Parties advertise strengths early on Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing

GOOD TRACK RECORD: The ruling coalition will highlight Najib's popularity and government programmes
TAN Sri Lim Kok Wing, a communications strategist who set up Malaysia's first local advertising agency, has been involved in election campaigns for almost four decades.
For the 1974 polls, he remembers designing an exhibition "to promote better understanding of the New Economic Policy and what it meant to the people".
But, he stresses, that's "information and knowledge-transfer. I wouldn't call it advertising".
By the next decade, print election advertisements appeared in newspapers. And in the new millennium, the hustings toolkit expanded.
For the Barisan Nasional (BN) 2011 Sarawak state election campaign, Lim's team produced a video, visuals and a song "to tell the story as best we could about what was done over the years".
In the 13th General Election, voters will be bombarded via the print, electronic and social media as well as in flyers, pamphlets and billboards. And Lim's team will be involved.
In a way, Malaysians have been getting the message since as early as May last year, when BN's "People First" print advertisements appeared in newspapers. At the same time, 1Malaysia "We hear" and "Fulfilling our Promises" advertisements began. By July, "I choose Malaysia" messages were in the newspaper, on TV, on Facebook and YouTube.
In February, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appeared in radio and TV Chinese New Year advertisements.
In Penang, over the past few months, the state BN ran a series of advertisements in newspapers that listed its proposals, including free-port status, a monorail and a national financial hub in Seberang Prai.
The Selangor government has also been buying space in the newspapers: for example, in February, on affordable housing provided by its State Economic De-velopment Corporation (PKNS).
"Previous BN advertisements appeared only during the campaign but, for the first time, we are seeing them early," said Datuk Dr Syed Arabi Idid, head of the Electoral Studies Unit at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. "There appears to be more long-term planning."
Newspaper advertisements, such as the "I choose Malaysia" message during Hari Raya last year, "have to be read in conjunction with the TV advertisement about stability", says the academic who has been tracking polls for 30 years.
Part of the text for the print advertisement read, "On this day of victory, let us reflect and remember, that the peace and harmony that we take for granted, others can only dream to experience. Choose PEACE."
From these earlier advertisements, Syed Arabi predicts, the theme of the BN advertising during the campaign will be stability. "When BN talks about stability, it may give examples of civil riots elsewhere, for example in Egypt and Syria, and link them to organised demonstrations here."
As in previous elections, he says: "BN advertising will capitalise on Najib's popularity as well as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's. The latter will appeal to the older generation."
BN will also capitalise on government programmes, such as the Economic Transformation Programme and Government Transformation Programme, and foreign policy achievements such as Najib's visit to Palestine and getting the Muslims to work together in southern Thailand, Syed Arabi says.
For Pakatan Rakyat's advertising, he predicts the theme will be negative, focussing on alleged BN corruption and arrogance. "It will be anti-incumbency."
DAP vice-chairman Teresa Kok says her party's advertisements will probably continue its main theme, "Change now. Save Malaysia". "All advertisements will feature PR leaders as the best alternative leaders."
In the past, says Syed Arabi, some opposition leaders said they could not place advertisements in the mainstream media, even when paying cash. "Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili listed fair and equal access to media among the committee's 22 recommendations. That should be reflected in advertising space."
But his year, with all the alternative social media, he says, the opposition does have more "space". In fact, Lim argues, social media is gaining ground.
"Advertising per se will lose its place as we go forward because you need a conversation going all the time," he says. "You can't wait for elections to come. You put in a lot of money, you say this and you win. It doesn't happen like that."


Read more: Parties advertise strengths early on - Columnist - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/parties-advertise-strengths-early-on-1.252821#ixzz2QAD3kfWC