Labour’s problem: a great political product is one thing – selling it is another

Once Labour has a product something the majority want, we think, we’re in with a chance. They lost 2015 because the offer seemed flimsy. A better offer means a better chance.

But there’s still the problem of marketing.

Angela Eagle and Jon Wilson have argued the language of Labour isn’t working; too many “hard working families” and abstract nouns. The right words can change minds. The right marketing can change votes. In 2015, Labour didn’t know what it was selling and didn’t know how to sell it.

It’s not enough to know exactly what product you’re selling. You have to know how to sell. The Conservatives sold their manifesto as a tonic for the nation – medicine no-one likes to take but does because they think it’ll make them better. The Conservatives sold snake oil with a spoonful of sugar to over 11m people because they used good salesmen.

Talent isn’t cheap

In 2010, Labour spent half as much as the Conservatives on advertising – just £8m of the £19.5m legally allowed. The Conservatives knew good marketing is expensive. Not because of billboards, but because of talent.

In the advertising world, talent ends up at Saatchi & Saatchi. The agency created the now-legendary ‘Labour Isn’t Working’ 1978 campaign for the Conservatives. After the agency split, the Conservatives because a client of M&C Saatchi, whose work includes 1997’s ‘New Labour New Danger’ and 2015’s Miliband and Salmond ‘pocket’ image.

The Saatchi agencies work with impressive clients, including GlaxoSmithKline, Visa and Transport for London. Marketing for brands like that isn’t cheap; in 2010, their invoice for the Conservatives was well over £111,000.

Rule number one

The Conservative marketing from the Saatchi agencies is, on the whole, successful. It’s successful because the agencies know the first rule of advertising: understand what you’re selling. They’ve spent over 30 years on and off working with the party, so they know the product inside-out. Unfortunately, Labour didn’t have that.

Instead, Labour’s pre-election campaign included misplaced ideas like stone tablets and chocolate Nick Cleggs. The political narrative driven by the Conservatives meant Labour’s marketing was on the defensive, taking focus away from their product. While the Conservatives hammered home the medicinal manifesto, Labour berated ‘The Un-Credible Shrinking Man’ in a poorly-scripted, lengthy video.

Spend the money

The answer for Labour is to ditch the wacky, W1A-esque agencies and find solid talent which can sum up the Labour product in simple words and strong images.

Define what you’re selling. Find people who can sell it properly. Spend the money. And listen to Steve Hayden, creative and Ogilvy board member:

“Most people’s lives are brutish, dull and long. If you can bring a momentary diversion, a promise that there is something interesting going on out there that might make a difference, they will love you.

If you are lying, of course, they will tear you to pieces. So make the truth as interesting as it can be, and never look down on your audience.”