Logo no enough? Money no enough?

2015 PAP Strategy 战略 13 -- strategy of photos

The value of PAP logo, as a political brand name, is decreasing days after days.  And perhaps, it has dropped like the Nokia brand and lost its competitiveness. Investment experts, maybe from Temasek, advises the PAP to add photos to mislead voters that they are voting for individual candidates rather than the party.  Just like Nokia, they have world-class engineers and scientists with first class creative ideas and innovations. The PAP, too, wants voters to identify their good candidates by showing their photos.

Maybe Lee Hsien Loong is too fond of Instagram as he has many followers in his accounts. If his followers like his pictures and photos, he thinks they will also like the photos of other PAP candidates.  Naturally, Election Department knows the thinking of their master.  

Furthermore, losing the so-called first graded George Yeo is a painful lesson. Perhaps, by putting his photo, Aljuined voters would think twice in 2011 to vote him out. So, logo no enough! Photos must include in the ballot papers.

The PAP symbol represents an authoritarian power which is associated with a strong man, LKY. By inserting photos of candidates, the PAP logo is no more the only dominant guiding sight in the ballot papers.  

Perhaps, after studying the 2011 Presidential Election result, the PAP finds that photos has created marginal advantage to Dr. Tony Tan over the other three candidates. Although he looks like a KFC photo, it is still more recognised than the other three photos.  If photos can bring this marginal effect to the PAP, Election Department should implement this in GE2015.  A marginal win, like Tony Tan, is still a win if photos can help the PAP to win one more vote.

In the past, voters just blindly put a cross in the box next to the PAP logo.  Time has changed. Party symbol now has to share with the photos of candidates to loosen the authoritarian and strongman image.  

PAP wants to emphasize that party symbol is no more a monopoly power in the ballot papers.  The PAP realises that the logo can even be a liability as voters really do not like to see the logo.  As reported, in past elections, voters drew turtle, monkey, or even wrote something dirty on the ballot papers.

[Voters please take note, if you draw a turtle or money on the photo of Lee Hsien Loong or other PAP candidates, it is considered a vote to the PAP. Please don’t do that.]

Perhaps, the PAP only begins to realise the losing value of their brand name after the passing of LKY.  It sounds like the end of a dynasty or in business the end of Nokia despite their various innovative achievements.

Voters are confused. There are so many good things about PAP in SG50, in National Day celebration, in LKY memorial  activities and in PA campaigns.  And there are so many bad things about the opposition parties in the government-controlled media, especially WP over the AHPETC financial statements. It seems the PAP is a perfect man.  All others are evils and they have bad intention, ill motives towards Singapore.

However, at the NUSS dialogue attended by 10 political parties (including the PAP). It is agreed that  the 2011 outstanding issues, like population, poverty, housing, education, will continue to be the issues in 2015. If the PAP is good and the opposition is bad, then how come the issues are still unsolved. Furthermore, in National Day Rally 2015, PM Lee will continue to discuss these old issues.  

The PAP logo has failed to convince voters that their old problems have been solved. If ‘PAP (is) logo no enough’, then the PAP candidates have to advertise themselves to get more attention. So, it is now money no enough. In view of the need to have photo advertisement, Election Department which is under Prime Minister Office, decides to increase the spending limit from $3.5 to $4 per voter stating inflation as a reason.

Maybe this can save the house visits of PAP candidates.  Instead of walking houses to houses, flats to flats, they can now just send their special effect and designed photos to voters. These photos will be the same as the ones appears in the ballot papers. This is called a creative productivity improvement!

But in politics, will photos and photo advertisements make a difference? Do they really add marginal value to the PAP?