Change. Forward. Together. For you.

They are the buzzwords of political campaigns worldwide, used time and again in various combinations, to sum up a campaign theme in few enough letters to fit on a podium sign.

On Tuesday, the NDP became the fifth and final major party to unveil its campaign catchphrase, hoping B次元官网网址淚n it for YouB次元官网网址� will catch votersB次元官网网址� attention.

Dennis Matthews, a vice-president at Enterprise Canada who worked in the message mines as an advertising and marketing adviser to prime minister Stephen Harper, said B次元官网网址渁 ton of effortB次元官网网址� goes into finding a phrase that can sum up an entire campaign in one short and snappy sentence.

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B次元官网网址淎 campaign will do all kinds of research, look at all of their potential voters and what theyB次元官网网址檙e looking for,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚n a campaign you want to imagine the voter going into the voter booth and asking themselves a question. A good slogan sets up that question so they can only pick you as the only option.B次元官网网址�

The NDPB次元官网网址檚 new slogan points, without being negative, to the idea that the NDP are there to help the little guy while the Liberals and Tories are in it for themselves and their wealthy friends.

ItB次元官网网址檚 similar both to the slogan the federal Liberals used in 2008, B次元官网网址淎lways Here for You,B次元官网网址� and to the ConservativesB次元官网网址� current B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 Time for You to Get Ahead.B次元官网网址�

Such echoes are not uncommon, said Matthews, because B次元官网网址渃ampaigns are referendums on the future.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淰oters are looking forward so most campaign slogans at least hint at a forward-looking or action-oriented thesis and there are only so many words that fit that.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淔orward togetherB次元官网网址� was one of Winston ChurchillB次元官网网址檚 most common speech slogans throughout his political career. It has been used by two of his successors as British prime minister B次元官网网址� Margaret Thatcher in 1980 and Theresa May in 2017 B次元官网网址� and at least two American presidential candidates. Richard Nixon used it in his inauguration speech in 1969 and Hillary Clinton turned to it for her presidential run in 2016.

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In 2019, the Green Party of Canada is building on it for its slogan: B次元官网网址淣ot Left. Not Right. Forward Together.B次元官网网址�

The Liberals have dropped the B次元官网网址渢ogetherB次元官网网址� part and are just going with B次元官网网址淐hoose ForwardB次元官网网址� in 2019. ItB次元官网网址檚 remarkably similar to the 2004 Liberal theme phrase of B次元官网网址淢oving Forward.B次元官网网址�

The Bloc Quebecois is using B次元官网网址淟e Quebec, cB次元官网网址檈st nousB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� roughly, B次元官网网址淲e are Quebec.B次元官网网址�

In 1980, Ronald ReaganB次元官网网址檚 slogan in his first successful presidential campaign was B次元官网网址淟etB次元官网网址檚 Make America Great Again.B次元官网网址� Twenty-six years later, Donald Trump tweaked it into one of the best-known political slogans in history. B次元官网网址淢ake America Great AgainB次元官网网址� hats and T-shirts are still common (Trump now has to decide whether he can still use it after four years in office).

In 2015, in an election campaign almost entirely about voter fatigue with a decade-old Conservative government, both the Liberals and NDP went with B次元官网网址漜hangeB次元官网网址�: B次元官网网址淩eal ChangeB次元官网网址� for the Liberals and B次元官网网址淩eady for ChangeB次元官网网址� for the NDP.

Scott Reid, who was a communications adviser to prime minister Paul Martin and is now a principal at the strategy firm Feschuk.Reid, said most slogans are developed as part of an intensive and lengthy research process to suss out a potential path to electoral victory. Polls and focus groups and voter outreach guide B次元官网网址渁 whole slew of decisionsB次元官网网址� including advertising spots and which public issues a campaign will prioritize.

B次元官网网址淭he slogan itself emerges from that,B次元官网网址� he said.

As for the actual words? B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 believe they matter very much,B次元官网网址� said Reid.

Few, if any, campaigns are lost on bad slogans and most slogans end up on the floor as soon as the last vote is counted. Some of the best arenB次元官网网址檛 even official slogans at all.

In 2011 B次元官网网址漚 strong, stable, national Conservative majority governmentB次元官网网址� wasnB次元官网网址檛 the official Conservative campaign slogan but became the recognizable theme for a campaign appealing to voters tired of fragile minority governments.

Barack ObamaB次元官网网址檚 2008 presidential campaign added B次元官网网址淵es we canB次元官网网址� to the political-slogan hall of fame, but his official slogan was actually B次元官网网址滳hange We Can Believe In.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淵es We CanB次元官网网址� was a holdover from ObamaB次元官网网址檚 previous Senate campaign, a catchphrase he used in speeches, that took off as a rallying cry for his supporters.

As proof that slogans arenB次元官网网址檛 everything, one need only know that the Green Party of Canada also used B次元官网网址淵es We CanB次元官网网址� for its 2006 election effort. That netted the party zero seats and less than five per cent of the vote.

TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 2015 campaign is remembered for promising B次元官网网址渟unny waysB次元官网网址� even though Trudeau didnB次元官网网址檛 talk about sunny ways B次元官网网址� borrowed from Wilfrid Laurier B次元官网网址� until his victory speech on voting day.

Matthews said as in any advertising, the best slogans canB次元官网网址檛 always be predicted.

B次元官网网址淪ome of this stuff, youB次元官网网址檝e got to put it out there and see if it catches on,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚n the marketing world you can be a little lucky and land on something that really catches on. Sometimes it doesnB次元官网网址檛.B次元官网网址�

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press

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