Abstract
Australian Labor and Julia Gillard sought a branding approach for the 2010 election campaign, but struggled with fall-out from the removal of Rudd, the rush to the polls, a hostile environment and some own goals. Drawing on campaigner insights, a new evaluation framework and selected communications, this chapter considers the brand approach and some of the key tactics used by Labor. The campaign had strategic intent but was unevenly executed, most notably when Gillard declared she was unleashing ‘the real Julia’. In Gillard’s second term, brand discipline quickly declined. The leader and party brands suffered severe damage and, facing dire polls, Labor restored Rudd to the leadership in mid-2013. Rudd Redux had some of the echoes but little of the discipline of the Kevin07 campaign. At the 2013 election, Labor was dumped from office.
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Notes
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© 2016 Lorann Downer
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Downer, L. (2016). Desperately Seeking The Real Julia. In: Political Branding Strategies: Campaigning and Governing in Australian Politics. Palgrave Studies in Political Marketing and Management. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137580290_4
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