they were trailing McGuinty before the campaign began. The University of Toronto’s Nelson Wiseman, associate professor of political science, notes that the Tories launched their campaign with an attack ad – despite being the incumbent and the Liberals being a minority. He calls that strategy unprecedented. But Wiseman says the Liberals were ready to turn those tactics against the Tories: ‘The Liberals have been studying what the Tories did and were determined not to be caught as flat-footed as they were in 1995 and 1999.’
Most notably, he says, the Liberals waited for the Tories to release their ads to gauge media reaction before releasing theirs. ‘If [the Tories] had come out with positive ads I have a feeling the next day the Liberals would have gone for hard-hitting ads.’
Tory leader and Ontario Premier Ernie Eves was aggressive with his campaign, but attack ads may not have struck the right chord with the electorate. Wiseman says they can work, but they can also backfire when they stretch the truth too much: ‘I felt the ads on McGuinty were really misleading. I don’t think the Liberals are running on increasing taxes. I haven’t heard them say so.’
And the little guys? At press, the NDP was bringing up the rear, as has typically been its lot. Karl Thomson, CD at the NDP’s agency, Toronto-based Compass360, says leader Howard Hampton’s straightforward message made the strategy easier to execute.
‘We didn’t have to spin Howard,’ he explains. ‘He’s been saying the same thing since before he was the leader of the party. It was just a matter of presenting what he’s been saying all along in a compelling way.’
The NDP also had perhaps the most innovative approach, especially considering the party’s modest budget.
According to Sheila White, communications director for the Ontario NDP, the party tried something that hasn’t been done before in Ontario politics by purchasing space for its ‘Spin vs. Substance’ ad on 260 Famous Players theatre screens across the province from Sept. 15 to 30. ‘We had to be more creative and more strategic with our advertising buy because we don’t have the big corporate money behind us,’ she says.
Angus Tucker, co-CD and partner at Toronto-based John St., applauds the buy. ‘Movie theatres are about as democratic a notion as there is. It’s a good idea because it busts out of the typical, ‘Just run 800 GRPs on Global for the next three weeks.”
The party also ran video messages in over 600 downtown Toronto office tower elevators. These spots focused on day care, public hydro and pension protection.
Strategy asked three creatives to look into their crystal balls and judge the effectiveness of the three parties’ strategies, whether they were aimed at the head, the heart, or even lower.
Marta Cutler, CD, MacLaren McCann, Toronto
Every time there’s an election, the advertising is always the same: Somebody’s trying to take the high ground, somebody’s going on the attack, somebody’s being really weak. I just don’t think people hear it. People are way too savvy.
My perception of the Liberals is that they’re milquetoast. [McGuinty has] adopted this challenger attitude. I’m just not sure what he stands for. [And] Howard Hampton doesn’t have much brand presence. They’ve come up with what they consider a neat catch-all phrase [‘Public Power’] to describe their brand platform and my reaction is, ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.’
Be brave and tell people what you really stand for. I would just encourage [the parties] to express their opinions in a way that’s relevant to people.
If you think of yourself as a brand, you always have to find a way of wrapping your message that’s quite distinct from your competitors. They need to go back into the history of political advertising in Ontario, examine all the stuff that’s been done and say, ‘OK, how can we do this differently?’
Brett Marchand, president and CEO, Lowe Roche, Toronto
I wouldn’t keep [a non-attack ad] in my back pocket – I’d be running them both [attack and non-attack ads].
If you’re going to challenge the credibility of the candidate you’d better give [voters] a reason why they should believe in you.
It’s a level playing field. I’ve sold a lot of things in my career in 30 seconds and politicians are no more complicated than a lot of other brands and product categories.
[The NDP should] stick to one idea.
I lived in the U.S. when Bill Clinton beat the Republicans with half the budget. Why? Because it was the economy, stupid. And everything he said in advertising was about the economy. And he stuck to one message and people began to believe him.
So if I was the NDP, I’d pick one thing. If you’re going to get outspent then be focused.
I’d give [the Tories] a seven out of 10.
They’re portraying Ernie Eves, the brand, in an interesting light. He seems confident and wise.
Angus Tucker, co-CD and partner, John St., Toronto
I can’t imagine Americans really like [attack ads] too much. But that commercial of Ernie Eves attacking Dalton McGuinty – it just feels so un-Canadian.
It feels like that Buffalo advertising where they’re just ripping guys up and you’re going, ‘Thank God we don’t live there.’ It’s just schoolyard stuff.
[Eves] is taking McGuinty’s politics out of context to the point where, even if you hate McGuinty you’re going, ‘That’s not really what he’s saying.’
There’s almost a sense of relief when you see [McGuinty’s] ads in that he’s talking about what he intends to do, almost regardless of whether or not you agree with it.
At least he looks like a reasonable adult who is ready to engage in some sort of public debate. I think it was nicely written the way he said, ‘I’m not going to raise your taxes, but I’m not going to cut them either.’
I love the fact that there’s a hint of tough talk in there.
