BC United: For a soccer team, insurance company or airline? Sure. But not a political party.
These were just some the things that the Twitterverse thought BC United would be a more suitable name for than the party that hopes to form the next provincial government.
The advice you get on Twitter is usually worth what you paid for it, and the party seemed to take the comments in stride. At their launch event, they even distributed little soccer balls with BC United’s new branding – a playful and disarming move.
Some will like it; some will love it. Clearly, some will mock it. Obviously, for every MLA and party apparatchik, there was an imperative to don a T-shirt festooned with the party’s new emblem.
Having worked on branding and marketing campaigns in the past, I know well that change has a way of inviting criticism. The problem with moving away from “BC Liberals” was never going to be whether the name should change – the party membership overwhelmingly endorsed this idea and the moniker – but the details of how the brand gets presented.
The colours, the font, the logo: These were always going to be hotly debated amongst political watchers, party stalwarts and opponents.
The bright pink and blue, slightly garish choices for the party most often associated with B.C.’s business and conservative circles. The lack of a provincial emblem – be it a flag, a dogwood flower, or some combination of mountains, water and the setting sun – was immediately noticeable.
There could have been any number of good and well-reasoned arguments for the bridge-like twist now crowning the “BC” in the party’s logo. The designers could just as easily have manufactured stories that backward-justify the new emblem.
The day the new brand and logo were launched, I had the opportunity to listen, as fate would have it, to Kevin Falcon twice. First at a local chamber of commerce event where Falcon noted that he was, for the last time, speaking as leader of the BC Liberal party. Then later, at the party’s launch event, where the new look was rolled out. (Quite literally in the case of the little soccer balls).
What struck me was not the previously announced name, the visual brand or the design choices, but the man pushing it all forward.
Falcon has found his track and, at both events, kept his remarks focused on issues that are impacting British Columbians.
Speaking on a mix of public safety and pocketbook issues, Falcon demonstrated that all his years in politics count for something and that he could forcefully deliver criticism of a government that has faced little of it.
Falcon talked about the revolving door of criminal justice and the rise of crime that has gone largely unchecked during the NDP’s time in power. He hit important notes on the high cost of living, with a simple message: That while government continues to grow and life continues to get more expensive, many British Columbians feel that they are falling behind. He talked about service delivery, comfortably criticizing the NDP on health-care delays and doctor shortages. He railed against red tape and bureaucracy, even briefly setting his sights on municipal bureaucrats and politicians who delay desperately-needed infrastructure and housing projects.
It was on that last point where he most came alive: Housing.
Coming from a development background, Falcon clearly understands the ins-and-outs of one of the most pressing issues facing Canadians broadly and British Columbians specifically. He recognizes the need to build housing and seems committed to removing impediments.
Polls continue to show the NDP in the lead, and a new logo was never going to change that.
But in Falcon, BC United has a leader who understands the issues and who can hold the NDP to account. In an environment where many British Columbians are feeling pinched, that’s a tremendous asset for an Opposition party that has at times seemed absent. It’s far more valuable than any rebrand.
Nicholas Insley is a senior consultant at Enterprise Canada, a national strategic communications firm, and has served as an aide to federal and provincial conservative ministers.
