It is not often that marketing can learn from our esteemed
political class.
But we live in strange times.
In 2015 after the last General Election Jeremy Corbyn, an
avowed radical, was overwhelmingly elected Leader of the Labour Party and by
implication, Leader of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition.
Admittedly he required MPs in the first instance to ‘lend’
him their vote to get onto the ballot paper, an action that many have latterly
come to regret.
But once on the ballot paper he proceeded to hoover up votes
resulting in what can only be described as a walkover with 60% of the popular
vote propelling him into the leadership position.
No one can doubt his a mandate.
And since his election he has continued to delight and
mobilise his core supporters and those who elected him while upsetting in equal
measure the Parliamentary Labour Party.
In the same week that the bulk of the Shadow Cabinet resign
and the Parliamentary Labour Party overwhelmingly pass a motion of no
confidence in his leadership Mr Corbyn addresses a passionate and enthusiastic
and passionate impromptu rally of 4000+ supporters from within Labour Party.
As his support with his MPs fades and collapses, his support
within the Labour Party grows and strengthens.
Who better represents the apolitical population of the
country?
And this is at the heart of the question for the Labour
Party?
And for many brands.
To date Mr Corbyn and his policies have not been seriously
tested in the country.
But the polls, for what they are worth, would suggest that
these are having limited effect in shifting popular opinion away from the
Government and towards the Labour Party.
And this is what must be done for Labour to form the next
government.
And in doing so it must learn to speak with those who are
outside the tent, not in it.
These are the people it must persuade. Not the loyalists,
the ultra-loyalists, the fanatics. They will buy your message come hell and
high water.
It is the occasional buyers to whom the Labour Party must
appeal. The swing voter.
It must stop talking to itself. It must craft a message that
this group wants to hear.
In marketing terms we call this positioning.
And for any business, any brand to grow, it must find a
positioning that appeals to its occasional consumers, not its loyal ones.
Growth will come when the consumer who buys you once a year
buys you twice a year and more. Loyal customers will keep on buying and have no more to give.
From cars to airlines to chocolate to Jeremy Corbyn, the rules are just the same.
