Pan-Canadian Big Tent Parties Are Dead

I’m currently reading Political Marketing in Canada. It provides an in-depth analysis of modern political marketing techniques that every politico should read. Best $20 I’ve spent.

The sentence below articulates one of the biggest problems with the Federal Liberal Party.

“The use of market research to isolate target groups limits the broad appeal of a pan-Canadian big tent party because other parties can narrowcast messages that resonate with target groups.” Page 18

The Liberal Party is built on pan-Canadian ideals that appeal (or appealed) to a large segment of the population. This is reflected in how people talk about the party – “the big red tent” –  and in the party’s policies, such as the “National Housing Strategy” and “National Food Strategy”. The Party was successful because it offered a truly Canadian vision as a way to offset the rise of Quebec separatism.

Modern marketing practices focus on conducting extensive market research to discover what audiences care about, and which customers to target. Audiences are then delivered a narrow, focused message that appeals to their interest. Narrow messages are more likely to resonate than broad, unfocused messages.

The Liberal’s have a huge problem – they have not identified their target audience, or the messaging to use. Supporting everything means you support nothing. The Conservatives have steadily targeted Liberal supporters with narrow messages that speak about issues which they care about. One example is the erosion of Liberal credibility on the economy.

To be successful, the Liberal Party needs to develop a longterm plan to identify, target and move specific segments of voters away from the other parties. Liberals need to take a position, stick with it and deliver a concise, easily understood message. Until they start using modern marketing techniques, don’t expect a miraculous upswing in support.

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