TBWA/Edinburgh wins SLP 2003 election task

The Scottish Labour Party has appointed TBWA/Edinburgh to handle the party’s election campaign for the Scottish Parliamentary elections in 2003.

The account is the first win for the agency, which opened its doors for business this month.

The main Labour Party account is held by TBWA/London. The agency is known for its Labour billboard advertising with the tagline “Get out and vote. Or they get in”, which portrayed the former Tory leader William Hague with Margaret Thatcher’s hair.

TBWA/Edinburgh replaced the incumbent The Union, which was on the shortlist, and pitched against The Bridge and 1576. The pitch was overseen by the party’s head of marketing, Steven Lawther.

The Union bowed out when it won a place on the Scottish Executive roster following the closure of Yellow M Edinburgh ( MW August 29).

Next year’s election strategy for the Scottish Labour Party is expected to focus on raising its profile and moving away from its controversial 1999 campaign, when it attacked the Scottish National Party (SNP).

The campaign hit out at SNP’s devolution strategy, which called for a complete split from Westminster, by using an image of Hitler’s face on a blank bank note. The ad was created by The Union.