Electioneering marketing 101

The ANC's knickers are in a knot... yet again. Cynical and supercilious billboards 'congratulating' the governing party for delivering e-tolls to Gauteng sprung up recently and have the party convulsing with anger. Reading from the party's now well-rehearsed script of knee jerks and automated ripostes, the ANC's top brass reached deep into its stale arsenal of  slamming, criticising, lashing, dismissing, baulking and pouring cold water on what appears to have been a carefully crafted and wily attack by the DA, which is behind the cheeky billboards. And the opposition can be pleased with itself. On Helen Zille's pre-election fever check list she can safely tick off the box, "Annoy the ANC and in so doing get publicity." Mission accomplished... so far.
If only the ANC's election campaigns were half as impudent and creative. Party officials have vowed to take the matter up with the IEC and the Advertising Standards Authority. Yawn. Spin doctors have been reaching for the Thesaurus as they pen press releases and vice their dissatisfaction in sleep-inducing radio/TV sound bytes. Snore. The ANC best get with it.
Putting the merits of the issue aside, I believe the ANC is missing a great opportunity to take this impertinent dig from it's arch rival and use it to overhaul it's own election strategy. We've already seen the ruling party's big-wigs take to the streets to kiss babies and to pray away the opposition. It's going to get  even more heated - and possibly even more mundane - as the days tick by. Expect over-inflated politicians cutting ribbons, ponderous dancing, uncouth attacks on their rivals and brain-numbing 'election messages' EVERYWHERE! It's all from the age old book of electioneering, where imaginations and creativity are dumbed down and filed under the rarely-read chapter titled, "Creativity: Not really necessary,. unless of course you are desperate".
The DA pricked a nerve by employing some lateral thinking through some cheekiness. It helps the party picked an emotive issue such as e-tolls.
 Sure, call an imbizo and implore people to vote for your party. It's one of the few occasions voters get to be in the same vicinity as those who'd promised them 5 years earlier an array of wish list items.We'll see many of these in coming weeks and months. But the ANC, and other parties, could also allow their imaginations to run rampant as they shift into electioneering gear. The party may be loathe to now follow suit and engage in a billboard war as it wouldn't want to be seen as copying the 'enemy.' . But marketing is more than just a public message visibly from the road. It should become a way of life for those in the movement tasked with building it's brand.
The ANC and DA are getting more nifty with social media, like Twitter. The two at times even embrace some humour and some party stalwarts aren't scared to venture into the uncharted wilderness that is marketing through social media . But is it enough for elections in the 21st Century? The billboards move was daring and sarcastic, and it achieved it's objective of getting up the ANC's nose.
The humdrum promises and tedious reminders of political party's achievements won't suffice in 2014, especially if you want to secure the much sought after youth vote. Lateral-thinking messages needn't be oblique and cerebral, but can be impudent, thought-provoking, daring and emotive. In a time when cynicism, particularly around elections, is has become the norm, political marketing paradigm shifts could be key next year.