Estonian parties prepare for Riigikogu election: some hire ad agencies, others rely on in-house teams
Ahead of Estonia's Riigikogu parliamentary election, the ruling Reform Party has picked the agency Tank, while EKRE, the Centre Party and the Social Democrats plan to run campaigns in-house. They cite lower costs and faster reaction times.
Estonia's parliamentary election, for the Riigikogu, is approaching, and parties are taking different approaches to whether campaigns should be handed to advertising agencies or built in-house, according to Estonian public broadcaster ERR.
The two ruling coalition parties are preparing differently. The Reform Party has already chosen the advertising agency Tank, which had previously avoided political advertising. Party secretary general Kristo Enn Vaga says the campaign's core focus and main story were developed jointly with the agency over a fairly long period. Coalition partner Eesti 200 has not yet picked an agency. Its leader Kristina Kallas says the brief for agencies is ready, but creating the creative concept in-house is also an option. In the previous Riigikogu election the party developed the concept itself and commissioned an agency only to carry it out.
Earlier cooperation
In the 2023 campaign the Reform Party worked with Kontuur Leo Burnett and spent almost two million euros on advertising. After the long-running partnership ended, the agency began working with Isamaa. Its creative director Urmas Villmann says there was no falling-out and suggests one reason may be that the agency is often blamed when things go wrong.
Going it alone
EKRE and the Centre Party will not hire an agency. EKRE's Martin Helme says an in-house media team lets the party save significantly and work faster and more flexibly; it has already run several local-election campaigns on its own. The Centre Party's Lauri Laats stresses direct contact with voters at tents and meetings, activity on social media, and advertising in newspapers, television and radio.
The Social Democrats will also rely on their own resources. Party secretary general Piret Hartman says the party has experienced marketing and communications specialists, that bringing in an agency would cost more, and that in her view elections are won by a strong team and campaign content rather than the volume of advertising.
