BC United Leader Kevin Falcon couldn91裸聊视频檛 resist sarcasm when asked on Tuesday how his party91裸聊视频檚 rebranding from its long-standing identity as the British Columbia Liberals was going.
91裸聊视频淪pectacularly,91裸聊视频� he said with a wry laugh, before adding 91裸聊视频渙bviously, I think it could have gone way better.91裸聊视频�
In hindsight, even this was an understatement.
About 24 hours later, Falcon was standing behind a B.C. Conservative Party podium to announce his decision to end BC United91裸聊视频檚 election campaign, withdraw its candidates91裸聊视频� nominations, and urge voters to instead support the Conservatives in the Oct. 19 provincial ballot.
As BC United candidates and staff pondered their futures, strategists and communications experts pointed to last year91裸聊视频檚 ill-fated rebranding exercise, championed by Falcon, as a harbinger of the party91裸聊视频檚 implosion. Falcon also failed to capture a rightwards shift in political sentiment, they said, and instead it was John Rustad91裸聊视频檚 Conservatives who did so.
To make matters worse, the rebranding coincided with the soaring popularity of the B.C. Conservatives, who are not affiliated with the Conservative Party of Canada.
Campaign strategist Allie Blades, who worked on the BC United rebrand for the Mash Strategy digital political consulting agency, blamed Falcon for the exercise91裸聊视频檚 failure.
Earlier this month, BC United said internal polling suggested up to 30 per cent of people in B.C. were unaware the party changed names in April 2023.
91裸聊视频淗e just didn91裸聊视频檛 listen,91裸聊视频� said Blades about Falcon91裸聊视频檚 approach to the rebrand effort. 91裸聊视频淗e had a committee of people responsible for the name change. Didn91裸聊视频檛 listen to them. I91裸聊视频檓 sure that those staff and caucus people we91裸聊视频檝e seen move over to the Conservatives made that decision partly because they weren91裸聊视频檛 listened to either.91裸聊视频�
She said the rebrand failed because the party did not connect its new name and look to a message about what BC United stood for.
91裸聊视频淵ou can design a great logo,91裸聊视频� said Blades. 91裸聊视频淵ou can put out some ads, but it didn91裸聊视频檛 answer the problem which the party had, which was, what do they stand for and where are they on the political spectrum.91裸聊视频�
Under former premiers Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell, B.C. residents knew the brand of the B.C. Liberals, as the party of free enterprise and prosperity.
91裸聊视频淏ut this was a missed opportunity for BC United to brand themselves in what they stood for and what their values are,91裸聊视频� said Blades.
Falcon made the party91裸聊视频檚 rebranding and name change a key promise during his campaign for the B.C. Liberal leadership, and the party said 80 per cent of members supported the name change to BC United.
Blades said many older party members, including conservative former caucus members, believed the B.C. Liberal name confused and turned off voters who did not support the federal Liberals.
The former B.C. Liberals were not affiliated with any federal party, but the pressure to change names persisted, she said.
After Falcon became leader in February 2022, the party started to lose momentum in part because he did not reach out to his younger leadership opponents, including Val Litwin and Gavin Dew, who is now a Conservative candidate, Blades said.
91裸聊视频淲e were politically soulless for a while,91裸聊视频� she said.
Prof. David Black, a political communications expert at Greater Victoria91裸聊视频檚 Royal Roads University, said the failure of the BC United rebrand was 91裸聊视频減uzzling91裸聊视频� because other name changes in Saskatchewan and Alberta have worked.
The former Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties in Alberta merged in 2017 to become the United Conservative Party, while the Progressive Conservatives in Saskatchewan emerged as the Saskatchewan Party in the 1990s after a major scandal, he said.
Black said while people suggest the BC United rebrand was poorly funded, badly communicated and poorly managed by Falcon, consideration should also be given to the shifting political environment in B.C.
91裸聊视频淲hat is different from the other rebrands mentioned above is that public sentiment on the centre-right was shifting already in early 2023 and a more right-leaning and more populist B.C. voter was looking for an alternative,91裸聊视频� he said.
91裸聊视频淛ohn Rustad became leader of that alternative.91裸聊视频�
