Page 158 - An Introduction to Political Communication Fifth Edition

Intro to Politics Communication (5th edn)-p.qxp 9/2/11 10:55 Page 137

POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS
Many of the criticisms directed at Blair throughout his period in office
were premised on the notion that he was not ‘real’ Labour at all, but a Tory
in Labour clothing. In the final analysis Blair, like most political leaders, was
dependent on the approval of his own party members for his power, even if
he had successfully transformed ‘old’ Labour into New and established an
authority enjoyed by few, if any of his predecessors in office.
As the example of New Labour shows, the party has its own identity and
character which, like the personal images of its leaders, can be shaped and
moulded. As Bruce notes, ‘all effective communications strategies contain what
is called a positioning statement, a clear analysis of what the brand (or
company, person, political party, etc.) is for: who it is for, and why anyone
should be interested in choosing it’ (1992, p. 87) [his emphasis].
In designing the strategy, as we noted earlier, marketing and research
consultants must first establish the ‘core values’ of the party’s target audi-
ence, which then become the basis for selling the organisation as the one best
able to defend and reflect those values.
The previous chapter examined the uses of advertising in political
communication. Other techniques available to the image-maker include the
design of party logos and other signifiers of corporate identity. In the mid-
1970s the Conservative Party adopted its ‘torch’ logo. Ten years later, as part
of its overhauling of communication strategy, Labour abandoned the
symbolism of the red flag (viewed by the leadership as a sign with negative
connotations of bureaucratic, Soviet-style socialism) in favour of the ‘red
rose’, a logo first successfully employed by the French socialists. Both parties,
as already noted, expend great efforts in the design of conference backdrops,
seeking to symbolise with colour and form their core political values.
Another important marketing technique is that of ‘product endorsement’.
In commercial terms this is achieved by positioning the product (in an
advertisement or promotional event) alongside a well-known and popular
personality, usually from the worlds of entertainment and sport. In politics
this approach has been used since the 1960s when Harold Wilson received
the Beatles at 10 Downing Street. Whether or not Mr Wilson enjoyed the
Beatles’ music, it was certainly clear to him that large numbers of the British
electorate did. To be photographed and filmed with the Beatles was an
attempt to appropriate this image and its connotations; to have his ‘product’
endorsed by young, trendy musicians. In the late 1980s, towards the end of
her period in office, Margaret Thatcher tried a similar trick with football star
Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne. If some of his working-class ‘blokishness’ could rub
off on her, she apparently felt, it would assist her to retain popularity. In the
end she, like Gazza, was to fall from grace. In the Blair government’s first
year in office, the Prime Minister hosted several parties for celebrities from
the worlds of art, entertainment and youth culture at 10 Downing Street.
Meetings with Oasis’ writer and manager (Noel Gallagher and Alan McGee
respectively) were photographed and widely publicised (although the

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