Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T17:32:38.075Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Brand New Party: Political Branding and the Conservative Party of Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2014

Alex Marland  and
Tom Flanagan
Alex Marland*
Affiliation:
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Tom Flanagan*
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
*
Alex Marland, Department of Political Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL A1B 3X9, email: [email protected]
Tom Flanagan, Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary AB, T2N 1N4, email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Abstract. Little has been written about the use of branding by Canadian political parties. We draw on interviews with 30 party elites to document the branding of the Conservative party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. We disclose that preparations to re-brand the Canadian Alliance party were subsumed into the new party and that the colour of the maple leaf in the Conservative logo was a contentious topic because of its political symbolism. We conclude that partisans' attachment to colours and the use of negative advertising constitute important differences between the practice of branding in the political and business spheres.

Résumé. Fort peu d'écrits ont été consacrés au processus de développement d'images de marque (ou branding) par les partis politiques canadiens. Cet article présente des données tirées d'entrevues réalisées auprès de 30 dirigeants et stratèges du Parti conservateur du Canada sur cette question entre 2003 et 2006. Les entretiens révèlent que les préparatifs menant au repositionnement de l'image de l'Alliance canadienne ont mené à la création de la nouvelle formation et qu'un débat important sur l'arrimage chromatique de la feuille d'érable présente dans le nouveau logo conservateur a secoué le parti en raison de sa symbolique politique. En conclusion, nous posons que l'identité partisane liée à certaines couleurs et le recours à la publicité négative représentent des différences notables dans l'exercice de développement d'images de marque entre les sphères politiques et commerciales.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , December 2013 , pp. 951 - 972
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, Robert. 2000. “Reporting Public Opinion Polls: The Media and the 1997 Canadian Election.” International Journal of Public Opinion Research 12 (3): 285–98.Google Scholar
Baines, Paul R., Worcester, Robert M., Jarret, David and Mortimore, Roger. 2003. “Market Segmentation and Product Differentiation in Political Campaigns: A Technical Feature Perspective.” Journal of Marketing Management 19 (1-2): 225–49.Google Scholar
Bélanger, Éric and Godbout, Jean-François. 2010. “Why do Parties Merge? The Case of the Conservative Party of Canada.” Parliamentary Affairs 63 (1): 41–65.Google Scholar
CanWest News Service. 2004. “Team Martin Split on Pre-Election Ads.” Edmonton Journal, April 1, A6. Google Scholar
Carty, Kenneth R., Cross, William and Young, Lisa. 2000. Rebuilding Canadian Party Politics. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Cormack, Patricia. 2012. “Double Double: Branding, Tim Hortons and the Public Sphere.” In Political Marketing in Canada, ed. Marland, Alex, Giasson, Thierry and Lees-Marshment, Jennifer. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Cosgrove, Kenneth M. 2007. Branded Conservatives: How the Brand Brought the Right from the Fringes to the Center of American Politics. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Cross, William P. 2004. Political Parties. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
de Chernatony, Leslie and Riley, Francesca Dall'Olmo. 1998. “Defining a ‘Brand’: Beyond the Literature with Experts' Interpretations.” Journal of Marketing Management 14: 417–43.Google Scholar
Delacourt, Susan. 2013a. Shopping for Votes: How Politicians Choose Us and We Choose Them. Madeira Park BC: Douglas & McIntyre.Google Scholar
Delacourt, Susan. 2013b. “Bill Would Force Party Leaders to ‘Take Ownership’ of Attack Ads.” Toronto Star. June 4, A3. Google Scholar
Ellis, Faron and Woolstencroft, Peter. 2006. “A Change of Government, Not a Change of Country: The Conservatives and the 2006 Election.” In The Canadian Federal Election of 2006, ed. Pammett, Jon H. and Dornan, Christopher. Toronto: Dundurn Press.Google Scholar
Esselment, Anna L. 2011. “Fighting Elections: Cross-Level Political Party Integration in Ontario.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 43 (1): 871–92.Google Scholar
Flanagan, Tom. 2009. Harper's Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power. 2nd ed. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.Google Scholar
Fleming, Charles A. 1995. “Understanding Propaganda from a General Semantics Perspective.” Et cetera: A Review of General Semantics 52 (1): 3–12.Google Scholar
Gibson, Rachel and Römmele, Andrea. 2001. “Changing Campaign Communications: A Party-Centered Theory of Professionalized Campaigning.” Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 6: 31–43.Google Scholar
Gould, Philip. 1999. The Unfinished Revolution: How the Modernizers Saved the Labour Party. London: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
International Trade Canada. 2005. “Evaluation of the Brand Canada (BC) Program: Final Report.” Office of the Inspector General, Evaluation Division. Ottawa. Google Scholar
Katsanis, Lea Prevel. 1994. “The Ideology of Political Correctness and its Effect on Brand Strategy.” Journal of Product & Brand Management 3 (2): 5–14.Google Scholar
Kenney, Jason. 2011. “Breaking Through: Building the Conservative Brand in Cultural Communities.” Internal party document. http://www2.macleans.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/2011-03-03-breaking-through-building-the-conservative-brand-in-cultural-communities11.pdf (January 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Laghi, Brian and Clark, Campbell. 2008. “Dion Ignored Warning about Tory Blitz.” Globe and Mail, October 22, A1. Google Scholar
Land, Brian. 1965. Eglinton: The Election Study of a Federal Constituency. Don Mills ON: T.H. Best.Google Scholar
Lees-Marshment, Jennifer. 2012. “The Impact of Market Research on Political Decisions and Leadership: Practitioners' Perspectives.” In Political Marketing in Canada, ed. Marland, Alex, Giasson, Thierry and Lees-Marshment, Jennifer. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Lilleker, Darren. 2010. Key Concepts in Political Communication. London, UK: Sage.Google Scholar
Maher, Stephen and McGregor, Glen. 2012. “Lawyer Argues ‘Frivolous’ Robocalls Vote-Suppression Court Case Meant to Discredit Conservatives.” National Post. Dec. 10. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/10/lawyer-argues-robocalls-vote-suppression-court-case-meant-to-discredit-conservatives/ (January 4, 2013).Google Scholar
Marland, Alex. 2012. “Political Photography, Journalism and Framing in the Digital Age: The Management of Visual Media by the Prime Minister of Canada.” The International Journal of Press/Politics 17 (2): 214–33.Google Scholar
Marland, Alex and Flanagan, Tom. 2013. “From Opposition to Government: Party Merger as a Step on the Road to Power.” Parliamentary Affairs. Online first version. http://pa.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/07/25/pa.gst015.full (November 14, 2013).Google Scholar
Mayer, Jeremy D. 2004. “The Presidency and Image Management: Discipline in Pursuit of Illusion.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 34 (3): 620–31.Google Scholar
McLean, James S. 2012. Inside the NDP War Room: Competing for Credibility in a Federal Election. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMullan, Kylie, Rehal, Pinder, Read, Katy, Luo, Judy, Wu, Ashley Huating, Pitt, Leyland, Papania, Lisa and Campbell, Colin. 2009. “Selling the Canadian Forces' Brand to Canada's Youth.” Marketing Intelligence & Planning 27 (4): 474–85.Google Scholar
Muzellec, Laurent and Lambkin, Mary. 2006. “Corporate Rebranding: Destroying, Transferring or Creating Brand Equity?” European Journal of Marketing 40 (7-8): 803–24.Google Scholar
Nimijean, Richard. 2006. “Brand Canada: The Brand State and the Decline of the Liberal Party.” Inroads 19: 84–93.Google Scholar
O'Shaughnessy, Nicholas. 2004. Politics and Propaganda: Weapons of Mass Seduction. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Parasuraman, A. 1983. “Debranding: A Product Strategy with Profit Potential.” Journal of Business Strategy 4 (1): 82–87.Google Scholar
Paré, Daniel J. and Berger, Flavia. 2008. “Political Marketing Canadian Style? The Conservative Party and the 2006 Federal Election.” Canadian Journal of Communication 33: 39–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, Joan M., Reynolds, Thomas J. and Reynolds, Kate. 2010. “Decision-Based Voter Segmentation: An Application for Campaign Message Development.” European Journal of Marketing 44 (3-4): 310–30.Google Scholar
Plamondon, Bob. 2009. Blue Thunder: The Truth about Conservatives from Macdonald to Harper. Toronto: Key Porter.Google Scholar
Potter, Evan. 2009. Branding Canada: Projecting Canada's Soft Power through Public Diplomacy. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press.Google Scholar
Reeves, Peter, de Chernatony, Leslie and Carrigan, Marylyn. 2006. “Building a Political Brand: Ideology or Voter-Driven Strategy.” Journal of Brand Management 13 (6): 418–28.Google Scholar
Romanow, Walter I., de Repentigny, Michel, Cunningham, Stanley B., Soderlund, Walter C. and Hildebrant, Kai, eds. 1999. Television Advertising in Canadian Elections: The Attack Mode, 1993. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.Google Scholar
Rose, Jonathan and Mellon, Hugh. 2010. “When the Message is the Meaning: Government Advertising and the Branding of States.” In Mediating Canadian Politics, ed. Sampert, Sharon and Trimble, Linda. Toronto: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Scammell, Margaret. 2007. “Political Brands and Consumer Citizens: The Rebranding of Tony Blair.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 611: 176–92.Google Scholar
Smith, Gareth. 2001. “The 2001 General Election: Factors Influencing the Brand Image of Political Parties and their Leaders.” Journal of Marketing Management 17 (9-10): 989–1006.Google Scholar
Snow, Dave and Moffitt, Benjamin. 2012. “Straddling the Divide: Mainstream Populism and Conservatism in Howard's Australia and Harper's Canada.” Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 50 (3): 271–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turcotte, André. 2012. “Under New Management: Market Intelligence and the Conservative Party's Resurrection.” In Political Marketing in Canada, ed. Marland, Alex, Giasson, Thierry and Lees-Marshment, Jennifer. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Watermark Communications. 2003a. “Canadian Alliance Brand Optics: New Logo Presentation.” Internal party document. Google Scholar
Watermark Communications. 2003b. “Conservative Party of Canada Brand Optics: New Logo Presentation.” Internal party document. Google Scholar
Wells, Paul. 2006. Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper's New Conservatism. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Google Scholar
Wesley, Jared and Moyes, Michael. 2012. “Selling Social Democracy: Branding the Political Left in Canada.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Edmonton. Google Scholar
Whitaker, Reg. 2001. “Virtual Political Parties and the Decline of Democracy.” Policy Options (June): 16–22.Google Scholar
White, Jon and de Chernatony, Leslie. 2002. “New Labour: A Study of the Creation, Development and Demise of a Political Brand.” Journal of Political Marketing 1 (2): 45–52.Google Scholar
Wood, Lisa. 2000. “Brands and Brand Equity: Definition and Management.” Management Decision 38 (9): 662–69.Google Scholar
Zavattaro, Staci M. 2010. “The Implications of a Branded President.” Administrative Theory & Praxis 32 (1): 123–28.Google Scholar