Opinion – UDA Political Branding Commentary
Disclaimer – This commentary is purely for creative branding purposes and does bear any political inclination towards the candidate or the party.
Let me start by mentioning three things I like about the hashtag#UDA billboards, first, the simplistic style, second, the graffiti-like font used on their tagline which is really dope and third, the Kitenge motif.
UDA’s visual direction has a homegrown look and feel, it evokes a “created by freelance graphic designer “hustler. Something I always like to see because it feels authentic and hits right home!
So, kudos to them for this direction, for it is such a brilliant tactic for connecting with the Hustler Nation.
That being said, there’s room for slight improvements, I think the designer should have used the graffiti-like font on the headline to enhance the homegrown aesthetic, and center-aligned their partnership photo to deliver a much neater and more impactful design.
Moving on to the messaging, UDA has been consistent in its billboard messaging and visuals since the beginning of the campaigns unlike Azimio, and while I enjoy seeing a variety of designs, I think this tactic is effective in the sense that, it has maintained emphasis and subsequently top of mind awareness for me as a consumer.
Every time I see yellow and green, I automatically think Every Hustle Matters.
Now to sum it up, UDA doesn’t seem to have a brand communications plan nor a specialist overseeing their strategy, and if they do, I’d say their plan is very simple with limited elements, or their personnel probably don’t have agency experience.
Their roll out feels very minimal, and they haven’t made good use of digital touchpoints either. To be more direct, I’d say they printed a few billboards, installed them, and decided that’s enough for advertising.
I’m not saying their branding is not good or their strategy is poorly executed, I’m saying it doesn’t stand out enough.
