Tory party bruisers roll up sleeves as they put Miliband in Salmond's pocket
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Version 0 of 1. The Conservative party’s poster depicting Ed Miliband in the pocket of Alex Salmond shows that the gloves have come off in the run-up to the general election. The Tories have turned to M&C Saatchi, the ad agency responsible for the 1997 Tony Blair “demon eyes” poster, to spearhead an offensive expected to be heavy on traditional negative political campaigning tactics. Prime Minister David Cameron’s party are investing heavily in outdoor media such as poster and billboard sites nationwide, a strategy not expected to be followed by rival parties. It is unlikely that Labour will look to embark on a tit-for-tat negative advertising campaign strategy, although in the 2010 election the party did portray Cameron as Gene Hunt, the politically incorrect police chief from the BBC’s Ashes to Ashes programme, with the slogan: “Don’t let him take Britain back to the 1980s.” Labour is using ad agency Lucky Generals, as well as a “collective of well-meaning” individuals and talent. In previous elections, help has come from figures including Trevor Beattie, the ad man behind campaigns including Wonderbra’s Eva Herzigova-fronted Hello Boys! and French Connection’s FCUK ads. The Tory marketing strategy is being masterminded by Lynton Crosby, the Australian with a reputation for running negative election campaigns. He worked with Michael Howard on the Conservative’s 2005 general election campaign and on Boris Johnson’s successful bid to become London mayor in 2008. Another Australian, M&C Saatchi co-founder and executive director Bill Muirhead, is thought to be integral in handling the agency’s Tory account. “It is safe to assume it is being handled at the most senior levels,” said one source. Muirhead and agency co-founders Charles and Maurice Saatchi are longtime collaborators with the Conservatives, having been responsible for the 1979 “Labour isn’t Working” poster at their previous company, Saatchi & Saatchi. Charles Saatchi sold out of the agency in 2006, while brother Maurice remains a director. M&C Saatchi also worked on the successful Better Together campaign to persuade Scotland to vote no to independence last year. Lord Bell, Margaret Thatcher’s top PR adviser, is not convinced by the three Conservative campaign ads he has seen to date. “I don’t think much of what I have seen,” he said. “It is not that I don’t like attack ads, but you need to attack with subtlety and reward your audience. “I’m not sure about M&C Saatchi’s philosophy of ‘brutal simplicity of thought’. In this case, they are leaning a bit too much on brutality and not enough on simplicity.” A Labour spokesman said: “Labour is working to out-organise the Tories, because we can’t hope to match their spending. “Our social engagement is harnessing an army of people who have pledged online to volunteer to campaign on the doorstep. Tweets don’t win elections, people win elections. “Our online campaign is there to motivate and mobilise them and make their campaigning as impactful as possible.” Bell said he believed that beyond the most recent attack ad, the Conservative party is taking the right approach. “They have the right strategy – Britain’s on the right track don’t turn back – and while Crosby’s [ad] strategy may be boring as hell, he takes no risks, that’s fine as Cameron is a no-risk merchant,” he said. “I don’t think advertising will be a big issue in this campaign, unless a cockup becomes a story.” On that front, the Tories have already taken a hit when it emerged that the first poster, showing a rural scene and the “road to a stronger economy”, had used images from the German countryside. |