Jamaican Election Campaigns Goes Online

The Jamaican election in 2007 marks a new phase in election campaigning as both PNP and JLP have launched their campaigns online. Particularly the Jamaica Labour Party who is very actively promoting its campaign on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/jamaicalabourparty ) . At last count there were more than 20 JLP sponsored videos on Youtube. The PNP has adopted a different strategy perhaps by sheer coincidence or lack thereof, choosing to limit their campaign to the streets or via their website (http://www.pnpjamaica.org ) with a splattering of video clips here and there.

If this election was to be judged on the basis of presentation then JLP would be the runaway winner. Their websites (http://www.jlpteam.com and http://www.jamaicalabourparty.com ) are both “eye candy” and professionally done. On the other hand the PNP’s website seems a bit “boring” and amateurish. I must admit that there has been significant improvement in the past 2 weeks. For a culture that embraces glitter and glamour the designers of this website missed the boat.

However in the real world, I think JLP’s online strategy is directed at the wrong target. Convincing the Jamaican Diaspora is an absolute waste of times, many of whom have already given up on Jamaica and are just observers from the sideline. The section of the Jamaican society that matters most and will make a difference are those on “the ground” in the inner city with the most to lose and the least to gain.

With all the marching to the online world, JLP have veered off the proven path and will likely win the online battle but lose where it really counts. The PNP sits quietly behind the screen limiting the amount of information that is made available to the online world. I think this is a great strategy for an incumbent “a less you say, the less likely that you will be judged”.

I have 2 suggestions for both parties.

PNP
Remove the statistics at the bottom of your page saying “You are visitor number xxx since 2001”. The numbers seems really low for almost 6 years of web traffic. If you want to keep the numbers, “stuff the ballot” for example change it to “You are visitor number 8,2007,777 since July 7, 2007”. This makes use of the “lucky seven” prophesy and it also put you in the winners club.

JLP
Stop using comedians and Bruce Golding relatives, this is not the US. Instead, use video clips from several Passa Passa events with Bruce Golding as the selector. This will at least grab people’s attention instead of those boring made for TV ads.

With a few weeks remaining for the grand day, these changes may make a difference. But perhaps I maybe wrong and the weeks to come will see a “Great March of the Penguins”