‘We’ve hit peak Clive’: Problem with Clive Palmer’s latest ad

Clive Palmer has run one of the most expensive advertising campaigns in Aussie history. But experts say he’s reached his tipping point.

Open a newspaper, scroll through Facebook or switch on the TV, and there’s one name that keeps popping up: Clive, Clive, Clive.

You’re driving to work on a miserable Monday morning … and there’s Clive, looking annoyingly optimistic as he beams down at you from a billboard with his thumbs up.

A text message from a random number? Oh hey, it’s Clive again, telling you to “Make Australia Great”.

The United Australia Party has spent an estimated $60 million on its election campaign advertising — the highest figure in Australia’s history. Clive Palmer has previously said he’s budgeted to spend $80 million on his campaign if he has to.

The mining billionaire has taken a broad approach, covering off every advertising sector available to him: social media, the radio, TV ads, billboards, text messages, newspapers.

For better or for worse, the barrage has ensured Australians have become accustomed to his face and voice.

There’s been no escaping Clive Palmer this election.

But after taking up two full newspaper pages imploring voters to pick him over the major parties for “insurance”, Mr Palmer may have finally “hit peak Clive”, according to Dr Andrew Hughes, a marketing lecturer at ANU specialising in political marketing and advertising.

“We can’t escape his messaging, and now he’s just annoying us,” he told news.com.au. “There’s been no real easing of spending, which has been remarkable. Often you see a time when the major parties go quiet and declare a truce.”

Mr Palmer took out a full two-page spread in yesterday and today’s Daily Telegraph. The ad promised a high-speed train to “revolutionise the way we commute” and hit out at the major parties by saying: “Whoever wins government, you need insurance in the Senate to guarantee accountability.”

Clive Palmer hits out at Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison in his latest ad.

Dr Hughes said the ad was steeped in negativity and marked an advertising fail for Mr Palmer.

“The attack on Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison is where it goes backwards because it’s negative. He’s already hit saturation point with all of us,” Dr Hughes said.

“At this stage (one week before the election), he should be further highlighting what he’s doing in a positive way.

“Take those voters that are undecided. If I was the United Australia Party I’d be going positive, positive, positive till the end because you differentiate yourself while the major parties are going negative.”

Until this point, Dr Hughes said Clive Palmer took a more positive approach to his advertisements.

Up until this point, Dr Hughes said Mr Palmer had run a solid ad campaign.

“What he’s doing really well is he’s across all channels. He’s not relied on just one silver bullet-style campaign where he puts all his eggs in one basket. He’s doing everything he can on TV, on the radio, in print.

“Clive has done the textbook campaign — positive messaging, keeping his brand consistent, using the same yellow colour, using his candidates and a diversity of people speaking on camera. He’s hit the right networks, gained awareness, developed positive messaging, and he’s just been really consistent across the board.”

It doesn’t help the new “negative” campaign style that Mr Palmer is already disadvantaged by his own personal image. Many say he has no real policies and is just airing a protest vote.

He’s faced widespread criticism for the collapse of his nickel refinery in Townsville and not paying workers their redundancy entitlements. He’s also been linked to a failing Titanic II project, was ridiculed over a rambling Today show appearance last month, and last year was charged by ASIC over an alleged corporate breach.

“It’s not just about the advertisement messaging,” Dr Hughes said. “That’s about how people have an experience with you as a political party brand. Clive is really struggling to get that personal connection with voters … we don’t know what to expect from him in a lot of ways.”

Mr Palmer may have become a meme favourite in recent months, but Dr Hughes says that’s a case of “laughing at him, not with him”.

He also says Mr Palmer’s astronomical spending could spark a “necessary” conversation about capping spending to avoid the “saturation effect” we’ve seen from him.

All that said, compared with the major parties, Dr Hughes said Mr Palmer had “been the best overall” in terms of his ad campaigns, particularly for his consistency.

Dr Hughes also gave Scott Morrison credit. “He’s managed to hold the fort against Labor, and he’s held off on going too negative, particularly with the online ads, which is quite noticeable,” he said.

Until mid-April, Mr Palmer was running as a candidate in the north Queensland seat of Herbert, which experts said he had “nil” chance of winning. But he abandoned it to try his luck in the Senate.