Brand 'Fianna Fáil' - Is it worthless

[todaytonight]

I used to work in marketing and have taken a keen interest in political "brands" over the past few years. Bertie's "A lot done, more to do" in 2002, while the blandest slogan in the history of branding, actually created resonance with his audience.

What we are seeing now is FF people trying to kill their own brand. I drove from West Cork back to Dublin last week and was amazed that FF allow their candidates to put the logo so small that it cannot be read from a passing car.
From Joe Carroll in Skibbereen, Brian Crowley in Ireland South to Maria Corrigan in Rathfarnham you would assume from the passing car that they are all independent candidates.
Is the game up for FF? If FF's own evangelisits are ashamed of their once proud party, what chance do they have?
Do they think people are stupid? for example Maria Corrigan will have a big FF logo next to her name on the Ballot paper, does she think people will not notice?

[Propforward]

Never underestimate the self distructive tendencies of the Irish people.

And never underestimate how much stupid Fianna Fail consider them...

[Ah Well]

I used to work in marketing and have taken a keen interest in political "brands" over the past few years. Bertie's "A lot done, more to do" in 2002, while the blandest slogan in the history of branding, actually created resonance with his audience.

What we are seeing now is FF people trying to kill their own brand. I drove from West Cork back to Dublin last week and was amazed that FF allow their candidates to put the logo so small that it cannot be read from a passing car.
From Joe Carroll in Skibbereen, Brian Crowley in Ireland South to Maria Corrigan in Rathfarnham you would assume from the passing car that they are all independent candidates.
Is the game up for FF? If FF's own evangelisits are ashamed of their once proud party, what chance do they have?
Do they think people are stupid? for example Maria Corrigan will have a big FF logo next to her name on the Ballot paper, does she think people will not notice?

Any chance the Gov would be able/entitled to change the Ballot papers before polling day to leave out the party logos for all candidates or make them the size of an ant? I wouldn't put it past them if that were possible

[Dios]

"A lot done, more to do"

Shouldn't that have been, "I done ye all, nobody left to do"?

[revereie]

You may have experience of marketing but evidently not of politics.

Any FFer ashamed of the party can, and quite a few have run as Independent - thereby ridding their posters of the FF-brand altogether.

From my limited knowledge of marketing, I admire Labour, Libertas' and most of my own parties posters as they employ strong solid colour on their posters. Red and white for Labour, Prussian Blue for libertas and deep Green for FF - all very vivid and striking.

(This isn't a pop at FG but their posters are striving for something like what Obama and Clinton had at their rpess-conferences i.e. cheerleaders of all ages and shades standing behind them whenever they were on a podium - you will see various persons in the background behind the candidate on FG posters. In a nutshell - it doesn't work in this medium!)

[Ah Well]

Shouldn't that have been, "I done ye all, nobody left to do"?

Not necessarily, tis quite appropriate as is if you take it to mean damage done/still to occur and come out

[Watcher1]

Shouldn't that have been, "I done ye all, nobody left to do"?

Why do you think they allowed in so many immigrants?

Fresh meat.

[sumlulu]

You may have experience of marketing but evidently not of politics.

Any FFer ashamed of the party can, and quite a few have run as Independent - thereby ridding their posters of the FF-brand altogether.

From my limited knowledge of marketing, I admire Labour, Libertas' and most of my own parties posters as they employ strong solid colour on their posters. Red and white for Labour, Prussian Blue for libertas and deep Green for FF - all very vivid and striking.

(This isn't a pop at FG but their posters are striving for something like what Obama and Clinton had at their rpess-conferences i.e. cheerleaders of all ages and shades standing behind them whenever they were on a podium - you will see various persons in the background behind the candidate on FG posters. In a nutshell - it doesn't work in this medium!)

Or in the case of Eoin Ryan, a nice sky blue!!!

[toxic avenger]

If there is one group I despise as much as FF, it is the parasit... sorry... people... who 'work' in marketing.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo]YouTube - Bill Hicks on Marketing[/ame]

[Lloyd-Apjohn]

Fianna Fail was never a good brand. There is a difference between a party being successful because of having good and decent honest people and policies and a party being successful because of the mentality of Irish people. FF's success relfects the latter more than the former.

Explaining it is more suited to a sociologist rather than a marketing expert.

But there is an element of it being the toxic party in a way similar to the UK Tories. IT has taken 10 years for that party to be seen as worthy of office and that it hanging by a thread now due to the revealations of MPs abusing expenses.

The danger ofr FF and the opportunity for FG is to use the corruption of FF in a way to make those who have voted FF Before to make the link between that vote and the trouble they face now.

We all know that honest decent policy driven people do not enter politics via FF but chose FG or L or G or PD and even SF up to a point. FF have never ever been a policy driven party so the FF brand is already considered worth less than others. If FF were to claim they are honest or tranparent etc people would laugh in their face and FF know that hence why they never play that card and instead play on the fact FF gets things done - however we now know there is a very high price for the way FF gets things done which is being paid for bailing out their friends in AIB and the builders who have paid for the lifestyle of FF people.

People with children who now have to emigrate or who will be paying off a mortgage for the rest of their working lives and then have no pension or who have special needs children or ill parents etc will not forget it the way previous generations did because this is the first generation who have had a taste of being rich and having money - their parents had nothing materially to lose when FF screwed the country but this time its different. Older people remember what Ireland was like and don't want to go back there and younger people have had a taste of what it can be like and want that back but provided by honest parties and at an affordable cost with the spoils spread more evenly.

FF was always a toxix brand and the silver lining for Ireland is that the pool of toxic gombeens who kept FF in power is dying out and not being replaced.