In case you haven’t heard, the Australian federal election campaign trail has well and truly kicked off for this year’s candidates. With a prized seat in parliament on the line for the winner of each electorate, major parties and independents alike have begun to make their presence felt. Whether on the way to campus or commuting around your local area, you would have likely seen plenty of promotional material hoping to secure your vote. Yet, how exactly do these political hopefuls formulate a campaign to obtain your support? How has this changed throughout history? Most importantly, what takeaways can help you in your future campaign to become a parliamentarian?
No political campaign would be complete without the traditional marketing methods of the past. Since Australia’s inception as a federation in 1901, physical visibility has been paramount in raising awareness towards candidates and their respective policies. Billboards and lawn signs filled neighbourhoods whilst flyers were given out at train stations as they still (annoyingly) are today.
More recently, television advertisements first emerged as a political tool to reach the masses through the Australian Labour Party’s ‘It’s Time’ campaign of 1972. Nowadays, this has become a common channel through which to convey political messaging and highlight the shortcomings of opposing candidates in every ad-break of your favourite reality TV show. Whilst expensive, these mediums have allowed political candidates to achieve widespread reach across large demographics of voters. As such, these pre-Internet marketing methods are undoubtedly a must-have staple for your next political campaign.
But with the passage of time came the upgrade of technology, with the pollies using every new tool at their disposal to grab your attention (and hopefully your vote too!). In 2019, many of us would have checked our phones after class hoping to see if our mates had texted us back, only to find out that our latest notification was from none other than the United Australia Party (we’re still wondering how they got our numbers). Fortunately for us, our innovative politicians had another trick up their sleeves; managing to figure out that all the young voters were on the ‘net and watching YouTube videos. Before being able to press ‘Skip Ad’, we got to listen to a creative interpretation of Twisted Sister’s 80s hit, affectionately known to Australians as ‘Australia Ain’t Gonna Cop It’ authorisedbyClivePalmerfortheUnitedAustraliaPartyBrisbane.
Unfortunately for them, this actually resulted in a million-dollar lawsuit. However, at the very least, it opened the doors for more creative marketing and was many people’s first meeting of the marriage between social media marketing and political campaigns.
Moving on to the modern day and age, social media has not just become a fun internet phenomenon, but rather the lifeblood of our generation. While other generations enjoyed reading about political debates in Ye Olde Newspaper, Gen Z is a little bit different. As much as we enjoy online shopping & ordering Uber Eats, there is nothing our generation loves more than scrolling through the latest and greatest on social media. Political parties have started to use Tik Toks and Instagram memes to roast one another, citing pop culture references like Avengers Endgame & using trending Tik Tok sounds to attempt to take down the other parties. Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, I think we can all agree that our politicians have spiced up our FYPs.
Hopefully you now have an idea of how you may (or may not) run your next political campaign - a successful political campaign requires implementing a variety of these marketing methods! But in all seriousness, we know voting can be a bit daunting (especially for us young first-time voters). Fortunately, we’re all in this together and there are plenty of resources out there online to help you educate yourself on each parties’ policies and how the voting system works. Plus, at the end of it, you can score yourself a snag. Maybe catch you at the voting centre this weekend!
Written by Tolu and Anton
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