Is red, blue or yellow the colour for direct marketers?
“Power to the people!” was the rallying cry emanating from Battersea Power Station last Tuesday. No, not a call-to-arms from Wolfie “Citizen” Smith or a tribute to John Lennon, but the big idea unveiled by the man who could be the UK’s next Prime Minister, David Cameron.
The Tory leader invited us all to “join the government of Britain”, not a novel idea aimed at forming an unlikely coalition in the event of a hung parliament but a Kennedy-like collective responsibility approach to governing that Cameron hopes will tip the balance in his favour come 6 May.
Elsewhere, the Prime Minister assumed the role of the nation’s avuncular guide through and out of the recession at both Labour’s manifesto launch and the leaders’ debate. For their part the Liberal Democrats continued to look for their niche in the over crowded middle ground, while Nick Clegg was effectively introduced as leader to a large chunk of the electorate that thought Vince Cable called the shots.
Now, manifestos are not traditionally the place to find the minutia of policy, that just scares voters, but industry will have been poring hopefully or even anxiously over the parties’ pitches to the country, dissecting the text for clues as to what it means for them.
So what should direct marketers be aware of in the three pitches? In this newsletter, Caroline Roberts, director of public affairs at the Direct Marketing Association, has trawled through them so you don’t have to.
Plans for the environment, the Royal Mail, enterprise and regulation and or self regulation of the adverting industry are all laid bare.
One thing is clear, direct marketers, professionally and personally have much to chew over in the next two weeks.
