Frits knows what he's talking about. He was involved in multiple election campaigns - from Gerrit Zalm to Mark Rutte - and was in the middle of the frenzy of campaigns that made or broke political careers. "If Mark Rutte had had a different campaign manager, Rita Verdonk would have won," said Kay van der Linde, who was Rita's campaign manager. Hearing Frits tell it gives you an idea of what it's like behind the scenes during the campaign period: keen observation, quick switching and always sensing the feeling of the moment.
During the 1998 Amsterdam city council elections, as campaign manager, he decided to do things differently than usual. No substantive message, no complicated plans. Instead, short spots that evoked a positive feeling about Amsterdam. We used the song Amsterdam by Maggie MacNeal, which is an ode to the city," he says. 'In doing so, we showed images of candidates in recognizable places in Amsterdam - from the canal to Southeast. You saw the De Boer brothers of Ajax serving beer. That gave an atmosphere of pride, something cheerful.' Not everyone was happy about it. 'Eberhard van der Laan, who was still on the city council at the time, was angry,' Frits says. 'He said: Ajax belongs to everyone. To which I said: yes, Eberhard, and so does the VVD!'
That half-minute of television told more than an election program ever could. 'In a spot like that, everything has to be right,' Frits says. 'The images, the music, the feeling. That's what people remember.' Behind those few seconds is a world of planning. He bought airtime smartly: always just before or after the news, never in the middle of a block full of other parties. 'If you're Albert Heijn, you don't want to be between the Aldi and the Jumbo either,' he says dryly.
He also worked with the same principle in national campaigns: clear, recognizable and human. In the 2003 campaign for Gerrit Zalm, he wrote a sentence that nicely summarized the VVD's message: 'If your car's engine fails, call ANWB. If the engine of the economy is faltering, vote VVD.' A catchy phrase that got to the heart of the matter in its simplicity.
There was a lot of preparation behind statements like that. Campaigns were tested with focus groups, posters compared and words carefully chosen. 'A speech should be like a coat that fits the speaker,' Frits says. 'Not one I like, but one in which the speaker feels comfortable and can convey the intended feeling.'
When it comes to persuasion, Frits is adamant: "There's no point putting energy into someone who already knows he's going to vote SP. You have to talk to people who are in doubt, so that they eventually say: if I'm going to vote, then vote for you. That's how you win elections. Get the voter out, the Americans say.'
His lessons sound down-to-earth, but come from years of experience. Campaigning, he says, is part science, part intuition. 'We tested posters, we did research, but ultimately it's about the impression that sticks. 'People don't vote for a policy document, they vote for what they feel about a party.'
Those who hear him understand that in the cockpit of a campaign, nothing is left to chance. It's all about planning, measuring and then delivering at the moment suprême - once the camera is rolling. 'Those thirty seconds are all you have,' he says. 'And in those you don't have to explain, you have to hit.'
Watch Human's Eighth Day broadcast about Frits' contribution to Gerrit Zalm's 2003 campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQDVS-ujKTM&list=PL86EAB62F264C351E&index=14