Image counts: a new political discovery
News that the Labour Party is looking for a new advertising agency and that the Tories are changing their new tree logo from green to blue raised the odd wry smile here.
Trying to act like (somewhat dysfunctional) corporate organisations has long been the order of the day in political parties. But the basic fact that the Tories are missing in their new logo is that most corporates stick to their guns once they have decided on their future strategy, style and message (British Airways’ tailfins, Consignia and Monday aside).
David Cameron is still worrying about the lack of party support for his foray into touchy feely centre ground politics and doesn’t want to alienate himself any further from the blue-rinse brigade. In fact if Dave really wanted to a radical PR campaign wouldn’t he have persuaded one of the ladies of Tunbridge Wells to dye their hair green as one of the ‘cunning stunts’ we in the industry like to come up with?
People feel strongly about logos – rest assured. Look at the emotive response to the ‘2012’ fiasco. (Personally, speaking as a style guru - read shopping addict – I do feel that whole ‘graffiti’ thing is so yesterday, which will make it look even worse in 5 years time.)
What the best corporates and NGOs do is make a decision about their image and identity and stick to it for a bit longer than this. Admitting and addressing mistakes can be an effective tactic when responding to outside pressure but gumption goes a long way in the world of corporate communications and is often underrated.
And if anyone would like a little further entertainment at the expense of the new blue tree, I can recommend the Telegraph’s own comments section, my favourite of which reads “In an era of politics where the successful politician has to be all things to all men, why not a range of colours for the voter to choose from?”