For Immediate Release:

Edmonton, AB, April 19, 2012 — With the 2012 Alberta Election campaign now in its final week, effective communication of party platforms and beliefs is at its most critical point. Specialist brand marketing firm Urban Jungle has evaluated the top five political parties and provided a grade based on their ability to communicate a clear mission, position and platform, level of engagement with citizens, and overall visual presentation.

“As a branding professional, I’m very interested in what political parties are doing to effectively position themselves, especially come election time. And as a voter, I know many Albertans don’t have a lot of time on their hands to read through the content on party websites or watch hours of debate. With that in mind, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to determine how well Alberta’s political parties communicate with Albertans in one minute or less,” said Urban Jungle founder, Craig Blackburn.

The results were more interesting than Blackburn expected. As he explains, the lack of attention to detail in party brand strategies may be a reason why the quick-starting Alberta Party has appeared to have fallen off the radar, and why the Conservatives have allegedly given up ground.

“A few of the important questions I ask when it relates to party branding are: Do we know how one party is different from or better than another party? Can we quickly determine their stance on important issues? Can we easily find their beliefs and values to understand if they are closely aligned with our own?”

In Blackburn’s view, effective branding is one of the reasons why Danielle Smith’s Wildrose party has resonated with many Albertans and reportedly surged into a front running spot above the Liberals and NDP.

“As a fairly issueless election, I believe branding plays an important role—arguably more than it does when an election has highly-polarizing issues. A case in point is the Wildrose anomaly. Relatively unknown a short time ago, Wildrose, armed with a strong position and platform, clear communication, and good visual presentation has effectively defined why they are different than the only party that has mattered to Albertans for over 40 years,” said Blackburn.

The political parties’ “brand report cards” can be found online at urbanjungle.ca

About Urban Jungle
Established in 2000, Urban Jungle specializes in brand development for organizations seeking to strengthen their brand, improve their business, and dominate their market. Unlike advertising agencies, marketing firms, and graphic design studios, Urban Jungle helps clients bring clarity to their brand vision—inspiring employees, guiding business development, and creating strong connections with customers and other audiences.

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Urban Jungle
Phone: 780 701 9877
Web: https://urbanjungle.ca
Media contact: Craig Blackburn, Principal
craig [at] urbanjungle.ca
780 701 9877 x1