Political Advertising: Why on Earth?

Chris Powell

Discusses how and why political parties advertise (in the month before the 2001 General Election). How political advertising differs from commercial: it contributes to the outcome but is seldom decisive.

Political Advertising: Why on Earth?

Chris Powell BMP DDB

Why do politicians do it? Advertising costs a lot, and raising the money gets them into all sorts of scrapes. But there they go, 15 points ahead, or behind, in the polls, shovelling millions of pounds in the direction of the poster contractors,  in the belief it can make all the difference.

It is notoriously difficult (though not impossible) to gauge the effect of advertising, even for commercial brands. At least with them, advertising is usually the dominant one of only very few modes of communication between brand and public....

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