Tories to campaign on Spotify

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 16 Oct 2009 at 13:28

The Conservatives are to campaign on Spotify, as the party reaches out to tech-savvy voters.

The ad will feature Tory party chairman, Eric Pickles, lambasting the Government's handling of the recent economic crisis, and urging listeners to vote Conservative at the next General Election.

The advert will last for 40 seconds and initially run for a week, though there's a chance it may be extended.

"We are always looking for new and relevant ways of engaging with people, and I think this Spotify advert adds to an already strong track record of being early adopters when it comes to online communication," says the shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

I think this Spotify advert adds to an already strong track record of being early adopters when it comes to online communication

"The growth of Spotify in the UK has been phenomenal. We were particularly impressed with its advertising model and its potential for political campaigning."

Hunt could be referring to the fact that advertising on Spotify allows the Conservatives to skirt the rules preventing political parties from advertising on television or radio outside of party political broadcasts during elections.

It appears technology is set to play a significant part in the campaign strategy of all the major parties. Labour recently appointed a Twitter tsar tasked with developing its social-networking strategy.

The Conservatives will have to be a little more cautious about their use of the micro-blogging service, after David Cameron famously claimed "too many twits make a twat" in a recent radio interview.