GE2024: Simon Harris here, and here, and here, and...
Election day is confirmed, and the money flows - and videos of high-fiving children - have commenced.
Simon Harris has finally put us out of our misery and confirmed November 29th as election day. While the "TikTok Taoiseach" nickname never took off , Harris is the most Very Online of our party leaders, and Fine Gael massively ramped up their digital campaign last weekend.
With that in mind, today's newsletter has:
- A summary of expenditure on ads for last month across all the parties,
- And a deep dive into the Fine Gael / Simon Harris ad campaign and strategy
{And two quick reminders; if you enjoy this newsletter, please do spread the word; and I love feedback - reply to this email with any thoughts / suggestions / cease and desist notifications - thanks.}
A repeat of the locals & Europeans?
Sinn Fein were the biggest spender in June's local and European elections (which we wrote about here), followed by Fine Gael.
Looking back over the last month on Meta, we can see a similar pattern, with Sinn Fein by far the biggest spender. On Google, they were the only party running ads there.
That is until yesterday.
The picture looks different if we zoom in on just the last week.
Fine Gael have shot past Sinn Fein in recent days in terms of spending - and joined them on Google, a platform they overlooked in June. They look set to challenge the main opposition party in the race for digital saturation; suggesting that this time they are going big.
Fine Gael go big on their not-so-secret weapon
Over the weekend, Fine Gael went from spending about €500 a day on political ads on Meta, to over €5000 a day, leapfrogging everyone else.
This injection of cash is pushing a single series of over 80 geographically targeted ads, each a video of Simon Harris introducing, and standing beside, one of the General Election candidates.
The videos are nicely done; they are efficient, at about 35 seconds long. They all start with "Hi there, Simon Harris here" and use the folksy second person ("I am asking you for help") direct-to-camera elder-millennial style that has become the Taoiseach's digital signature.
And they play to what FG HQ have clearly recognised as their biggest strength in this election - Harris' likability.
Simon says...
HQ must like Harris too, as it looks like they didn't force him to have 80 perfect takes. His opening and closing pieces to camera are identical in each video, so likely the same footage. He then says something nice about the candidate, who is seen standing beside him, before handing over them to deliver a single, personalised line.
Check out the ads yourself to see if you think some creative video editing was used to stitch those parts - and the candidates - in later.
Then yesterday, Fine Gael launched their first Google ad in over a year, another Harris direct-to-camera piece focused on how the budget putting money "back in your pocket" - a theme they spent much of October pushing (as we reported here).
High fives and disco vibes
Simon Harris' own Facebook and Instagram pages are simultaneously running a separate series of separate more upbeat video ads showing the Taoiseach dashing across a series of town squares, high-fiving children and shaking endless hands.
The videos use the quick edits TikTok users have come to expect, and have pretty decent production values.
There is no generic royalty-free jingle music here; the vibes are disco - think "Rocking all over the world", Earth, Wind & Fire, "The boys are back in town", and the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.
Will it work?
There is an endless flow of beaming smiles and exclamations points; "I love canvassing!" one post declares.
In 3 weeks and 2 days the boxes will be opened and we will see if the canvassed love him back.
ICYMI
Liz Carolan
Liz Carolan
Liz Carolan
