The government was elected on the sheer force of his personality and energy. Just the hope of the man was enough to push even a veritable political man mountain like Jeff Seeney, the then parliamentary opposition leader, into the shade.

After 14 years of Labor, the electorate was tired, but the LNP wasn’t taking any chances. It shaped its entire image around ‘Can-Do Campbell’, the LNP’s can-do man.

And now?

Just two and a bit years later, opinion polls, by-election results, and the ever present social media warrior have him on the nose. The Can-do brand has been tarnished.  And with it, the government has seen its popularity, once at historically high levels, crash down in a way which will be studied by political academics for decades to come.

Earlier this year, when the Redcliffe by-election delivered a 17 per cent swing against the government, it was enough to force the premier into a backdown of sorts.  Apologising and promising to listen more, the government attempted to move on.

Five months later and Stafford handed the government another loss and an even bigger message than Redcliffe. With the swing settling at just under 19 per cent,  the premier took the step of apologising and offering some reversals in policies that arguably, never needed to be made in the first place.

Pink jump suits and segregation for imprisoned gang members were out, bi-partisan support for the head of the Crime and Corruption Commission was back in. Estimates will return to their usual schedule.  And the legal community and judiciary were re-engaged in the conversation.

But has it been enough?

The man himself seems to think so. He finished his last all-in press appearance by repeating his “line in the sand” mantra.

“People will judge us from now on about the way that we conduct ourselves,” he said. But will they?

Lecturer in marketing at the Australian National University, Andrew Hughes, said it was not that easy.

“They need to rebuild that brand, because the family market has now seen someone who has turned on them,” he said.

“Not just turned on them – their perception is it has made their lives even harder than it already was – and remember, perception is the reality.

“It may not be true, but if people are thinking that, it is up to him to try and break that perception in people’s minds. Trying to correct it as it were.  So he needs to do something better.”

And one way to do that is to attach one brand to a better performing brand. Mr Newman’s visage was absent from the how-to-vote cards in both Redcliffe and Stafford. That was a tactical choice. Earlier this month, the government also decided on a strategy to help it stay on message – and remind the electorate of what it considers its successes. Health was the guinea pig – Mr Newman stood with minister Lawrence Springborg for most of his public appearances that week. Education, interrupted by estimates, which was a performance in itself, came next. John-Paul Langbroek, with his suave suits, family-friendly portfolio and smiling school kids photo ops, came next. Tim Nicholls, one of the government’s best media wranglers, both in keeping on message and in keeping his cool, is up next.

Mr Hughes said in the marketing world, the next step was advertising.

“Keep an eye on the government advertising – that is how they will try and build the brand up before the official election campaign,” he said.

“Because government advertising has higher credibility than the party brand.

“You are more likely to believe the government advertising message than his message.

“The thing is though, people are becoming so sophisticated and knowledgeable about marketing, because they are so exposed to it, it’s in everything to do with their lives, people will spot the ads very quickly as being a very cynical attempt at trying to connect his brand as the government brand.

“But what that will tie into then – and this is the sneaky way they tie in with modern politics – is they can come out and say ‘building a stronger Queensland’ and then you might find Campbell Newman’s campaign message is along the same words – keeping Queensland strong – tied to the same message.”

Or, in Queensland government speak, strong plan for a bright future.

But Mr Hughes said given the way the LNP built its election hopes on Campbell Newman in 2012, it has now tied itself to his brand – for better or worse.

Which means if Mr Newman can’t alter the negative perception which currently follows him, the LNP as a whole will continue to suffer.

“If Campbell Newman becomes can’t do, not can-do, then the brand is gone,” he said.

“They will face a significant electoral backlash which will make it hard for them to hold on to power.

“I don’t think they can say anymore, ‘hey eight months from now, everything will be different and we’ll still be in power’ – that is the wrong message to sell people because it shows that you are still out of touch.

“You need to say, ‘hey, we’ve lost touch with people, we need re-engage and re-connect and maybe we have forgotten who we are.  So we’ll go out into the marketplace and ask ‘what do you want from us’.

In marketing, it is called dissonance – ‘a doubt that surfaces when a buyer becomes aware that an alternative product may offer more desirable benefits than the one purchased’.

“And this is what Campbell Newman needs to be very, very careful about,” Mr Hughes said.

“He has been the chef, he has created the menu, he has served up the food and now he is facing a lot of people saying ‘I am not going back for a second offering of what you are serving’.

“He needs to start changing quickly, because he is running out of time. He has lost a lot of people which he needs to win back. It is not about wining people over now; it is about getting them back.”

The government believes it now has the strategy in place to win those voters back over the next eight months.  Will it work?  As Mr Newman has been fond of saying, ‘watch this space’.