Thursday September 9, 2021 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke, Editor | Island Social Trends
He’s been out and about meeting people in all areas of the large Cowichan-Malahat-Langford (CML) riding during this 44th federal election campaign season. For NDP incumbent Alistair MacGregor looking for re-election to a third term, meeting people in person is the best way to both gauge a voter’s interest and to hopefully better-assure their vote. Door knocking is “the best way to get an accurate pulse on the community”, and gives an opportunity to answer questions. “The best debates are on the doorstep! It keeps you sharp and informed,” said MacGregor told Island Social Trends.
For Liberal candidate Blair Herbert in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford it’s the podcast participation that he feels helps with his campaign. He reiterates that (like in his 2019 campaign) he’s doing his best to “prevent the Conservatives from winning” but adds “if you want a Liberal government you have to vote Liberal”. Like in 2019, he is again running primarily to “see some solid action” on environmental issues.
Both MacGregor and Herbert run farms in the Cowichan-Duncan area. Herbert is also a real estate agent. Both have sent flyers by postal mail and taken part in a wide range of debates online.
In Cowichan-Malahat-Langford the Green candidate is first-time candidate Lia Versaevel. The Conservative candidate is Alana DeLong who also ran in 2019.
Short campaign:
It’s a short campaign — just 36 days (August 15 to September 19), and there are many points of contact with potential voters. Election day is September 20, and advance voting starts already tomorrow (September 10 through 13).
Largely due to the non-physical contact aspects of the continuing COVID pandemic, but also due to the novelty of new technologies, candidates in all parties have been trying a range of contact points. They’re using what marketers call push and pull marketing techniques.
The ‘push marketing’ is about putting their brand out in front of people to raise awareness about the candidate’s campaign. The ‘pull marketing’ techniques are ways to draw people in voluntarily and engage with the candidate either passively by watching or engaging with questions.
Push marketing is the standard stuff of campaign marketing: lawn signs, flyers in the mail, and ads in various digital and print platforms. Voters expect that.
The new pull-marketing stuff includes a wide range of digital and online things like text messages asking for your quick reply on something, inviting you to watch a livestreamed debate or All Candidates meeting and maybe ask questions, or utilizing broadcast media to package up a podcast and post it online.
Quick poll:
We’re interested in your preference for learning about your candidate. The 1-minute Island Social Trends poll on How You Like to Hear from your Federal Candidate is on the main page of our website at www.islandsocialtrends.ca .
===== RELATED:
‘A planet on fire’ discussed by Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke candidates (September 8, 2021)
Scrappy election debates: how & why to watch (September 7, 2021)