Away with 'Words'
New Zealand Listener|August 12-18 2023
Advertising campaigns rarely swing elections, but did a psychologist's directive to bin a "broken promises" ad change the outcome of our 1993 cliffhanger?
JOHN SAKER
Away with 'Words'

He arrived at our office one day and parked up in front of the video. He told us Labour Party leader Mike Moore was an old friend who had asked for his help. All afternoon he sat there - paunchy, imperious, unsmiling, chain-smoking - while we did as he asked, showing him the TV commercials we'd so far produced for the party. It was two weeks out from election day in 1993. There was no discussion, though at times he would talk at us in his Belgian accent. He was given to pronouncements like: "When he was a young politician, I said to him, 'Mike Moore, you are like Adolf Hitler. The lower class like you, the upper class think they can control you and work with you, the middle class distrust you.""

Over the next few days, he began to dictate the style and shape of the remainder of the advertising campaign. Some of the changes he called for were major shifts in strategy. The agency team, of which I was creative director, was flabbergasted. Fraser Carson, manager of the ad campaign, went to Moore and protested. "Do what he says," was Moore's response. "I've known him for a long time. I respect him."

This late entrant to Labour's 1993 election effort was Paul Heylen. We all knew the name. The TVNZ Heylen poll was the political poll into which the entire country was tuned at that time, as its results were always first announced on TV One's 6pm news. A revolutionary in the area of market research, Heylen had no direct experience in advertising or the communications business. What he did have was a conviction that he knew best, especially when it came to politics and the national psyche.

Moore desperately wanted to be elected prime minister in 1993. He lost by the slimmest of margins. For the past 30 years, I've never wavered from the belief that if not for Heylen, Moore's dream would have been realised.

A FRANTIC, UNEVEN BEAT

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 12-18 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 12-18 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS NEW ZEALAND LISTENERAlle anzeigen
First-world problem
New Zealand Listener

First-world problem

Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Applying intelligence to AI
New Zealand Listener

Applying intelligence to AI

I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Nazism rears its head
New Zealand Listener

Nazism rears its head

Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Staying ahead of the game
New Zealand Listener

Staying ahead of the game

Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?

time-read
4 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Grasping the nettle
New Zealand Listener

Grasping the nettle

Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Hangry? Eat breakfast
New Zealand Listener

Hangry? Eat breakfast

People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Chemical reaction
New Zealand Listener

Chemical reaction

Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Me and my guitar
New Zealand Listener

Me and my guitar

Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
Time is on my side
New Zealand Listener

Time is on my side

Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?

time-read
7 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024
The kids are not alright
New Zealand Listener

The kids are not alright

Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
September 9, 2024