2020 Campaign Recap: “Watch What They Do, Not What They Say”
Here is our Impact Memo for our Summer/Fall 2020 public advocacy and education campaign.
We’ve had a very clear strategy and theory of change here from the beginning, and it worked well. Some of you have heard the analogy of political and policy advocacy campaigns to the game of “Clue” that many of us have played: it’s “Mrs. White in the library with a wrench,” or “Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with a knife.” In the present ELPC Action Fund context: who (independent voters), where (Grand Rapids area and western Michigan shoreline, Driftless Area in southwest Wisconsin), with what messaging (“Watch What They Do, Not What They Say” when it comes to safe clean drinking water and protecting the Great Lakes), and when (July and August 2020 before mail-in voting). Our targeting followed the arc of four years of message research by Ann Selzer for ELPC and the ELPC Action Fund.
As we all know, the Trump Administration has attempted to roll back important environmental standards across-the-board and conducted a “War on the Great Lakes.” That’s why we launched a robust media and public education campaign called “Watch What they Do, Not What They Say” in focused on key Midwest areas around:
Grand Rapids and Western Michigan shoreline communities
The Southwest Wisconsin “Driftless Area” counties, Milwaukee suburbs and Lake Michigan shoreline communities
Northwest Indiana along Lake Michigan
Dubuque, Iowa along the Mississippi River
Toledo, Ohio and Western Lake Erie shoreline communities
Here’s what we did and what we learned:
Who We Reached Out To: We focused on reaching independents and moderate Republicans who care about safe clean drinking water and protecting the Great Lakes.
Where We Went: Our geographical targeting was spot on: Kent County, Michigan (home to Grand Rapids) and the Southwest Wisconsin Driftless Area counties, two areas that were key in this election cycle. We also expanded the effort into Milwaukee suburbs and Lake Michigan shoreline communities; Northwest Indiana along Lake Michigan; Dubuque, Iowa along the Mississippi River; and Toledo, Ohio and Western Lake Erie shoreline communities.
Our Message: Our messaging focus was on the Trump Administrations atrocious record on clean water and protecting the Great Lakes. This message was on target, although this and most other issues were eventually overwhelmed by the focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our Timing: We focused primarily on July and August when people are thinking about the Great Lakes and outdoor recreation and, as it turned out, right many people voted by mail.
See the video ads that we ran in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana. Our plan included video ads, and many full- and half-page ads that ran in local, community newspapers throughout the Driftless Area in Southwest Wisconsin, Dubuque, IA and in Western/Northwestern Michigan’s shoreline communities. The print ads are all outlined below.
When we launched the campaign in July, our primary goal that drove our strategy was reaching as many people as possible. This ~$250,000 campaign generated print, TV, and digital ads in key swing areas in Michigan and Wisconsin, with smaller ad buys in northwest Indiana and the Toledo, Ohio area. ELPC Action Fund delivered our important messaging to millions of people before the “60-day election window” started on September 3rd.
FYI, in Kent County, Michigan (home of Grand Rapids and its suburbs), President-elect Biden won by 21,000 votes where Hillary Clinton lost by 10,000 votes in 2016. Biden is just the second Democrat to carry Kent County in more than 50 years; President Barack Obama did so in 2008 by a very narrow margin. In Southwest Wisconsin’s Driftless Area counties, the Biden-Harris ticket gained a net 2,000 votes in 2020 compared to 2016, and Sauk County became blue.
ELPC Action Fund’s Video Ads in Key Midwest States
Our polling and focus group research show that protecting the Great Lakes and safe clean water are bipartisan and non-partisan issues with strong public support. Time and again, the Trump administration’s proposed budgets zeroed out or severely chopped funding for the successful Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Trump EPA rolled back and weakened protective standards for safe clean water. We worked with respected Michigan-based communications consultant Roger Kerson to create a very strong ads to educate the public through cable, broadcast, and digital media.
Target Area & Audience:
Grand Rapids area, south to St. Joseph’s, and north to the Traverse City markets along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
Swing independent and moderate Republicans persuadable on a Great Lakes message.
Distribution: Sage Media Group created the media buy plan to reach our target audience. From July 20 through the week of August 27th, the spot aired on:
Broadcast - Lakeshore Counties
Cable - Grand Rapids, Cadillac, Traverse City
Video on Demand - Lakeshore Counties/Grand Rapids
YouTube – West coast of Michigan
Streaming (Hulu, Gamut) - Lakeshore Counties
Digital Display Ads – Targets: Independent/Moderate Republicans, 16/18 Ticker Splitters, Republican Environmentalists
Results in Terms of Impressions: the number of times our ad was potentially seen, or the total amount of exposure to an ad. (One person can see an ad multiple times, so the number of impressions can be higher than the number of people who have seen an ad. That’s positive because it means a person is seeing the ad more frequently)
4,425,000 impressions of the ad through cable and streaming services.
3,525,000 impressions of the ad on digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook, and banner ads).
Results in Terms of Reach: The unique number of people (web browsers and accounts more likely) who saw the ad.
520,091 people reached on Facebook
341,098 people reached through digital banner ads
Phase 2 – August Expansion – Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin (Video Ads)
As we started to see the success of the Michigan ad, we adjusted the ad for Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio. We put in state specific content to run in different Great Lakes markets before September 3rd. Here is an example of our Ohio ad:
Timing: August 11th through September 3rd.
Locations: Northeast Wisconsin/Milwaukee, Northwest Indiana, and Northwest Ohio
Distribution: We focused most of the budgeted funds on digital advertising – YouTube, Facebook, and other targeted sites that source independents and moderate Republicans. We did a little bit of cable and streaming as well to continue in those markets.
Results in Terms of Impressions:
1,250,000 impressions of the ad through cable and streaming services.
3,520,000 impressions of the ad on digital platforms (YouTube, Facebook, and banner ads) spread across our target markets.
Print Ads in Southwest Wisconsin and Northwest Michigan
We also executed our strategy to engage in local “hometown” newspapers in the small media markets and communities which dominate the Southwest Wisconsin “Driftless Area” and North/Western Michigan shoreline areas. These small weekly papers are trusted outlets and the go-to for local community residents to find out what’s happening. We kept the design simple, focused, and eye-catching. We bought a mix of full-color full- and half--page ads that were often one of the largest ads and, often, largest full-color ads each week. Because we bought ads consistently for two months, we gained good page placement.
Each message was a version of the theme that the Trump EPA weakened safe, clean water, using “watch what they do, not what they say” tagline. That approach followed Ann Selzer’s polling research commissioned by ELPC Action Fund. We ran multiple cycles of the ad to ensure the entire region saw the message multiple times – in many cases, 10 times.
Ad #1 – Trump Rollbacks on Clean Water Standards: “The Trump Administration rolled back clean water standards and reduced environmental enforcement against polluters. The Trump EPA isn’t protecting safe, clean drinking water.” See ad here.
Ad #2 – Impact on Safe Drinking Water: “Too many wells are contaminated in Southwest Wisconsin threatening safe, clean drinking water. The Trump EPA rolled back clean water standards, likely making the problem worse.” See ad here.
Ad #3 – Impact on Recreation: “The Driftless Area’s rivers and streams are great for fishing, canoeing, wildlife, enjoying the outdoors and tourism. The Trump Administration has rolled back protections for clean water, putting these areas at serious risk.” See ad here.
Example of SW Wisconsin & NE Iowa print ad
We also ran two full-page Sunday ads in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald to continue penetration into the Southwest Wisconsin market and cross over into the Eastern Iowa market:
For Michigan, we focused on a complimentary print campaign utilizing this ad focused on the Trump Administration’s record weakening on safe, clean water. We ran a three-week series in the final weeks of August in papers up and down the Lake Michigan shoreline communities:
Phase 3 – October – Final Push & Conclusion
In the final two weeks of October, we: (1) Continued the Wisconsin print ads described above reaching the entire region; and (2) Used a little bit of budget to push our Great Lakes TV ad on Facebook in Michigan and Wisconsin for the closing argument on how the Trump Administration has weakened protections for safe, clean water.
Results in Terms of Online Impressions: the number of times our ad was shown, or the total amount of exposure to our ad:
1,231,000 impressions of the ad through Facebook.
Results in Terms of Reach: The unique number of people (web browsers and accounts more likely) who saw the ad.
680,956 people reached on Facebook
Conclusion:
ELPC Action Fund has the ideas, knowledge and policy chops on the issues, and our investment in a professional creative team who took those ideas and make them accessible for a public then helped make the outcome successful.
To support our work moving forward, please donate here.