Think Competitively

Think Strategically

Define and Measure Success

Be Disciplined

Discipline and strategy are what distinguishes a winning political campaign

Think Competitively

• Campaigns are competitive. Positioning a candidate relative to his competition is critical to a successful campaign
• If you don’t like the current dynamic or where it’s headed, then change the conversation to get to ground where you know you can win
• On the campaign trail, nothing happens in a vacuum. Understanding your opponents strengths, weaknesses, and predicting their likely moves (and your likely responses) is key to winning
• Sometimes your competition is not who you assume it to be. We think outside the box and take notice of disruptive innovators or tertiary competitors that may have a greater influence than initially thought
• By better understanding the true competitive set and competitor strengths and weaknesses, brands can be better positioned to get more consumers to “vote” for their products during moments of truth
• “If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.” -Sun Tzu

Think Strategically

• Successful campaigns are strategic in nature. Limited resources and a fixed timeline make it critical to understand where to allocate resources and time, and sometimes just as importantly – where NOT to focus
• Campaigns identify base voters and ensure that they come out to vote. They identify persuadable swing voters and expend tremendous resources and effort to target and win them over. And they identify opposition voters – and try religiously NOT to waste time and money on them
• Identifying, profiling, and understanding customers and businesses that are interested in your products (as well as those who are NOT) can help you prioritize communications efforts, go-to-market strategy, and increase ROI
• Deciding what to emphasize is key – sometimes it’s not your core equities that match up best against your opponent’s weaknesses, but something else that will counter them best
• “In order to concentrate superior strength in one place, economy of force must be exercised in other places.” -Napoleon Bonaparte

Define & Measure Success

• Smart campaigns assess the voter landscape and define success. They predict voter turnout and assess how many votes will likely be needed to win
• Coupled with competitive and strategic planning – a successful campaign understands the constituencies they need to win, the level of support required from each, and measures efforts against these audiences to prioritize and allocate resources leading up to the election
• Winning campaigns measure the success of ongoing efforts from a variety of sources: From A/B testing fundraising emails, to daily polling among core constituencies, to social media metrics, to measuring news-cycle dynamics – campaigns are always measuring and optimizing
• In the immediate term, brands must assess their most effective positioning to drive maximum consideration for their products to inform their medium/long term goals of driving sales and growing their business
• “Success is not final.” – Winston Churchill

Be Disciplined: Predict. Adapt. Evolve.

• Winning campaigns stay “on message.” But an election environment is constantly in flux, and significant changes can occur on a daily basis
• Campaigns spend significant time in strategic planning and gaming out scenarios – to predict possible opponent attacks and responses, and to understand how outside factors might influence the race
• A successful campaign predicts, adapts, and evolves in the face of change – while staying on message. This requires discipline, data, and the ability to maneuver at a rapid pace
• Brands must develop a blueprint that helps underscore the proof points they need to bring their positioning to life today, while developing the communications “pipeline” that will allow them to evolve in a constantly-developing marketplace
• “It is the set of sails, not the direction of the winds, that determines which way we will go” – Napoleon Hill

The Political Model is the activation engine of this philosophy and utilizes custom predictive analytics to help brands grow

Strengthen Your Base
Nurture your best customers, and turn them into advocates

Persuade the Swing
Identify and activate persuadable consumers to purchase

Reduce Investment In The Opposition
Don’t spend time or money trying to market to consumers who won’t consider what you’re offering