Campaigning - A Love story

Who has never fallen in love? 

At least once in your life you’ve had to look twice at a face that struck you with such beauty, before realising that you’ve already started thinking about seeing it again… You saw “The One”. And depending on how much you wanted your dream to come true, you started strategising about the best way to succeed. Didn’t you?

Imagine it happens to you again…

You are sitting in front of ”The One”. Staring at them. Smiling at them. You are thinking about the best way to make your move. Let’s agree that ‘‘making your move’’ does not necessarily mean walking towards their seat right away. Hell no! Maybe you know people that know people that know people that know ‘‘The One”. In this case the best option could be to hold on and wait for a better opportunity… We trust you’ll take the time to plan your approach meticulously.

Look at the bigger picture

‘‘The One” won’t be able to guess how generous, sweet and funny you are unless you let them know. Be YOU. Don’t cheat about who you are. Be coherent and consistent. Be proactive, flexible and adapt your plans by exploiting opportunities that may arise along the way. Don’t leave things to chance. Minimise any potential risks and make sure you deliver on your plans. Find the right answers to the following questions: What do you have to offer? What will it take for them to say yes?

Find out what makes them tick…

So you are dying to meet ‘‘The One’’ again… with a clear goal that is winning ‘‘their heart. At this stage information is key. The more you know, the more you increase your chances of success. Find out who ‘‘The One” really is, what they like and what they don’t, what their favourite ice cream flavour is, their favourite night club, their preferred perfume, and if they like sushi or not before proposing a restaurant. The quality of your research is what will make the difference…

Hey, be interesting…!

You’re almost certainly not the only person interested in ‘‘The One”; others may have other good reasons to look at them too. This is where the challenge lies… What is it you can do to grab their attention, to be the one they pick out from the crowd?

Depending on the nature of your target - here ‘‘The One” – there are many tactics you can use. You can choose to act discretely, privileging one to one meetings with “close” friends who have an influence on your target - people they listen to. Or if they’re playing hard to get make as much noise as possible! Mobilise your friends, activate your phone book, and put pressure on them. Here the most important thing is ACTION. You need to keep the pressure on. You need to be doing things, not just sitting down and talking about your dream, hoping to win sympathy for your goal. This could work at the beginning but you’re sympathisers wont stay sympathetic for long.

Where you at?

Now you know more about ‘‘The One”, you have a clear plan, you have analysed their circle of influence and you have identified your potential allies and rivals. You have elaborated your communication strategy (what you want tell them, how, where and by who if not you), you have taken the time to fully brief your allies, and you have answers to the following questions: Are you on track or not? What do you have in reserve in terms of resources? What are the next steps? Having done all of this, you are in a better position to keep going until you achieve your goal...

Well 

… just as you have strategized to win “The One’s” heart, just as politicians have strategized to win our votes, and just the US marines have strategized to attack Iraq (not a great example, admittedly), we campaigners do the same to influence opinions, support a cause or make decisions makers take the decisions we believe are right. It could be campaigning for free health care, campaigning against racism, or campaigning for more jobs – it’s all campaigning.

What does it take to be a good campaigner?

Whatever political, social or cultural domain a campaigner evolves in, there are a number things they have to do. They have to know what they want (clear objectives and demand), build solid arguments through research and fact-finding, know how to get the message across (a good communication plan and skills), and be clear about how to get what they want (a good choice of tactics, where to get it from (a power analysis), who to ally with (an interest analysis), and how much time and resource they can put into it.

What a ‘‘non-campaigner’’ may have no idea about

Communication and popular mobilisation are usually what sticks in the mind when people think of campaigning. Maybe including you? Unfortunately most people think that it’s only about ‘‘making noise’’. The same way ‘‘The One” has no idea about what you have been through to get to them.  The same way many people have no idea about all the work behind developing and running a campaign. Campaigning requires a set of tools and skills from various domains including PR, press relations, social communication, research, oral and writing communication skills, to name a few.

But remember, it’s about your heart as well as your head…

Just as in campaigning for love, campaigning for social change can’t all be about plans, strategies and research. It’s about your passion, your creativity, your ability to speak the truth. Before you act you have to believe. Before you succeed you have to care.


Faty.

It's great to see that the Campaigning for Love concept inspired many of you on the way you approach and talk about campaigning. The idea has now formed the basis of a new campaign booklet called No Voodoo Required, launched recently by campaigns agency Niyel.