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Wrestling with pigs ?

July 5, 2020

In the world of campaigning, there is a harsh debate on whether you should engage in fighting your opponents.

Supporters of this tactic argue that conservatives and progressives are waging a real war, and that there is no way to stay clean. Others oppose that progressives have to stay on higher moral ground and that if you wrestle with pigs, the focus will be on the mud, not on the issue.

Are you conflicted on this?

The article below that appeared in Politics.co.uk will be food for thought

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By Laura Shields and Dirk Singer

We’ve always known that conservatives have the campaigning instincts of sharks. But it’s rare for progressives to see their techniques being used against a common enemy, rather than ourselves.

As dual UK-US nationals who work in communication, we have become obsessed with the Never Trumpers who are going all in to get Donald Trump out in November. They include The Lincoln Project, a super PAC which includes former strategists for John McCain and George W Bush as well as George Conway, the husband of one of Trump’s closest advisers, and Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT), a campaign that has run some ads, but mainly uses video testimonials from Republicans who will not be voting for Trump.

To give you an idea of what this might look like in the UK, just imagine if Lynton Crosby all of a sudden announced that Boris Johnson is a danger to democracy and they will now be campaigning for Keir Starmer.

So, what can we learn from swimming with our new temporary friends?

Be ruthless

The Never Trumpers might as well have written the phrase ‘go big or go home’. For them there is no Plan B, so there is an intensity and relentlessness about their approach.
They act quickly and opportunistically through their attack ads, frames and messages and react to and lead conversations in real time.

For example, on the day that John Bolton came out with his revelations about Donald Trump begging President Xi of China for help in getting re-elected, the Lincoln Project released their Chyna ad.

There is no magic formula – they just keep it simple by using Trump’s own words against himself. The attacks are often witty. Crucially they always go straight for the jugular. And part of the strategy is to wind Trump up so that he attacks them rather than Joe Biden. This means nothing is off limits, which a lot of the left (‘we’re better than this’) finds distasteful. We do too. But you don’t take a bar of soap when wrestling with pigs in mud.

Zeroing in on Trump’s bizarre ramp walk at West Point and the way he was drinking water made a lot of people with liberal sensibilities uncomfortable. Yet it arguably succeeded in making his unfitness for office an issue and also robbed the Trump campaign of one its most potent attack lines against Joe Biden – ie the ‘Sleepy Joe’ insult.

That in itself is a lesson. Republican operatives have in the past attacked an opponent’s perceived strengths, not weaknesses. If you demolish their key talking points one by one, they have nothing left.

Target your efforts

Never Trumpers target their time and money at the 15 or so battleground states where the election will be won or lost and ignore the national polls.

Within these states, they don’t talk to the Democrats, they talk to the people they need to convert: swing voters, conservatives who also hate Trump or those who voted for him in 2016 but are feeling uneasy about him now.

As Lincoln Project founder Rick Wilson said in a recent podcast, the people the Democrats need to win over in these states “are not people who care about gender pronouns”. Unlike a lot of progressives, the Never Trumpers understand what makes their target audiences tick. The left is good at talking to itself but not empathising with the views of people who think differently.

Empathy is not endorsement. It simply means getting inside people’s heads and understanding what messages and arguments work best to persuade them.

Values matter more than policy or facts

Republicans Voters Against Trump is a master class in low budget values campaigning. The videos are shot on smart phones or computers. And they are effective because they are unpolished peer to peer testimonials that speak to core conservative morals, values and identity frames.

Words that come up a lot are responsibility, character, authority, respect, decency, faith, honour and integrity. Unsurprisingly, for all these ex-GOP voters, Trump has none of these qualities. For many, Biden does. They will vote for him because he’s a man of character not because they agree with his policies.

A timely example of all these approaches coming together is the one minute testimonial of Carter and Nancy, Republicans who live near Tulsa, Oklahoma who will be voting for Biden this year. Their story was broadcast on Fox News ahead of Trump’s rally in Tulsa on Saturday.

The closest the UK has come to using voter testimonials in the same way was through the highly underrated and underused Remainer Now campaign, who were not given anything like the prominence or support they needed by the stop Brexit campaigns.

Be consistent, employ message discipline

Message discipline seems to have gone out of the window for the left in recent years in the UK, probably because they associate it with Tony Blair. But the idea that you can shift public opinion or change conversations is fanciful if you don’t hammer your points consistently.

The Never Trumpers pick a theme and keep hammering away at it so that it sticks.

Some key examples are #AmericaOrTrump, where they tried to pin the Confederate flag on him, and more recently #Trumpisnotwell and #PlagueRally to describe Trump’s Tulsa rally.
The Lincoln Project and their founders have significant online reach. Both George Conway and Rick Wilson have over a million followers. The media of course tunes into Twitter, and these messages then get currency, are amplified, and stick.

At the moment the Never Trumpers are on our side because they believe in the fundamentals of democracy and the rule of law. But the reason why they want the Republican party to be demolished at the polls in 2020, is so that they can rebuild it from the ground up to once again look more like the Reagan GOP of the 1980s. That means eventually they’ll be targeting – and beating – progressives again.

Had we adopted some of their tactics, a whole series of disasters from Brexit in 2016 to Johnson’s 2019 election victory could have been avoided.

As a result, we’d do well to watch what they are doing between now and November and internalise some of the lessons they are teaching us, so that we don’t become shark bait next time we meet.

Laura Shields and Dirk Singer are communications consultants and members of Democrats Abroad.

The opinions in Politics.co.uk’s Comment and Analysis section are those of the author and are no reflection of the views of the website or its owners.

Interactive storytelling

July 1, 2020

We have some great information for you about interactive storytelling, do you want to hear it?

Many experts who have studied how the human mind works, argue that storytelling is the most compelling technique that humans have invented to create social links and build cultures.

And for a long time this is how it looked like:

or even like

So what’s next, now that the world has changed.

We have resolutely entered an age when audiences no longer see themselves as passive receivers of information. Everyone these days wants to have a say. More often than not, everytime someone communicates, they must give the audiences the chance to communicate back. Invitations to like, share, comment and other “call to actions” all serve the purpose of transforming old time monologues into modern time dialogues or, preferably, multilogues.

But even this is already the 20th century.

Today the trend is not only towards participating in the discussion around the story, but to participating in actually creating the story. And that is interactive storytelling.

Why opting for interactive storytelling? Well, if interactive features will make your stories greater and more meaningful, that should be a good start.

And because there is a HUGE difference between talking AT someone and talking WITH someone.

Do you want to continue to explore this with refugees from Vietnam or through the reconstruction of Haiti?

There are so many good and interactive examples, it’s hard to decide on just one or two!

Here are some more!

Wanna drive through the chain of supply and forced labor in the contemporary era? Go through SLAVERY FOOTPRINT

You are maybe willing to go through planted dreams and relive the INCEPTION MOVIE

And another one!

When fighting for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, it is super challenging to humanise your adversary. Simply, why opposing the idea that all living creatures are born equal and should live accordingly? This website provides you the opportunity to meet combatants in augmented reality. SO, meet THE ENEMY

INSTEAD OF A CONCLUSION

As media narratives are concerned, interactive storytelling is without a dispute top-notch.

And maybe given examples will give you an impression this content is unreachable, bear in mind that today is possible to create high-quality, professional-looking interactive stories for free, or at a relatively small price, thanks to a wide breadth of storytelling tools!

We suggest you to search more HERE and go with some.

Sorry to hear this. Is there anything else you’d rather hear from us?

Tell as email

Well, bye then. Take care and stay safe.

Video content – campaigning trend on fire!

June 22, 2020

Although the videos have been used for campaign purposes for a long time, they have only recently gained in serious popularity.

Why is video content becoming so popular right now?

Video as a format is certainly and without any doubt more compelling and visually appealing.

But making a video today is easier than ever!

With the help of easily accessible apps like Tik-Tok, it is possible to create viral content without prior design knowledge, or investing large sums of money in the production of video animations.

As well as more brands and organisations tend to utilise videos, consumers are now watching more videos than ever before!

It is estimated that the average person will spend 100 minutes every day watching online videos in 2021.

This is a 19% increase in comparison to daily viewing minutes in 2019, which stood at 84min!

Even though it is not a brand new tactic, vlogging continues capturing social media attention in 2020. People want to feel connected to the organisation or campaigner they invest their resources in!

Let’s check some useful tips to make your video an effective campaigning tool!

Have a SEO strategy – or precisely, add keywords, have a title to catch attention, use tags properly and create high-quality thumbnails!
Make it clear what the video is about! What is this supposed to mean? Add accurate synopsis, plot the main points, or try subscribing the entire video.
Provide testimonials – case studies, likes, views, comments, any sort of social proof showcasing your content is valuable and informative.
CTAs – Call to actions are a must for your videos. Because once you have encouraged people to watch your video, you should get the most out of it! Incentives, direct links to your landing page, giveaways, presents, free courses, or simple direct message would be beneficial.
Try maximising the reach – engage with your audience, ask them for feedback, respond to all the comments and invoke a dialogue. Always try to have some budget for paid ads over social media outlets.

Social media tactics to employ in 2020!

June 21, 2020

Social networks are without a single doubt a must for sending any effective campaigning message into the digital sphere. They allow us two-way communication with our target group members, give us the opportunity to measure and monitor the results of the campaign, but also to employ a wide breadth of content.

On this occasion, we bring you a Quintly article concerning the trends that we should definitely pay attention to during 2020.

1. Track your Social Media Analytics

Tracking social media analytics is one social media tactic that you do not want to ignore in 2020.
Why? Because tracking and analyzing your social media insights and analytics allows you to improve upon your social media and digital marketing strategy.

2. Utilize Messenger Chatbots

Using MobileMonkey, you can create and implement chatbots through Facebook Messenger.
Chatbots can be used for marketing, sales, customer service, and more.
You can program your chatbot to talk about anything; simply create the dialogue from within the MobileMonkey chatbot builder.

3. Increase video content

Video content has been around for ages, but it is only increasing in popularity.
With easily accessible apps like TikTok and Snapchat saturating the market, people of all ages are making and sharing video content.
People experience things more visually than anything, especially in social media. Sharing visually appealing video content has become the norm.

4. Collect user-generated content

Social media has provided a number of platforms for regular people to share their thoughts about – well – anything.
That includes their experiences with businesses and products.
Some of your customers are likely flocking to their social media channels to rave (or possibly rant) about your products and services, and the positive accolades provide content that you can use to your benefit.

5. Measure your engagement

Here’s a social media tactic you don’t want to leave in 2019 – measuring your engagement.
There’s no use in posting to social media if you’re just posting into a black hole.
It’s important to keep up with your engagement levels so that you know what your unicorn content is and what your donkey content is.

6. Invest in Social Media Ads wisely

Social media ads are an important strategy to make sure you’re expanding your reach and getting to as many users as possible.
But with the cost of some social media ads, it can be a pointless endeavor.

7. Use Social Media Psychology

There are certain aspects of psychology that go hand-in-hand with social media, resulting in certain types of content doing better than others.
You want to focus on your potential customers with your social media content.
Make it enjoyable; happy, compelling content is more likely to engage more users.
Partner with influencers to get your shares up; when influencers talk about your business or brand, it reaches millions of people.

8. Focus on Social Media Groups

Social media groups are places where people can come together based on shared interests or ideas.
Groups exist on a number of social media channels – like for example on Facebook – and are focused on thousands of different topics.
There are social media groups existing for every industry, for every strategy, and for every topic.

9. Create a consistent branding for your content

It’s almost the new year: time to stop being wishy-washy with your branding.
Having a consistent branding makes your content appear clean and neat and also makes it recognizable in social feeds.
That way, users are less likely to miss your content because they’ll immediately know what they’re looking at.

10. Be in the right social channels

There’s no use being in a social channel if none of your customers are there.
For example, if you’re a software company, you’re not likely to find too many people searching for your brand on Pinterest.
Making sure you’re in the right social channels is a social media tactic that can’t go ignored in 2020.

LA Pride 2020 becomes All Black Lives Matter!

June 21, 2020

Struggles between LGBTQ+ persons and POC have never intersected more!
Rather than celebrating the accomplishments of the gay rights movement, activists are now proposing that events to shift back to their very radical roots and highlight the struggles of Black Americans.

Los Angeles, city that celebrated the very first Pride fifty years ago has decided to use this golden anniversary not to celebrate one of the biggest Pride festivals in the world, but to to highlight demands for justice for all black lives, particularly black LGBTQ+ people.

So the All Black Lives Matter protest has happened!

The mural of towering letters spelling out “ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER” in the colors of the rainbow sat at the intersection of famous Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.

Demonstrations and protests over the murder of George Floyd and police excessive force have unpacked intersectionality in the LGBT community.

Obviously the joint effort in breaking down the structural and institutional aspects of racism, sexism, masculinity, and other detrimental issues is a major step in the right direction.

And this really seems as a queer movement we truly want to be a part of!

Offline campaigning during COVID-19? Some made it possible.

June 8, 2020

Italy was the scene of many scary and tragic events during the COVID19 pandemic these past weeks. This situation particularly affected the local LGBTI community, including many people who had to live through lockdown with uns families.
As in all parts of the world, the Italian LGBTI movement was responsive in the given state of affairs. ArciGay activists tirelessly provided online support to LGBT individuals, but also distributed food packages and financial assistance to migrants and sex workers who did not have access to even basic groceries.

Due to physical distancing measures and lockdowns, this year IDAHOBIT has been marked mainly in the digital domain all over the world, including Italy. Through lectures, announcements, online support. And so the aforementioned organization also organized several live lectures and prepared a series of articles for the LGBTI community regarding LGBTI-related topics.

Firmly convinced that the fight against homophobia and other LGBT-phobias lies in visibility, the activists figured out other ways to contribute to it, and be ahead of the curve in the given circumstances.

At the end of April the municipality of Reggio Emilia was distributing surgical masks to the general population at the entry of designated supermarkets, so that people going out for groceries would pick them up. ArciGay activist thought at first of being physically there – in respect with all adopted provisions – giving out small leaflets explaining what is IDAHOBIT about and put elastic bands colored in rainbow flag on masks.
As it would cause issues in regard to certification, Deputy Mayor for Equal Opportunities suggested – pins to hang onto masks!

This idea found great support from the authorities – nurses, public servants, university professors, school staff, sports associations … They all found time to take pictures with these masks and wore them to their workplaces every day. The action was joined by the local media, and even the Mayor himself!

The action resonated so much that even a member of the Italian Senate participated, and wore a mask with a rainbow pin to every Senate session!

During the COVID-19 pandemic, campaigners developed a number of ways to cover as much of the online sphere as possible with their activities and actions. But, some activists have also devised a way for IDAHOBIT to get its “offline component”, under lockdown measures and gathering prohibitions.
And in a country that is among the most severely affected by this virus.
Every day, students, patients, medical staff and senators could see that even such a dangerous virus could not weaken the alliance with the LGBTI community.

And that the problems of the LGBTI community remain and exist as long as the virus lasts, and that there are ways to bring attention to them without endangering everyone’s health.