Newspaper owners are people too. We think Mr. Harper and his Conservatives need to be reminded of that.
In addition to being the go-to-place for community News and encouraging commerce across the land, Newspaper owners are also businesspeople with significant responsibilities to their communities and their staff.
Much like other business owners, Newspaper people try to generate enough revenue to pay the bills and hopefully make a profit. That profit is typically reinvested – whether it is in new jobs, new equipment, new software or new directions for growth.
For Newspaper proprietors, recent revelations on the costs of the Tory “Action Plan” campaign were akin to picking at a scab that refuses to go away. We know where the money came from to pay for the ads. Federal government advertising in Newspapers has dropped through the floor under Mr. Harper’s government, his people opting instead for on-line and television advertising. The drops in spending have been staggering and have become a source of consternation at industry meetings we have attended.
After wasting $113 million on “action plan” advertising on TV, a new poll has revealed only three out of 2003 people surveyed accessed the government’s action plan website during the big marketing push of the NHL playoffs. That amounts to a fraction of one per cent taking action. Adding insult to this waste is the fact this Conservative Harper government is set for another round of TV ads this coming year, perhaps through 2016, continuing on much the same theme that Canada’s government has an economic action plan. Some action, some plan.
Armed with polling results that suggest the television campaigns aren’t working and the public are finally seeing through the partisan nature of this advertising, an enterprising leader might suggest a change is in order. According to the Canadian Press, over $330,000 has been spent over the life of this program determining effectiveness. The government however seems intent on renewing the plan with TV despite a poor showing.
The question we ponder is why?
Could it be as simple that these ads are more about feeling good than delivering service options to Canadians?
Perhaps Harper is just a TV junkie. After all, he did appoint two CTV broadcasters, namely Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy, to the Senate.
One of the campaigns given best ratings in a 2009 survey was for the home renovation subsidy. Twenty-five per cent of respondents claim to have used the program, suggesting to us that if a plan is viable or real, the public will participate.
It’s time to re-think these partisan feel-good ads and get back to offering services to Canadians that make a difference in their lives rather than continuing to promote a brand that grows more suspect all the time.
