Did Jean Charest abandon the leadership of the Conservative Party? On Facebook and Instagram, at least, the candidate has not spent a penny on advertising this summer, unlike the ubiquitous Pierre Poilievre. A strategic error, say some, while everything suggests that the former premier of Quebec will be largely outdistanced by his main opponent at the end of the leadership race on Saturday.
According to figures from Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Pierre Poilievre spent nearly $17,000 on sponsored content broadcast on both platforms over the summer. Jean Charest, who has just reconnected with social networks after 10 years of absence, has meanwhile made no advertising placement in recent months.
“It’s a big tactical mistake on the part of his team. Especially since Jean Charest is trying to reach members of the Conservative Party in this race. And we know that party members are often wary of traditional media. The best way to reach them is therefore, precisely, social networks, ”underlines Rodolphe Husny, who was a Conservative strategist under Stephen Harper.
In his opinion, the deletion of Jean Charest from social networks during the summer does not prove that he has capitulated to a largely favorite Pierre Poilievre. According to him, this rather demonstrates that the 64-year-old politician was poorly surrounded for his big return to active politics.
“He arrived on social media at the start of the race, when Pierre Poilievre was already very popular. Jean Charest was starting from scratch, and his team would have had to spend three times more than Pierre Poilievre to make him known outside his circle of subscribers, which is very limited. It was Jean Charest who needed to advertise, not Pierre Poilievre,” summarizes Mr. Husny.
Not a question of money
Also a former conservative strategist, Yan Plante also doubts the communication strategy chosen by the candidate’s entourage. Admittedly, Jean Charest is well behind in terms of donations in this race compared to Pierre Poilievre, he recalls. But that can’t explain the decision, as ad space on Facebook is pretty cheap compared to other marketing tactics.
Much more marginal candidates have also bought advertising space. Moderate Patrick Brown, who was disqualified from the race, had spent just over $1,500 in June and July to get himself seen by Facebook and Instagram users across the country. Anti-abortion candidate Leslyn Lewis invested some $3,100 in advertising on the two social networks between June 7 and September 4.
“Even if Jean Charest’s team had bought advertising on Facebook, it might not have changed much. From day 1, his chances were very slim. The Conservative Party no longer resembles the Conservative Party it knew during the 1980s,” says Yan Plante, now vice-president of the public relations agency Tact.
The former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party has 17,000 subscribers on Facebook, while Pierre Poilievre has accumulated… 554,000. Contacted on Wednesday, Jean Charest’s team did not respond to our questions.