Strategic considerations

Following up on this post about the New Democrats' 2008 election strategy, let's note a couple more interesting developments over the past few days.

First, there's the Globe and Mail's report on the NDP's advertising plan - which not only offers a well-placed association between the NDP and its award-winning advertising firm, but also signals what kind of ads are likely in the works:

Cheeky and irreverent?

Not the definition that quickly comes to mind when one thinks Campaign '08.

We think, thus far, of a Prime Minister in a sweater vest and many images of snapping flags.

All that is about to change with the news that Zig, the feisty, award-winning Toronto-based ad shop, has taken the lead for the NDP's advertising campaign. The agency is perhaps best known for its work for Ikea (the hyper shopper who yells “Start the car!” and more recent commercials featuring a young couple who “pop” as they place Ikea furnishings about their apartment). Other clients include Molson Canadian, Best Buy and Virgin Mobile.

Next up: the branding of NDP Leader Jack Layton.

“I can tell you we are in fact working with the NDP,” says Zig partner Andy Macaulay, who confirms that the Zig crew have taken the lead on the creative work. “Lots of people in our place are working on it.” Mr. Macaulay won't say when the firm was handed the assignment. “I can't tell you that because the election hasn't been called.”

Needless to say, it'll be very interesting to see what Zig and the party can come up with in the "cheeky and irreverent" department. And for a party looking to maximize the upside of its national election spending, it makes all the sense in the world to put money into ads which will be entertaining enough to spread (with positive reviews) through news reports and online distribution, rather than putting together a Con-style set of schlock which relies almost entirely on paid distribution channels.

Mind you, there does figure to be a difficult balance between creating ads which are entertaining enough to go viral, and ones which are politically-oriented enough to sway opinions toward Layton and the NDP. But there's still plenty of reason to look forward to seeing what the NDP can do to combine the two.

The second key development, and primarily a follow-up point from my earlier point, is Brad Lavigne's clarification about how the NDP plans to deal with the other opposition parties:

"If you apply for a job, you don't normally talk about the other applicants," the New Democratic Party leader said yesterday, when asked why he had delivered an entire campaign-style speech without once saying the Liberal leader's name or bringing up his carbon tax.

NDP strategist Brad Lavigne confirmed Layton will focus on Harper rather than Dion, but the election campaign will respond to any perceived misinformation put out by the Liberals or other parties.

Now, it's certainly for the best that Layton isn't planning to let Lib attacks go unanswered. But the strategy now seems to be phrased almost as a challenge to the other opposition parties to focus primarily on Harper as well.

As I noted in my earlier post, the Libs' best strategy in responding to the NDP's statement that it won't target them is likely to adopt a similar policy in an effort to cut the NDP out of a two-party debate. And that doesn't figure to change based on the clarification.

But the declaration that the NDP will indeed attack "perceived misinformation" may lead to just the opposite result for the Greens. Having never been shy about spreading misinformation about the NDP in an effort to try to poach environmental and protest votes, they may only be encouraged to ramp up their attacks knowing that the NDP will take the effort to respond defensively without attacking in kind.

Which means that the NDP's now-telegraphed strategy may effectively put to the test the Greens' claims to want to focus on Harper and do politics differently. But based on Elizabeth May's track record, it's a risky bet for the NDP to be banking on the Greens following through on their rhetoric. And if Layton ends up having to spend a substantial amount of the campaign either answering more spurious Green attacks or being accused of accepting their misinformation based on the party's declaration that it'll refute any false assertions, then the downside of the NDP's effort to aim high may become all too clear.