David Cameron has today set out the Health chapter of the draft Conservative manifesto, firing the opening rounds of a 16 week election campaign. “The risk of public boredom has to be considerable,” writes Ian Martin in the WSJ, in an article ntitled rather aptly “And they’re off (their heads)”. I’ve not read the chapter in full, but its content seems to be the sort of common sense, well handled, moderate “don’t scare the horses”-type reform that so characterises the work of Andrew Lansley and has proved so popular with both patients and professionals. Full marks for that.

I must admit however that I am not struck by the poster, which doesn’t do the policy justice. Billboard advertising is not as a rule particularly cost effective compared to other forms of marketing and as such when used it’s important that the poster is either carrying a strong message in a memorable way (1992 Labour’s Tax Bombshell, 1979 Labour Isn’t Working) or carrying a simple single message in slogan form repeated across multiple mediums ad nauseum (L’Oréal “Because you’re worth it”, 118 118 “Got your number, etc). It’s simply because most people aren’t looking at the billboards – they’re driving and/or uninterested – so you either grab their attention, ram home a strong message quickly and make it memorable, or drip feed it gradually. The former works well in politics, as it gets the message over quickly and lets you move on, while the latter works best for brands with only one simple message as it takes longer to sink in.

In this instance I have several concerns. For starters I think there are definately better pictures of David Cameron, as this one looks a little too neat – especially hair wise – and is too “soft focus”. One person I asked thought it was airbrushed, another didn’t recognise him, and both have a point. However ditching the neck tie is a good move, making him look more open, less politician like, more natural, and more normal.

The poster has too many messages (“We can’t go on like this”, “I want to cut the deficit, not the NHS”) and I don’t really understand the relationship between them. “We can’t go on like this” will confuse many people – can’t go on like what? Then does everyone understand the deficit? Will people believe the part about not cutting the NHS, or are we just underlining that Labour attack by keep mentioning it? Won’t some say cutting the deficit and cutting the NHS are linked?

Tags: advertising, Andrew Lansley, Cameron, Conservative, Conservatives, David Cameron, health, healthcare, NHS
Posted in Blog, Conservatives