{"id":88701,"date":"2016-05-17T13:36:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T13:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=88701"},"modified":"2016-11-10T15:52:06","modified_gmt":"2016-11-10T15:52:06","slug":"eu-referendum-has-campaign-messaging-missed-the-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/eu-referendum-has-campaign-messaging-missed-the-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"EU referendum: has campaign messaging missed the mark?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The referendum campaign has so far been fraught with drama, but voters could be excused for feeling that, while entertaining, there\u2019s been little offered from either side that\u00a0feels genuinely informative. \u00a0What part of the campaign has impacted on polling and social media so far? Taken from total poll results over the last 6 months, here are some of the events which stand out.<\/p>\n

Boris decides<\/strong>
\nNever one to shy away from a dramatic announcement, Boris Johnson took his time deciding which side of the fence he\u2019d be on. When he announced, he changed the terms of the debate in a big way: one Conservative leadership hopeful pitted against another (George Osborne), adding an extra edge to the outcome of the referendum. If anything, the announcement seemed to muddy the water: both \u2018remain\u2019 and \u2018leave\u2019 preferences declined, whilst \u2018don\u2019t knows\u2019 increased by 9 points.<\/p>\n

The leaflet debacle<\/strong>
\nThe Government\u2019s leaflet campaign was widely criticised for using tax-payers money to fund information in favour of remaining part of the EU. This enraged leave supporters and a petition criticising the campaign\u00a0gained over 200,000 signatures. Did it have any effect on voting preference? Surprisingly, polls show both \u2018leave\u2019 and \u2018remain\u2019 gained a 4 point increase whilst ‘don’t knows’ dropped by 8 points. While divisive, the leaflet debate\u00a0actually led to increased engagement and clarity around\u00a0voting preference.<\/p>\n

Obama steps in<\/strong>
\nBarack Obama\u2019s intervention in April was always going to be a gamble. While the President is undoubtedly a figure you want backing your team, his involvement didn\u2019t resonate well with voters in the \u2018leave\u2019 and \u2018don\u2019t know\u2019 camps. While it caused a flurry of activity on Twitter, people intending to vote out actually increased after Obama\u2019s speech, as did those who were undecided.<\/p>\n

\"Pro-Brexit<\/a>

Pro-Brexit Twitter activity<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Pro-Remain<\/a>

Pro-Remain Twitter activity<\/p><\/div>\n

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One feature of the campaign so far has been that drama and political infighting have taken centre stage, while there\u2019s been little information of substance that voters can really engage with. Vote Leave and Britain Stronger in Europe now need to view the next five weeks as an opportunity to mobilise voters who don\u2019t feel knowledgeable or engaged enough to make an informed decision. This may mean a move away from theatricals and mudslinging: it may be asking a lot, but voters will be looking for level headed, reliable information instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The referendum campaign has so far been fraught with drama, but voters could be excused for feeling that, while entertaining, there\u2019s been little offered from either side that\u00a0feels genuinely informative. \u00a0What part of the campaign …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":88714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7271,1449],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88701"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88701"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95641,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88701\/revisions\/95641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}