Unpacking the election: ZAG's early POV
Introduction
As the 2024 election approaches, the UK is gearing up for a political showdown which feels like it’s been a long time in the making. Parties have been discussing and planning for months, if not years, fine tuning their strategy, branding and tactics.
At ZAG, our day to day focuses on doing exactly this for startups and corporates, so thought it would be interesting to apply our growth focused strategic lens on the moves being made by the leading parties.
We will do this in 3 ways:
Proposition - what unique and ownable value will each party create for their voters, (and potentially the country) and what policies do they have which make us believe that they are capable of delivering on it?
Brand - who are they, what is their personality, and how will we as voters experience the policies they will put in place?
GTM Strategy - how are the parties approaching their campaigns, what is their strategy to win seats not just votes, and what channels or partnerships are they focusing on?
In the interests of keeping this short, we’ll focus on the main 2 parties, and how their strategies are shaping up so far, but will bring in some honourable mentions from the chasing pack.
Labour
Proposition: Keir Starmer is positioning Labour as the party for change and social equity. Policies focus on reversing austerity, bolstering public services and tackling income inequality.?
Their proposition is “change, restoring pride and purpose in our country”. This articulates the value which Labour would bring if in Government, in particular:
Unique? Yes. Believable? Probably. They are clear through their messaging and policies that their ambition is to differentiate their offering from that of the incumbent.
Brand: Their personality is that of the catalyst, the changemaker, the champion of the majority. Alongside this, they are making a concerted effort to be seen as empathetic, determined, and forward thinking, using very assertive language to reflect their commitment to the change they want to create.
Combining the traits of changemaker and catalyst, with the determined and assertive style is a powerful mix, portraying confidence to reassure voters amidst a period of uncertainty and change.
GTM: Labour are clearly on the offensive, Keir Starmer’s visit to West Sussex in the early days of the campaign (where all 8 constituencies previously voted Conservative), shows a confidence to win new voters, with different demographics and values than current labour voters.
Labour’s channel mix currently focuses on digital advertising, spending 3 times more on online ads than the Conservatives in the days following the election announcement. And the strategy seems to be working amongst their target, younger voters, with Tik Tok videos on uklabour’s page such as “POV: Rishi Sunak turns up at your 18th birthday to send you to war” being watched over 4.8m times with 700k likes. It is however, surprising to see such a divergence in spend between the main 2 parties, and it seems safe to assume the Conservatives will unlock the floodgates at some point soon.
Conservatives
Proposition: The Conservative’s proposition is, as it has been in the past, focused on stability and economic prudence. They are positioning themselves as the opposite of labour, the ‘been there and done it’ approach, and the only capable guardians of the nation’s course through these uncertain times.
Their proposition is “a clear plan of bold action for a secure future”. Within this they hit home their key propositional hooks:
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They do, however, face a challenge; they have to create policies which give voters a reason to believe in them, all while defending why they have failed to enact these policies whilst in power. How successful Rishi Sunak is in doing this may well prove fundamental to the results.
Brand: The brand the Conservatives are putting forward feels very authoritative, reflecting the sense of stability they are trying to portray in their proposition. During the recent ITV debate between Labour & The Conservatives, Rishi Sunak came across as combative in his approach, defending the values the party stands for, such as authority, patriotism and work ethic.
GTM: A much more defensive strategy than Labour’s - the current campaign approach has been to visit the marginal (~10k Conservative majority) seats in an effort to sure them up, and maintain as much of the current government as possible.
From a messaging standpoint they appear to be far more aggressive, bashing Labour with the age old accusation: Labour will raise your taxes! During the ITV debate Rishi Sunak mentioned Labour tax rises 15 times (although the ￡2000 increase has been challenged by the Treasury permanent secretary).
The Conservatives currently appear content to let Labour lead the political narrative, while undermining them at key points, and inserting targeted policies when possible (National service, Rwanda, Triple lock plus). They are playing directly to their target, the older demographic, tailoring their policies and messaging significantly to this group.
Other parties worth a mention
Lib Dems
Proposition: The Lib Dems are presenting themselves as the moderators amidst a political landscape which is increasingly polarised. They offer the middle ground on almost everything, most aptly illustrated with their aspirations for proportional representation.
While attempting to appeal to centrists, they risk failing to differentiate and appealing to nobody at all. They exhibit what we would describe to clients as ‘Iteration, not innovation’, offering small incremental changes, which in reality will struggle to move the needle. Rory Stewart, on The Rest is Politics, posed the question as to whether they would have been better going for a bold, differentiating policy to the other parties. Given all parties’ unwillingness to even mention the word Brexit, you wonder if they could be (to coin a term..?) the ‘Brentry’ party. I doubt any of us really have the appetite to go there again, but you could certainly envisage them more materially campaigning for closer ties with Europe which would set them apart significantly from the rest.
Reform
GTM: Initially expected to pull votes from both Labour and Conservatives, early polling suggested that Reform appears not to be gaining the traction which people had thought. While their messaging has clear cut-through; the challenger to the political establishment, they may not have the budget to back it up.?
They are funded for the most-part by (their now ex-leader), Richard Tice, who has contributed around 80% of Reform’s total funding in loans and donations since he took over in 2021. With the Conservatives increasing the campaign spending limit by a massive 80% to ￡35m at the end of last year, it may well be that Reform simply can’t compete. While in ZAG’s work with various startups, we will often seek to create a zero-budget marketing plan to acquire customers, at this scale, there is a risk that the larger parties drown out the Reform messages.
Enter Nigel… We are yet to see what influence Nigel Farage and the brand he brings with him will have on the election. Although he has never yet won a seat (despite 7 attempts), he and the Reform party are targeting Clacton, which voted for Brexit in high numbers and has a median age of 50 (against a UK average of 39). Could this be his year…?
In summary
The importance of a unique proposition, a compelling brand, and a cut through GTM strategy is as important to party campaigning, as it is to any growing business. It is the combination of these 3 things together that truly supercharge growth.?
It will be interesting to see how strategies and tactics change over the coming weeks, how the parties will learn from the messages which resonate and those which don’t, and how the mood in the country shifts in reaction to all of this.
Irrelevant of the outcome, and most importantly of all, at least the vast majority of us can take solace in being too old for national service. But just in case - make sure you get out there and vote when the time comes (and remember your ID!).
About the Author
Anthony Mason is a Strategy Director at ZAG whose work focuses on finding the sparks which help create new businesses or propositions to grow quickly in market. With experience in growth, customer and commercial strategy, Anthony has created exciting new businesses and propositions for leading global brands, and fast growing startups.