The Conservative Party has shaken up its roster of election ad agencies, hoping to be able to respond more quickly to developments on the campaign trail.
Conservative insiders acknowledge that the party was outflanked on the advertising front during the 2004 federal election.
They say the Tories weren't able to respond appropriately to a Liberal ad that raised fears about an alleged hidden agenda by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.
"Off the record and over a beer, that's what everyone talks about -- even the ad guys," according to a party insider familiar with the ad strategy. "What Harper's done is brought a broader, deeper team to the table."
Calgary-based Watermark Advertising Design, which did the Conservative ads in the last campaign, will play a smaller role this time, focusing on graphic design.
Toronto-based Würstlingroup will oversee English-language ads. President Michael Würstlin's past credits include the 1995 Bank of Montreal "Can a Bank Change?" campaign. He also designed the iconic Trivial Pursuit board.
Montreal-based Republik Advertising + Design will oversee French ads for the Conservatives, and Toronto-based Yield Integrated Communications and Advertising will also play a role in the campaign.
The Tories declined to say when their ads will hit the air, but said they have an ad budget appropriate for a long campaign.
The Liberals were the first to the trenches in the TV war, unveiling preliminary campaigns in French and English on Tuesday night. The French ad features Paul Martin asking for a mandate to make Canada work, while the English version features newspaper headlines of Liberal accomplishments.
The French ads were developed by Montreal-based Turbo Marketing and the English ads by Toronto-based Bensimon Byrne, which also worked on the last federal campaign for the Liberals.
Bensimon Byrne was behind the attack ad that the Liberals unleashed in the middle of the last campaign, which said Mr. Harper would have sent troops to Iraq, weaken gun laws and not protect a woman's right to choose.
Although many thought the ad was too negative for Canadian politics, it did help the Liberals turn around the campaign and win a minority government.
The Liberals say their ads will be different this time, but don't rule out going after Mr. Harper.
"There will be shades of similarity," one insider said, "because the reality is that Stephen Harper hasn't undergone some kind of conversion. He is who he is. We have to make sure people know who he is if they're voting for him."
The New Democratic Party is returning to Now Communications Group of Vancouver, which worked for the party in 1997 and 2004.
NDP spokesman Brad Lavigne said the party's ads can be expected to talk about Jack Layton's record over the past 18 months of successful negotiations with the Liberals and making parliament work.
It's the first time in three decades, Mr. Lavigne noted, that the federal NDP has had a record to run on.The Bloc Québécois will unveil its ad campaign today. It is using Red L'Agence, run by the same people behind advertising for the "Oui" campaign in the 1995 referendum.