INFERIORITY COMPLEX FUELS DISTORTION OF HISTORY, FACT
Manchester United thinks it's the best team in the world. So it puts up a poster showing Robin van Persie hugging Lionel Messi. The poster quotes Messi praising Van Persie as a great player. On this basis, the communication gurus of United would have the public believe that it really is the best team in the world. This is both dumb as well as ridiculous. Dumb because no-one will buy such nonsense; and ridiculous because you can never sell your own organisation by marketing the products/services/protagonists of another's, least of all your opponent's/rival's. It's like Pick'nPay saying that its no-name brand is the best because it's comparable to Spar's in-house brand!
And that is exactly what the DA has done in this latest "Know Your DA" campaign. Without getting into SA's factual political history, strictly from a communications, PR and marketing perspective, it is a seriously ill-conceived campaign. There can only be two "explanations" for such inanity: either that the DA has a serious inferiority/insecurity complex about its history, leadership and role that it plays in SA politics (which should not be surprising), or that the DA believes that the South African public are not knowledgeable about the country's history and will thus believe any nonsense that is put out there (or a combination of both).
Whatever the reason, as a communications practitioner, you can never take your audience for granted; nor can you feed your (potential) clientele with misrepresentations of yourself. DA spokesperson Mmusi Maimane says: "The DA has its roots in the struggle. Our leaders contributed to the struggle.". Well, Mr Maimane if you believe that then, by all means, put out ad material detailing the DA's purported struggle history, put up posters showing Helen Suzman, Joe Seremane, Patricia de Lille and Helen Zille as claimed heroes/heroines of the struggle. If the public believe you, then for sure you will receive greater returns at the polls.
But Manchester United can never go around claiming to be the best team in the world by making reference to Messi - the world's best player who plays for a RIVAL team - who at some point in his illustrious career paid a compliment to Van Persie. In exactly the same way, the DA cannot reinvent its history and character by making reference to Nelson Mandela - the world's most revered politician who happens to be a leader of its political rival - who at some point in the freedom struggle as leader of the ANC paid a compliment to Helen Suzman.
Besides being vapid, tasteless and totally devoid of any real substance, it is also insincere - and will go down as such with the public at large.
Roland Williams is the Director: Communications for the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. He writes in his personal capacity. Williams may be reached at e-mail: [email protected] or followed on twitter handle @Roland_Williams
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