Saturday’s federal election delivered a decisive result, but it also left many voters with a bad taste in their mouths. Not because of the outcome—but because of the experience of the campaign itself.
I don’t know about you, but as I stood at the cardboard voting booth on Saturday, scanning those familiar green and white ballot papers, I felt… nothing. Not apathy, exactly—just a lingering sense of underwhelm. And today, more than anything, I feel relieved that the campaign is over. Because if you judged it purely on experience, this election season was one of the most frustrating, annoying, tone-deaf, and forgettable in recent memory.
And despite Labor’s convincing win, anecdotal feedback from across the electorate indicates I’m not alone. Voters felt spammed, shouted at, and treated like an algorithm rather than a human being with the ability to think. And one party in particular, which spent tens of millions on an aggressive SMS and digital marketing blitz, not only failed to win a single seat, but saw its leader poll just 3.3% in her own electorate.
So, what can marketers learn from this?
It’s simple, but powerful: customer experience is marketing. Always has been. But in an age of increasing customer expectations and decreasing tolerance for noise, it’s never been more true.
When your campaign is the experience—and the experience is unpleasant—you don’t just fail to connect. You actively erode trust.
Here’s what the election reminded us:
- Reach doesn’t equal relevance. Just because you can get into someone’s inbox, doesn’t mean you should—especially if you haven’t earned that attention.
- Repetition can breed resentment. Marketing that feels relentless rather than respectful can quickly become counterproductive. Do you know a single person who reacted positively to being spammed by text?
- No amount of spend can fix a bad experience. A $60 million campaign will still fall flat if it’s delivered without respect for your audience’s time and intelligence.
This goes far beyond politics. Whether you’re launching a product, running a campaign, or nurturing a client relationship, the same principle applies:
If your campaign creates a poor experience for your audience—no matter how much you spend—you’ll fail to earn advocacy or action.
Because in the end, whether you’re asking for votes, dollars, or data—you’re asking for trust. And trust is built not with noise, but with nuance.
