A Triumph For Marketing?

So David Cameron has been elected Tory leader - something that several months back would have been inconceivable. This is because, we are told, his "marketing" has been better than his rivals. As ever, marketing has been used as a synonym for only one of the 7 Ps - Promotion. But what of the other 6?

Product

What do we know about Cameron as a person or as a potential PM. What is his background and what does he plan to do. To really throw in the marketing speak, what is his Brand? Well, he is an old-Etonian, related to the Queen with Tory MPs among his ancestors... a real man of the people then. Yet he also likes mountain biking, smokes cigarettes (shame on him!), likes music (favourite album the excellent The Queen is Dead by The Smiths) and drinks real ale. Erm... is he actually Ken Clarke? No, I can't see Clarke on a bike either.

So what about his policy? What is he going to do for the country? Well..... not really sure.

OK, so what are his core brand benefits? It seems to me that the only one we can see so far is youth - and that is hardly a relevant benefit in Britain's aging society.

If Cameron is a triumph of marketing, he'd better get his product sorted out sharpish.

Price

How much will he cost the Conservatives? If rumours about cocaine usage are true, he could cost them a fair bit. Nobody seemed to mind if he smoked some pot at university - but if he took coke? Opinions among the drug-ignorant may not be as forgiving. Was it just me or did the BBC yesterday put the story about cocaine usage directly after the one about Cameron... surely not!

Place

There's no doubt that he will appeal to traditional Conservative heartlands - Surrey etc. But will he have a broader appeal. Will he win over Midlanders? Yes, I don't see why not. What about the North or inner cities or (strongest of holds for Labour) Scotland and Wales? That may be where he struggles, but then again it never did Mrs T any harm!

Promotion

Yes we all know that he gives a great speech. He also looks the part and seems like a pleasant enough sort of chap. The only trouble is, people hate the whole spin culture and it could work against him. He had better pitch it right in the run up to the election...

People

It looks as if he may have a strong team around him. If rumours are true, Davis will be Shadow Home Secretary, Hague will be Shadow Foreign Secretary and Osborne Shadow Chancellor. That's a pretty good start - a heavyweight pack to take on Brown's boys at the election. Compare that to a Labour government without Blair... Brown as PM and well that's about it. The Tories could be onto a winner there.

Physical Evidence & Process

I'll be darned if I can think of anything for these yet... Maybe he'll give out towels before the election?!

So, in conclusion, is Cameron's win a triumph for Marketing? I don't think it is - it's a triumph for style over substance which some people say is marketing... but then I'm hardly going to agree with them am I?

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