Opinion: If A €9.90 Toast Can Go Viral, Why Can’t the PN’s Parental Leave Plan?
Peppi Azzopardi recently made an interesting point about the Nationalist Party that I feel strikes at the heart of the PN’s problems.
“The PN is proposing that if you have a baby, you will benefit from a whole year of paid leave, but how many people know about this? I recently met eight people and not a single one of them had heard about it,” Azzopardi said on Ricky Caruana’s podcast.
Peppi’s argument was that people don’t even bother listening to the PN because they don’t think Bernard Grech can ever become a Prime Minister, but after giving it some thought and speaking privately to some PN MPs, I think the issue is one of campaign strategy.
After all, if people care enough about a €9.90 toast that they are ready to queue for hours to get a taste, why wouldn’t they care about a proposal that could improve their lives?
This wasn’t by chance. Mr Sofrito knew and believed in his product and understood the platforms on which he was promoting his message. He was consistent, he was fun, he was original, and he stuck to the message and repeated it enough for it to stick in people’s minds. But this isn’t rocket science, it’s basic modern marketing, and it’s something the PN can learn from.
I was surprised to hear that the PN had proposed this measure, a good one on all accounts, similar to models that exist in Scandinavian countries. I was even more surprised to find out that it was widely reported (including on TVM), that I had read it at the time and then forgot all about it.
It turns out that the PN had just thrown this paternal leave proposal out there, but then didn’t follow up on it effectively. Everyone just moved on to the next thing, including the party itself, which issued four more statements on everything from Byron Camilleri to a waste incinerator tender on the day it issued the proposal.
This strategy might have worked in the past when people had limited sources of news, and information travelled at a slower rate. It is unlikely to work these days.
With so many pieces of content battling each other for public attention, a sustained effort is required to make a strong political proposal stick.
Even if people may not vote for you, at least they should know what you’re proposing.
The party leadership must first identify which of its proposals can capture the public’s hearts and minds and then campaign heavily on them. Extending parental leave – something all current and prospective parents would definitely be interested in – is certainly one of those.
This must be done both privately (PN MPs and candidates personally bringing it up with their constituents) and publicly in a strategic way. I’m not saying that the PN should ape Mr Sofrito, but that they should use similar tactics in terms of understanding the landscape and using smart marketing to get their message across.
For example, an MP who just gave birth could give a candid interview to a media platform about her experience as a new mother and tie it into the importance of this proposal. Regular parents could be identified to speak publicly about the challenges they face on a daily basis.
A more data-oriented MP could give an interview to another platform where they would tie this proposal to Malta’s worryingly low birth rate, while TikTok-savvy MPs could break this proposal down in a fresh manner.
These are just a few off-the-cuff ideas; I’m sure the party can come up with others.
This should be a sustained effort over a few weeks. The PN shouldn’t try to flood the zone with similar pieces of content over one or two days, as this would risk people switching off, but stretch it out over at least a few weeks.
There are loads of ways to onboard people. Mr Sofrito is just one example, but many individuals and groups with a tiny fraction of the PN’s resources have mounted highly successful campaigns in recent years.
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But if a food truck owner can get the whole country talking about a €9.90 toast thanks to a smart marketing strategy, surely the PN can inform people about an idea that could drastically improve their lives,
Unfortunately for the PN, it is often its own worst enemy. MPs and officials continuously bemoan the disparity of funds and resources at the party’s disposal when compared to those enjoyed by the PL and the government.
Rather than slipping into this defeatist attitude, it should focus on utilising its plethora of resources to mount effective campaigns on proposals that will improve people’s daily lives.
It has enough power to make a difference, it just needs to learn how.
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