Political Campaign Yard Signs: 3 Good Examples

My company works mostly on the digital side of marketing. It’s in our blood to fight with other vendors and non-digital voter contact mediums for larger budget shares. The past decade working in communications marketing…and specifically in politics….I’ve seen the rapid dwindling of budgets towards yard signs.

Yard signs were at one time a staple in political campaigning. They were thought of as a means to show visual support in a neighborhood and thought to have some sort of impact on a neighborhood at a grassroots level. The mindset being… if my neighbor supports a candidate, perhaps I should too! Yard signs can be expensive and political science research and budget conscious campaign managers have been largely critical of their effectiveness. The broad based critique could be changing though as a recent study by Don Green of Columbia University though did show a modest positive effect of yard signs. Another study in 2005 showed that precincts with yard signs had higher turnout.

I’ve always been interested and a believer in creative uses of yard signs. This would be signs that don’t simply name a candidate and office in hopes to raise name identification, but ones that are zany, visually unique, or reinforce a narrative. Here are three examples where yard signs were unique and used creatively by campaigns.

Case 1 : Bob McDonnell for Virginia Governor (2009)

The McDonnell campaign used yard signs in two unique ways.

The first was to drive cell phone numbers via a text message program on every 4 x 8 yard sign and every rally sign. Using traditional advertising to generate lead generation for another aspect of the campaign is often lacking on campaigns.

The second unique use of yard signs was to localize Bob McDonnell to different regions of the state. This was done to bring about a sense of close-proximity for the candidate. Attorney General McDonnell had lived in every major population center in the Commonwealth, having grown up in vote-rich Northern Virginia, raised a family in Virginia Beach, and then in Richmond as Attorney General. The signs offered a discussion point for the campaign and supporters to highlight Bob’s difference with rural opponent Creigh Deeds.

Case 2: Vote No on 1 , Statewide Ballot Initiative in Florida (2016)

Opponents to Florida’s Solar Amendment 1 worked hard to brand themselves as the grassroots side of the issue. Yard signs became a major tool for them in highly populated areas. Their yard sign was unique in that the dark cloud gave voters a negative and ominous view of Amendment 1, which was on the ballot as pro-Solar. By adding the additional imagery of the cloud, the yard sign became much more effective in explaining their messaging/the issue than a simple “Vote No on 1” would have been. Having lunch with a friend in Florida before the election, she said “I’d never vote for Amendment One, those signs just make it seem so scary!”

Case 3: Arizona’s 5th Congressional District (2016)

Yard signs were very unique in this year’s Republican primary in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District. Opposing candidates utilized their opponents branding and colors to confuse voters with one-line hits on their opponents.

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Yes, our Facebook profile photo and Twitter avatar are virtual yard signs that can be a powerful and cheap place to express support for a candidate. Despite digital’s importance, there are also some unique and creative uses of physical yard signs when campaigns can use outdoor and yard sign advertising effectively to reinforce a message or narrative.

Have you seen yard signs be used in other unique and effective ways?

Vincent Harris is CEO of Harris Media. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Texas and has been guest faculty at Baylor University. Previously he ran digital operations for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Senator Rand Paul, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.