Just talking to my son Derek who works for a political consulting firm about canvasing efforts this past weekend on behalf of a group trying to get a bill passed to ban toxic chemicals locally. The group pays canvassers a nice amount per hour (over the minimum age) to ring door bells and get people to call their representatives. The program supervisors know if people break out their cell phones while the canvasser is there, the calls get made. A couple of hundred call to the local rep. in a weekend are often enough to make an impression in a local pol’s vote.
As someone who grew up in the advertising and marketing world, I know that the best selling outcomes occur when you get someone to “feel something, then do something.” That’s what the canvassers are all about. If the call to the local representative is the “do” then the learning exercise for the canvasser is the “feel.” When it comes to toxic chemicals in the environment the feel shouldn’t be too hard. But how about getting a homeowner to sign a petition for an unknown candidate? Or to vote for a bill that goes against one’s personal politics?
Dig in and find the feeling you’re looking to tickle…then back out what stimulus is needed to engender that feeling. Heady work. Smart work.
Marketing is politics and politics is marketing.
Peace.