In the recent UK election the Conservative Party tried to sell the electorate on a vision for a ‘Big Society‘.
Despite their best efforts, it failed to grab voters and the resulting mess is still being negotiated in shady deals conducted in the proverbial ‘smoked filled rooms’ of Westminster.
From a marketing perspective, it’s interesting to speculate on why the voters didn’t get excited by the concept.
The Labour Party wasted no time dubbing it a plan for a ‘DIY State’. And that gained plenty of media coverage. In fact – I first heard about the ‘Big Society’ via this very slur. That fact alone highlights the problem the Conservative Party faced in trying to get its message out to the people.
It also shows the Labour Party enjoy people with far more political and marketing skill than the poor old Conservative Party. The phrase ‘DIY State’ conveys far more emotional impact and meaning than ‘Big Society’.
For a start, the term DIY State implies capitalism. And that’s a dirty word for the majority of UK voters at the moment, thanks to the banking fiasco that the Labour government actually made possible.
The term also implies self-reliance, unlike the anaemic term ‘Big Society’. And yet that’s exactly what the Conservatives were trying to communicate. In essence, the Conservatives chose a catch-phrase that is devoid of any useful meaning from a marketing perspective.
Their chosen headline ‘grabber’ lacked even the ability to polarise the electorate.
This implies a lack of confidence on the part of the Tories, and they are seemingly unwilling to stand behind their own ideas. Personally, I wouldn’t mind a DIY State. I suspect many tax-payers would respond likewise.
It’s also interesting to note that the Conservative Party’s last election winner had no trouble speaking her mind.
Everybody who writes marketing copy can learn from the Conservative Party’s mistake. The words you chose to describe your vision play a vital role in how it’s received.
Weasel words chosen specifically to avoid upsetting people never work. They fail to inspire the faithful. And they provide the opposition with the means to upstage you by using forceful language in opposition.
