Page 134 - An Introduction to Political Communication Third Edition

ADVERTISING

In the general election campaign of 1987 the same approach was
adopted, with Saatchi and Saatchi again producing the PEBs. This
time, qualitative market research showed a popular desire for
a more ‘caring’ image on the part of Margaret Thatcher and her
government. By 1987, moreover, as the next section describes,
the Labour Party had joined in the professional marketing game,
providing the Conservatives, for the first time, with serious
competition in the advertising elements of the campaign. Among
the broadcasts prepared by Saatchi and Saatchi was one depicting
the prime minister in ‘elder stateswoman’ mode, travelling to the
Soviet Union (as it still was), meeting and ‘doing business’ with
Gorbachev, being fêted and adored on the streets of Moscow, and
ending (by implication) the Cold War.
In the five years between the Tories’ landslide victory of 1987
and the general election of 1992, much changed within the party.
Most importantly, Margaret Thatcher had been deposed as prime
minister by dissidents within her own party, to be replaced by
John Major, a political figure of distinctly different image and
personality. The change of leadership thus required a change in
communication strategy, such that a government which had been in
office for thirteen years could claim to be offering something new.
In 1991 party chairman Chris Patten re-appointed Saatchi and
Saatchi to handle the upcoming campaign, in an attempt to ‘rebuild
the creative atmosphere of 1978 and 1979’ (Butler and Kavanagh,
1992, p. 35). The company utilised the qualitative research methods
and results of Richard Wirthlin, who had been consulted extensively
after the perceived failures of the 1987 campaign. Wirthlin

claimed that, although voters’ preferences on personalities
and policies fluctuated, values were more stable; if the
Party could understand and, to some extent, shape those
values, then it would be much better placed to develop an
effective communication strategy. The research required
time-consuming and expensive in-depth interviews . . .
[and] suggested that the most important values which
the electorate sought in parties were, in order: 1. Hope;
2. Security; 3. Peace of Mind.
(Ibid., p. 36)

On the basis of these findings Saatchi and Saatchi developed for the
Conservatives an advertising campaign which emphasised the
party’s reputation for being strong in economic management, while

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