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'New era' in political ad campaigns
Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, November 26, 2007
RESEARCH is that rear-view mirror that helps us to drive more safely into the future. Now that the dust has settled after the general election campaigns, it was timely that the Research and Policy Group at the Mona School of Business (MSB) held a forum on political advertising.
Jean Lowrie-Chin
We got so caught up in the hype leading up to the September 3 general elections that some even felt a pang of loss after the ding-dong battle on screen and airwaves finally came to an end.
MSB research fellow, media guru Claude Robinson planned the event, inviting JLP General Secretary Karl Samuda, PNP Communication Commission Head Sharon Hay-Webster, Department of Government Lecturer Richard 'Dickie' Crawford and yours truly, as an ad agency head, to examine various aspects of the PNP and JLP election campaigns.
The great thing about a university platform is that it has the opposite effect of its political counterpart. The politicians were open and cordial. Karl Samuda recalled his starring role in the "cock mout' kill cock" campaign, but this resilient politician dubbed the embarrassing experience as "the start of a new era" in political advertising.
Like their North American counterparts, he said the campaigns "started to use the voice of the individual to attack the individual and built an entire programme around utterances that Government had forgotten about".
Thus came the famous "don't draw mi tongue!" commercial. He described the clinical approach his party took after they realised last May, a few months after she was elected PNP president, that Portia Simpson Miller was enjoying a 20-25 per cent lead as Jamaica's most popular leader.
Samuda said that the party's research showed that Bruce Golding was still largely unknown and decided that the first phase of their campaign would be "Golding revealed". Suddenly Jamaica discovered that this "brown" man had a black, beautiful wife, Lorna; a Rastafarian son, Steven; and articulate daughters, Sherene and Ann-Merita.
Even as they "unveiled" Bruce, they turned the spotlight on a negative incident featuring Simpson Miller. The "don't draw mi tongue" ad juxtaposing Portia and Audley Shaw in what seemed like a heated argument, featured clever editing and some digital manipulation at the end of the commercial.
The woman commenting "Sistah P, you cyaan handle the prime minister work!" made it a hard-hitting death knell like Samuda's "Cock mout' kill cock" and had the same lethal effect.
I pointed out that the JLP stole the march on the PNP in terms of use of technology. Their website loaded up almost instantly, linking all their commercials to YouTube for instant play and replay. Their site offered ringtone downloads and invited donations.
Samuda made reference to the involvement of "the young G2K geniuses . bright Jamaicans deciding to make a difference". Describing the intensity of the campaign he told us, "We drank gallons of coffee. We were a think tank that never slept."
Sharon Hay-Webster was so engaging that we wondered why the PNP had been hiding her light under a bushel. As she harked back to the campaigns, she asked of both parties, "How do we re-engage, now that we are perceived as corrupt, untrustworthy. controlling media [or conversely] anti-media?"
Hay-Webster said there were many lessons learned. Changing ad agencies in midstream had interfered with the campaign, but the weaknesses in the PNP's communication strategy, she believed, occurred long before, when they discontinued their "Live and Direct" tours.
She said that because the PNP had not been publicising their achievements enough, people thought they had "bought footage" to enhance their message. She observed that Manchester newcomer Peter Bunting was able to get a march on his popular opponent, Sally Porteous, by carefully planning his own personal campaign that included cable.
Hay-Webster reminded us that the JLP victory "was still by the closest margin in history", with Samuda responding that his party has "one more target - to reduce the base of the PNP".
Professor Neville Ying, MSB executive director, shared research on the issue of trust, revealing that a distressing 59 per cent said, "Most people are not essentially good and can't be trusted." He said the highest levels of trust went to: (1) family, (2) school, (3) university, and (4) the church, while the lowest went to (1) local government councils, (2) political parties, (3) the police, and (4) Parliament.
Reflecting on this, Claude Robinson said more research should be done on the backlash from negative advertising, calling for greater emphasis on policy. He challenged us to reflect on who suffers the most from the cynicism generated by negative advertising.
Dickie Crawford pointed out that the JLP manifesto of 'promises' would have been more appealing to young voters than the PNP's "2030 vision", and that the prospect of free high school tuition must have gained support from a large chunk of the electorate. Both parties, he said, downplayed the important issue of crime and violence. He observed that of the many polls, some were genuine and some may well have been "push-polls".
Dr Hopeton Dunn, Telecoms Policy and Management director at UWI, named three target groups for political campaigns: the 'waverers', the partisans and the ambivalents. He said that there was a significant movement from "the hypodermic needle" messaging to respect for a "critical-thinking" audience.
In this information age, it is even easier for perception to become reality. My 'take-away' is that educators and media should promote greater critical thinking. While we may not be able to control the explosion of messages through new and traditional media, we can work to ensure that no campaign will "dumb down" or benumb our national consciousness.
Effie and Seragh Lakersingh
We first met Effie and Seragh Lakersingh on Sir Alex's and Lady B's cool veranda at Bellencita in Irish Town. These steadfast patriots continue to be like son and daughter to Lady Bustamante.
Last week they celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary and Effie's national honour, the Order of Distinction. They bring to mind Rilke's words, "I am so glad you are here. it helps me to realise how beautiful my world is."
lowriechin@aim.com
Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, November 26, 2007
RESEARCH is that rear-view mirror that helps us to drive more safely into the future. Now that the dust has settled after the general election campaigns, it was timely that the Research and Policy Group at the Mona School of Business (MSB) held a forum on political advertising.
Jean Lowrie-Chin We got so caught up in the hype leading up to the September 3 general elections that some even felt a pang of loss after the ding-dong battle on screen and airwaves finally came to an end.
MSB research fellow, media guru Claude Robinson planned the event, inviting JLP General Secretary Karl Samuda, PNP Communication Commission Head Sharon Hay-Webster, Department of Government Lecturer Richard 'Dickie' Crawford and yours truly, as an ad agency head, to examine various aspects of the PNP and JLP election campaigns.
The great thing about a university platform is that it has the opposite effect of its political counterpart. The politicians were open and cordial. Karl Samuda recalled his starring role in the "cock mout' kill cock" campaign, but this resilient politician dubbed the embarrassing experience as "the start of a new era" in political advertising.
Like their North American counterparts, he said the campaigns "started to use the voice of the individual to attack the individual and built an entire programme around utterances that Government had forgotten about".
Thus came the famous "don't draw mi tongue!" commercial. He described the clinical approach his party took after they realised last May, a few months after she was elected PNP president, that Portia Simpson Miller was enjoying a 20-25 per cent lead as Jamaica's most popular leader.
Samuda said that the party's research showed that Bruce Golding was still largely unknown and decided that the first phase of their campaign would be "Golding revealed". Suddenly Jamaica discovered that this "brown" man had a black, beautiful wife, Lorna; a Rastafarian son, Steven; and articulate daughters, Sherene and Ann-Merita.
Even as they "unveiled" Bruce, they turned the spotlight on a negative incident featuring Simpson Miller. The "don't draw mi tongue" ad juxtaposing Portia and Audley Shaw in what seemed like a heated argument, featured clever editing and some digital manipulation at the end of the commercial.
The woman commenting "Sistah P, you cyaan handle the prime minister work!" made it a hard-hitting death knell like Samuda's "Cock mout' kill cock" and had the same lethal effect.
I pointed out that the JLP stole the march on the PNP in terms of use of technology. Their website loaded up almost instantly, linking all their commercials to YouTube for instant play and replay. Their site offered ringtone downloads and invited donations.
Samuda made reference to the involvement of "the young G2K geniuses . bright Jamaicans deciding to make a difference". Describing the intensity of the campaign he told us, "We drank gallons of coffee. We were a think tank that never slept."
Sharon Hay-Webster was so engaging that we wondered why the PNP had been hiding her light under a bushel. As she harked back to the campaigns, she asked of both parties, "How do we re-engage, now that we are perceived as corrupt, untrustworthy. controlling media [or conversely] anti-media?"
Hay-Webster said there were many lessons learned. Changing ad agencies in midstream had interfered with the campaign, but the weaknesses in the PNP's communication strategy, she believed, occurred long before, when they discontinued their "Live and Direct" tours.
She said that because the PNP had not been publicising their achievements enough, people thought they had "bought footage" to enhance their message. She observed that Manchester newcomer Peter Bunting was able to get a march on his popular opponent, Sally Porteous, by carefully planning his own personal campaign that included cable.
Hay-Webster reminded us that the JLP victory "was still by the closest margin in history", with Samuda responding that his party has "one more target - to reduce the base of the PNP".
Professor Neville Ying, MSB executive director, shared research on the issue of trust, revealing that a distressing 59 per cent said, "Most people are not essentially good and can't be trusted." He said the highest levels of trust went to: (1) family, (2) school, (3) university, and (4) the church, while the lowest went to (1) local government councils, (2) political parties, (3) the police, and (4) Parliament.
Reflecting on this, Claude Robinson said more research should be done on the backlash from negative advertising, calling for greater emphasis on policy. He challenged us to reflect on who suffers the most from the cynicism generated by negative advertising.
Dickie Crawford pointed out that the JLP manifesto of 'promises' would have been more appealing to young voters than the PNP's "2030 vision", and that the prospect of free high school tuition must have gained support from a large chunk of the electorate. Both parties, he said, downplayed the important issue of crime and violence. He observed that of the many polls, some were genuine and some may well have been "push-polls".
Dr Hopeton Dunn, Telecoms Policy and Management director at UWI, named three target groups for political campaigns: the 'waverers', the partisans and the ambivalents. He said that there was a significant movement from "the hypodermic needle" messaging to respect for a "critical-thinking" audience.
In this information age, it is even easier for perception to become reality. My 'take-away' is that educators and media should promote greater critical thinking. While we may not be able to control the explosion of messages through new and traditional media, we can work to ensure that no campaign will "dumb down" or benumb our national consciousness.
Effie and Seragh Lakersingh
We first met Effie and Seragh Lakersingh on Sir Alex's and Lady B's cool veranda at Bellencita in Irish Town. These steadfast patriots continue to be like son and daughter to Lady Bustamante.
Last week they celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary and Effie's national honour, the Order of Distinction. They bring to mind Rilke's words, "I am so glad you are here. it helps me to realise how beautiful my world is."
lowriechin@aim.com
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