Strategy
During July 2009 the Commission held several meetings to decide the structure and content of its campaign. These discussions were guided by the Commission’s awareness that in relation to its task of promoting understanding of the referendum proposal, it was starting from a different base than in 2008. The intense discussion of the referendum proposal during the 2008 campaign followed by regular debate since then and in particular in the course of the June European Parliament elections, meant that public understanding of the Lisbon Treaty was likely to be at a higher level than when the 2008 campaign began. Voter research conducted by Behaviour and Attitudes on behalf of the Referendum Commission in July supported this thesis. It showed that 60 per cent of voters said they had at least some understanding of the Treaty, compared to just 21 per cent in April 2008 at what was roughly the equivalent point in the 2008 campaign.
Informed by a belief that public knowledge was at a higher level, and having reviewed post-campaign research in the wake of the 2008 campaign, the Commission decided it would take a somewhat different approach than it had done in 2008 and made a number of key changes:
- In 2008, a detailed guide was posted to all homes, and post-campaign research had shown many voters found it difficult to understand. The distribution costs of that booklet exceeded €1m. In 2009, a much shorter handbook summarising the key points of the Lisbon Treaty was delivered to all households, at a much lower cost while an extended guide was made available on the web, through public offices and to those who sought it by phone.
- In 2008, the Commission felt that because public understanding of the Lisbon Treaty was so low, traditional advertising would lose the attention of voters if it sought to explain the content of the Treaty. The main thrust of the 2008 advertising campaign was therefore to tell people the referendum was taking place, to encourage them to vote, and then to direct them to where detailed information could be obtained. On the basis that there was higher public understanding of the Treaty, the 2009 Commission decided to use its advertising campaign to explain details of the Treaty.
- The Commission also decided that it should set out to use the media to explain key points in the Treaty and to give an unbiased analysis of particular issues that arose in the course of the campaign. This was to be done through media appearances by the Chairman.
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