Meet Dash: A fast, affordable, and smart temperature check for candidate and issue ads
Originally published here for Campaigns & Elections. Written by Rachel Lourie.
Putting the right message in front of the right audience matters more now than quite possibly ever before. Given the high volume of messaging any given voter, advocate, customer, or consumer sees on a daily basis, it’s critical that campaigns and organizations test and tailor information so that your target audience not only sees it, but takes an action.
Dash is a new, extraordinarily easy-to-use, and self-serve new platform from Discida — the firm that pioneered the application of behavioral biometrics to message testing. Dash makes it quick and cost-effective to get valuable insight into what’s resonating (and what’s not) from your ads.
My firm, Agency Advisors, is working with Discida to introduce its new platform to the political marketplace. I sat down with Alyssa Nolte, the Chief Marketing and Development Officer at Discida, to ask some key questions about the new platform.
Dash is an online ad testing platform created by the Discida team after several years and projects working with political consulting firms. The platform is designed for direct mail and video spots, and it uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to select appropriate survey questions based on the type of ads being tested (issue or candidate ads) and where the ad is going to be placed.
In Alyssa’s words: “What we’ve done is sped up the process and reduced the cost to test your ads. It only takes 3 business days — start to finish — to get results. And these questions have been tested over and over again, so we know that they’re accurate and valid.”
The idea behind Dash.
Having worked in politics for over 5 years, Alyssa and her team repeatedly heard the same feedback from political consultants: “I’d love to do research, but it’s too expensive and takes too long.” Discida decided to address those 2 concerns by taking its processes and adding automation where possible, and thus, Dash was born.
Because Dash uses artificial intelligence and machine learning, the process of asking the right questions and getting valuable insight has become quicker than ever before — without sacrificing the quality of the research.
What do users get?
The deliverables from Dash depend on the type of ad that’s being tested. Both candidate and issue focused messages receive an ad score, which gives you clear answers to three important questions: Is your ad easy to understand? Do people like your message? Can your audience comprehend what you’re asking them to do?
In addition, candidate ads also receive a “Candidate Brand Health” score, which not only ascribes a score to the ad itself, but also grades the way in which the candidate’s message comes across. The “Candidate Brand Health” score is determined from 9 attributes that roll into three pillars: trusted, skilled, and likable. This additional scoring provides key insight into whether the message is being received in the manner in which you intend, making it effective for both positive and negative ads.
What makes Dash unique?
The platform uses cutting edge technology to shorten the timeline and lower the cost. “Our goal is to make ad testing affordable and fast enough that campaigns can actually use it in-cycle. Dash has shortened the process of testing a message and getting results from 2 weeks to 3 days,” says Alyssa.
A bit more about Alyssa:
How did you get into politics?
I’ve always been interested in politics — as a citizen it’s important to be informed. When I came on board with Discida, I saw an opportunity for our company to contribute to the political process and make the experience better for an everyday voter. Being in Iowa, we get hit with a ton of political ads — especially presidential ads. What I found was that many of those ads were terrible; they weren’t created for Iowans and weren’t going to play well with people in my state — which got me thinking, maybe there’s an opportunity to do in politics what brands are already doing, which is tailor a messaging precisely to the correct audience. It’s my personal mission to make something I love — politics, marketing and advertising — a better experience for the general consumer.”
How do you see tech shaping politics, and have you come across any exceptionally innovative tools lately?
There are definitely some (issue and candidate) campaigns that are behind the times on technology, especially when you compare them to consumer brands and for-profit companies in the private sector. These companies and organizations are doing amazing things that political professionals should adopt. Marketing in the very near future is going to become extremely hyper-personalized; if something is created for me personally, that’s the best way to motivate me to take an action. We’re seeing some of this hyper-personalization in direct mail, but it’s definitely something that we should apply in the digital world. For example, we have a client that uses a technology wherein the website changes depending on the information they have about you. The site essentially molds and adapts to each consumer. Think of the utility that level of hyper-personalization could have on a campaign; the possibilities for more effective engagement are endless.”
Want to learn more? Contact Rachel Lourie, Senior Advisor at Agency Advisors, atrachel.lourie@agencyadvisors.org
At Agency Advisors, we bring new and innovative tech to candidates, causes, and the agencies that work on their behalf. This series aims to shed light on the leading-edge technologies that are creating a resounding impact within politics and advocacy.
