Change. Forward. Together. For you.
They are the buzzwords of political campaigns worldwide, used time and again in various combinations, to sum up a campaign theme in few enough letters to fit on a podium sign.
On Tuesday, the NDP became the fifth and final major party to unveil its campaign catchphrase, hoping 鈥淚n it for You鈥� will catch voters鈥� attention.
Dennis Matthews, a vice-president at Enterprise Canada who worked in the message mines as an advertising and marketing adviser to prime minister Stephen Harper, said 鈥渁 ton of effort鈥� goes into finding a phrase that can sum up an entire campaign in one short and snappy sentence.
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鈥淎 campaign will do all kinds of research, look at all of their potential voters and what they鈥檙e looking for,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n a campaign you want to imagine the voter going into the voter booth and asking themselves a question. A good slogan sets up that question so they can only pick you as the only option.鈥�
The NDP鈥檚 new slogan points, without being negative, to the idea that the NDP are there to help the little guy while the Liberals and Tories are in it for themselves and their wealthy friends.
It鈥檚 similar both to the slogan the federal Liberals used in 2008, 鈥淎lways Here for You,鈥� and to the Conservatives鈥� current 鈥淚t鈥檚 Time for You to Get Ahead.鈥�
Such echoes are not uncommon, said Matthews, because 鈥渃ampaigns are referendums on the future.鈥�
鈥淰oters are looking forward so most campaign slogans at least hint at a forward-looking or action-oriented thesis and there are only so many words that fit that.鈥�
鈥淔orward together鈥� was one of Winston Churchill鈥檚 most common speech slogans throughout his political career. It has been used by two of his successors as British prime minister 鈥� Margaret Thatcher in 1980 and Theresa May in 2017 鈥� and at least two American presidential candidates. Richard Nixon used it in his inauguration speech in 1969 and Hillary Clinton turned to it for her presidential run in 2016.
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In 2019, the Green Party of Canada is building on it for its slogan: 鈥淣ot Left. Not Right. Forward Together.鈥�
The Liberals have dropped the 鈥渢ogether鈥� part and are just going with 鈥淐hoose Forward鈥� in 2019. It鈥檚 remarkably similar to the 2004 Liberal theme phrase of 鈥淢oving Forward.鈥�
The Bloc Quebecois is using 鈥淟e Quebec, c鈥檈st nous鈥� 鈥� roughly, 鈥淲e are Quebec.鈥�
In 1980, Ronald Reagan鈥檚 slogan in his first successful presidential campaign was 鈥淟et鈥檚 Make America Great Again.鈥� Twenty-six years later, Donald Trump tweaked it into one of the best-known political slogans in history. 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� hats and T-shirts are still common (Trump now has to decide whether he can still use it after four years in office).
In 2015, in an election campaign almost entirely about voter fatigue with a decade-old Conservative government, both the Liberals and NDP went with 鈥漜hange鈥�: 鈥淩eal Change鈥� for the Liberals and 鈥淩eady for Change鈥� for the NDP.
Scott Reid, who was a communications adviser to prime minister Paul Martin and is now a principal at the strategy firm Feschuk.Reid, said most slogans are developed as part of an intensive and lengthy research process to suss out a potential path to electoral victory. Polls and focus groups and voter outreach guide 鈥渁 whole slew of decisions鈥� including advertising spots and which public issues a campaign will prioritize.
鈥淭he slogan itself emerges from that,鈥� he said.
As for the actual words? 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe they matter very much,鈥� said Reid.
Few, if any, campaigns are lost on bad slogans and most slogans end up on the floor as soon as the last vote is counted. Some of the best aren鈥檛 even official slogans at all.
In 2011 鈥漚 strong, stable, national Conservative majority government鈥� wasn鈥檛 the official Conservative campaign slogan but became the recognizable theme for a campaign appealing to voters tired of fragile minority governments.
Barack Obama鈥檚 2008 presidential campaign added 鈥淵es we can鈥� to the political-slogan hall of fame, but his official slogan was actually 鈥滳hange We Can Believe In.鈥� 鈥淵es We Can鈥� was a holdover from Obama鈥檚 previous Senate campaign, a catchphrase he used in speeches, that took off as a rallying cry for his supporters.
As proof that slogans aren鈥檛 everything, one need only know that the Green Party of Canada also used 鈥淵es We Can鈥� for its 2006 election effort. That netted the party zero seats and less than five per cent of the vote.
Trudeau鈥檚 2015 campaign is remembered for promising 鈥渟unny ways鈥� even though Trudeau didn鈥檛 talk about sunny ways 鈥� borrowed from Wilfrid Laurier 鈥� until his victory speech on voting day.
Matthews said as in any advertising, the best slogans can鈥檛 always be predicted.
鈥淪ome of this stuff, you鈥檝e got to put it out there and see if it catches on,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the marketing world you can be a little lucky and land on something that really catches on. Sometimes it doesn鈥檛.鈥�
Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
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