‘We knew the job we had to do on Morrison’: Dee Madigan on Labor’s campaign
Speaking on this week’s Mumbrellacast, Campaign Edge executive creative director, Dee Madigan admitted “as much as people hate negative ads, we know they work, and I think this election sort of proved that”.
Madigan, a regular Gruen panelist, who also ran the winning Australian Labor Party’s advertising campaign told Mumbrella that her and her team nutted out the strategy “about a year and a half ago”, and after that, it was clear what was needed to be done.

Campaign Edge’s Madigan on this week’s Mumbrellacast
How is it that we’ve decided the Labor campaign was strong? As a journalist, my feeling is that Labor won despite its campaign – and certainly not because of it.
Can’t say the Labor ads were anything special either
I don’t remember any Labor ads.
I do however remember the Liberal messaging – holes in buckets and it won’t be easy under Albanese. Annoying as hell but had the necessary cut through.
On a related note, why do all Gruen panelists over estimate their influence?!
Your point around Gruen is completely true. Perhaps it’s because people in the industry fawn to other people in the industry who they consider more successful, i.e., those on TV. Fawned upon person then assumes this applies to the broader population, then assume their POV is more interesting than it really is. Don’t forget that this is Mumbrella. Its sphere of influence is really a small slice of people that work in advertising. I’m sure the people writing on here realise they are only talking to a handful of their peers.
Hey Labor Voter and Complete agreement,
Definitely take your point there. As you say Complete Agreement, our audience is a niche one looking at Australia’s media and marketing industry, so while Gruen may not be relevant to the wider Aussie public, it is certaintly up there as one of the most relevant for the market Mumbrella caters to!
Taking into account Gruen’s success over the last decade, it is always worth a mention as the show and the panelists’ contributions have certainly played a part in raising their individual profiles.
Cheers
Calum
Thanks Calum.
So it’s no longer just people in their own agency, but people in other agencies that now know their names? 🙂