Where does the snap election leave brand campaigns?

There’s no other way of putting it – the snap election is a massive issue for brands. With just over seven weeks until election day, approved brand activity is going to be under new scrutiny. Ads are now competing with increased election coverage and will struggle to cut through.

In recent times, there has been an increase in the number of brands who look to mix politics into their campaigns – but will anyone have the time to get something over the line?

Here’s three key takeaways for brands to consider, following the news:

1.The focus of the general public won’t be on their ads. Research shows that ads perform worse when they follow a party political broadcast – and there is going to be a fundamental increase in political advertising over the next couple of months.

https://adage.com/article/agency-news/brand-ads-run-political-ads-drop-effectiveness/306433/

2.Brands who are looking to stay politically impartial will have to be wary of their brand messaging. Anything that can be viewed as slightly political in a campaign could result in a page one re-write.

3.Alternatively, for those brands looking to launch new campaigns, jumping on the political bandwagon, in a very short turnaround period, is going to be difficult to achieve. This may result in an increase in sponsored social media driven posts, rather than campaigns that last several weeks or months.

It’s going to be interesting to see how brands – and political parties – adjust over the next few weeks to face the creative constraints facing them in light of the unexpected election. One thing is for certain, it’s going to be a busy few weeks vying for the attention of consumers and voters. Only the bravest and best creative work will stand out.