Advertising, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

On the other hand, the failure of Einars Repse's For Latvia's Development shows that a strategic, massive and well-planned campaign does not always bear fruit, and that the reputation of candidates is of great importance, as a number of advertising industry experts told Nozare.lv.

Advertising agency Mooz! Creative Director Eriks Stendzenieks said that Grigule's face on posters all over the country, and the subsequent result is good news for the advertising industry, as it means that various awareness campaigns are unnecessary. Basic advertising, supplemented with a slogan that is so general that it does not really say anything, still works, which means that others could use this strategy, too, in the future. At the same time, personalities in the party also are a significant factor.

In this case, Stendzenieks mentioned the failure of Repse's party – For Latvia's Development. Although the party had a campaign that ran for a long time with plenty of money invested, it nevertheless failed in the EP elections. Stendzenieks explained that the campaign was targeted at economically-active residents, businessmen and suchlike, however, it was Repse himself who affected the party's popularity, as his reputation and image are not liked by all. Also, strategy for the party's campaign was drawn up already two years ago, but much has changed during these two years, noted Stendzenieks. "Repse's ship was simply too big," he concluded.

Stendzenieks believes that support – with former Latvian National Opera head Andrejs Zagars prominent on the ticket, was also influenced by the annexation of Crimea, because "when bombs are exploding in a neighboring country, and democracy is collapsing, voters have no time for the ballet."

Likewise, Baiba Liepina, the head of the Advertising Association, also believes that Zagars' "questionable reputation" was one of the reasons for the failure of For Latvia's Development.

Iveta Grigule, on the other hand, was like a clean sheet of paper, without any negative – or positive, past, therefore she was able to convince the people, explained Stendzenieks. Originally, she was portrayed alone on posters on walls and elsewhere, with the slogan under her chin: "The Individual Is Paramount", which raised the question whether this "individual" was the candidate herself. Later, new posters emerged, with Grigule seen in the company of her co-candidates. Eventually, without any noteworthy investment, this primitive campaign achieved the desired result, commented Liepina.

She, however, notes that the campaign was successful as it relied heavily on outdoor advertising, placing the posters in strategic locations – especially in rural areas. The Greens/Farmers' commercials were also aired "on the right radios" and in the end, despite some highly controversial statements by Grigule, she was elected to the EP.

Meanwhile, the poor showing for Harmony Center may be due to the comparatively limited advertising and a lack of "enthralling" candidates, Liepina noted. Unity's excellent results, on the other hand, were thanks to the personalities leading the party into the election, including some members of the outgoing EP.

Taking into account the outcome, people are likely to see "very many and very large faces" on posters everywhere before Saeima elections in the fall, added Stendzenieks.