So, I wanted to see who was behind the “We Belong” poster campaign .
I presumed the political parties had for once actually worked in collaboration to create this unified momentum (even though its style feels Labour) .
To my surprise , when I logged on to http://www.webelong.ie , I discovered the We Belong campaign is being fronted by a collective of Irish celebrities who want you and I to vote ‘Yes’.
There’s Bill Cullen, famous for being Ireland’s answer to Alan Sugar in RTE’s series Apprentice, pin up girl to the over 50 farmer, Mary McEvoy, Pat Gilroy Ireland senior soccer team manager, Mike Galway, Munster rugby legend (arguably the most famous of them all), and a girl called Eimear Quinn. .... who? .... according to my google search Eimear was “the Voice” and won the Eurovision in 1996.
And so it seems, as the build up to voting day approaches (what with the politicians not being that popular this weather and only back from their 3 months holidays), that Bill and his band of penny apple “Irish celebs” have taken charge of the ‘Yes We Can’ campaign.
And then I thought of the Obama campaign. This afternoon I looked at the list of celebrity endorsers his movement had. See this link for a taster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUiovXdzvvg&feature=related
(its one of hundreds you can find on Youtube).
It made me wonder about the real Irish celebrities and agents of change on a global stage. And yes, while these Irish hero’s are fighting real and just causes for Third World debt to be eradicated and Human Rights issues to be observed in the worlds poorest nations, where are their voices when the future of their country is up for grabs? Is it ennui? Is it lack of interest? Is the future of Ireland just not sexy enough? Why have more Irish personalities and opinion formers not come out with a stand on this Treaty, or on any Irish political issues for that matter? Could it be that the Irish campaign planners just haven’t tapped in to the power that is “celebrity endorsement” in the world of Generation Y ?
With the latest TNS MRBI poll indicating that the “dont know’s” represent one quarter of the electorate and therefore representing a balance of power in the deciding factor on October 2nd, it is a wonder why innovative strategies to engage a confused and disenfranchised electorate have not been considered.
Posted by Una Herlihy and Lucy Masterson at 1:14 PM
Take a 360-degree view of strategy
7 years ago
Lu, your post has made me wonder who are this decade's agents of change? Who are those people that could possibly influence my decision to vote either yes or no to Lisbon. When I actually do start to think about that I wonder about the notion of celebrity and it's power over me as a consumer/voter, etc. I have to say that I can't think of one 'celebrity' who could influence me in this decision and this makes me question the use of celebrities in the 'we belong' campaign. I think the proposition of 'belonging' is extremely powerful with an inherent tangible benefit, but is using the platform of celebrity the best way to project this message?
ReplyDeleteThe thing is celebrities only open their gobs when their ego is being massaged and without someone to herd them into the YES/No pen and ask them to enlighten us with their pearls of hard won wisdom, they're unlikely to exercise their tiny minds beyond worrying about their latest review, botox implant or what they would do if they were Master of the Universe.
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