Running for office? Run weirder.

To harness interest from the newly-curious, candidates should borrow tactics from brands who understand audience engagement.

Political campaigns. We want to hear about them, we want to support them, but when they send us bizarro propaganda in the mail and e-mails with subject lines specifically written to stress us out, it’s hard for even the most enthusiastic of us to stay tuned in.

A 2017 study on the effectiveness of traditional campaign tactics found that most campaign outreach has zero impact on voters. While authors Joshua Kalla and David Broockman realize the paper may sound doom and gloom, they underscore that not all hope is lost — “new ideas, whether new modes, messages or messengers,” are the key to future success.

And since our Congressional campaign here in NYC is premised on the idea that progressive candidates across the country need a new playbook to effectively defend, flip, and upgrade more seats, we’re inviting others with fresh perspectives to help us reimagine how political campaigns can be used to change who votes in America.

This past Monday, our team co-hosted its first public brainstorm with Michael Ventura, founder of NYC-based strategy and design studio Sub Rosa, to talk with brand, business, and creative minds from top agencies and startups about how to reward newcomers and tackle barriers to civic engagement.

After an open discussion around traditional wisdoms that inhibit innovation, groups broke out to talk in more detail about something all Dems should be thinking critically about — what’s really keeping people from the polls? With an abundance of fresh perspectives (only 30% of the crowd had ever volunteered for a political campaign), we came up with a shortlist of new tactics worth testing that any savvy brand might use to win support.

Below is a read out of ideas from the event. Weird to reveal some of our plans? Maybe — but we’d rather they were available for others to benefit from, too.

If you’re a candidate and you happen to try any of these things, let us know how they work! We plan on sharing our results in real time, as well. And if you want more access to other ideas, resources, feedback, and discussion, send us an email and we’ll add you to our collaborative Slack channel with others who are looking to push the boundaries of what’s possible in politics: hello@surajpatel.nyc.

EXPERIMENTS TO BUILD A NEW ELECTORATE

Jan 29. 2018 — Sub Rosa NYC

Incentivize It
Build a network of restaurant partners and sponsor discounts via branded delivery inserts, we can incentivize civic engagement with yummy foods.
Alt: Drive foot traffic to brick and mortars by rewarding civic engagement with deals — e.g. show up with your “voted” sticker, come in and register, etc.

Direct Mail is Dead, Long Live Direct Mail
Play off our love for personalized mail, (and get realistic about low attendance rates on FB RSVPs) — send printed invites to boost turnout at events.
Alt: Send instagrammable “save the dates” and magnets to boost awareness of primary date. Try getting low-cost inserts into mailings with distro companies.

#SkipDay
Get audiences nostalgic about playing hooky Ferris Bueller-style, to get more people sharing on election day. Vote then bowl. Vote then pub crawl.
Alt: Start early and partner with companies to give employees the day off for a day of (fun!) action or service, drive volunteers to local orgs in need of hands.

Put it on ur CAL, bro!
Attach Google and iCal invites to get election day on everyone’s calendar. If we can help plan with digital reminders, we can reduce field GOTV efforts.
Alt: Go deeper, invest in a program that takes address/zip code and sends invitations with their exact polling place. More information = less friction.

Go Guerilla
Don’t overlook the role of art. Arm local artists with briefs and budgets, and truly give them free rein to create, we’ll give people cooler reasons to share.
Alt: Think big. Low cost high-profile cultural works can act as a great alternative to traditional out-of-home. Billboards, murals, can become symbolic visuals.

And more…

• Crowdsource candidate’s day-to-day life via IG polls; latte or matcha?
• Empower people with info and ideas to engage family/friends directly
• Organize around issues; pair community leaders with social influencers
• Get rideshare companies to make a “thing” out of getting to the polls
• Add value to “new union organizers,” i.e. emerging industry leaders
• Make voting (IRL or by mail!) fun — festivals, food trucks, music
• Candidate-as-Task-Rabbit; help neighbors with whatever they need

Special thanks to participants: Michael Ventura, Tania Arrayales, Judd Katz, Gary Johnson, Neely Lisk, Jon Feldman, Asif Khan, Molly Carkeet, Zander Abranowicz, Dani Aaron, Michelle Kramer, Polly Rodriguez, Lori White, Danya Hamann, Michael Sedillo, Camilla Liou, Gabrielle Singh, Sid Puri, Dave Pilmenstein, Michael Cerisano, Jørgen Bo, Aquiles Dameron, Christine Yang, Emily Kramer, Stephanie Tam, and others who were credit-shy.