Vote.org: Creative Campaign
A LITTLE CONTEXT:
This project was a classic case of “not good enough, do it again” – my art director, copywriter, and I tried so many ways in until we finally landed upon our final version of this.
WHY I’M PROUD:
I’m extra proud of this project because we stretched ourselves, didn’t give up, and our project was selected to be printed in SIXTY, the VCU Brandcenter’s annual publication of student work that is sent out to advertising agencies and Brandcenter alumni across the country.
THE ASK:
Encourage Millennials to vote by creating an ad campaign for vote.org.
WHAT IS VOTE.ORG?
Vote.org is a nonprofit that allows people to register to vote, check their registration status, get an absentee ballot, find their polling place, or get election reminders. The mission of vote.org is to simplify political engagement, increase voter turnout, and strengthen American democracy.
BACKGROUND:
As of 2018, Millennials are about 22 to 37 years old. There are currently 75 million Millennials in the U.S. (Source: Pew Research)
VOTING HABITS:
Before the November 2016 election, "a record-breaking 83% of Millennials were registered to vote. However, nearly 55% of those registered didn't actually cast a vote in the 2016 presidential election." (Sources: Bustle & Pew Research)
TARGET:
Millennials who aren't voting -- meaning those who weren't registered to vote in the November 2016 election as well as Millennials who were registered, but neglected to vote.
PROBLEM:
Young people don't think they have power. Among those registered who didn't vote in 2016, the second most common reason for not voting was that they felt their vote wouldn't make a difference. (Source: Pew Research)
INSIGHT: Millennials won't bother to vote unless you show them their vote truly does count.
STRATEGY: Empower the voter by showing that votes lead to action.
TAGLINE: Big crowds make big change.
THE CREATIVE CAMPAIGN:
We drew inspiration from pointillism and the idea that tons of tiny dots can create something much larger and more meaningful. We also used the "I Voted" sticker as inspiration. If you look closely, you'll see hints of red, white, and blue in the tiny circles.
We looked to past presidents who did great things -- who, of course, were only able to do so because of the people who voted them into office. While the accomplishment and picture makes it clear as to who the president is, we intentionally made the message cover their eyes and didn't explicitly call out their names -- because the emphasis is on the voters.
PRINT:
PRE-ROLL:
This message can live digitally through pre-roll. The first one is my favorite, mainly because you don't know what you're looking at until all of a sudden, it becomes clear.
The second one has a "by the numbers" feel and features images from a famous presidential speech. The narration demonstrates just how many people it took to create change.
Website Refresh:
All advertising directs to vote.org, which we gave a design refresh to match the campaign.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
How do you convince Millennials that their votes count? By showing them proof! Also housed on the vote.org site (and seeded on social media and Reddit) will be an infographic highlighting the closest elections in history — emphasizing that each vote truly does matter.
INSTAGRAM:
Most of this campaign features past presidents. But in order to resonate with our Millennial target, we built a series of Instagram accounts to highlight current political topics and celebrate people who have voted or have taken other actions to express their voices.
Each post on the vote.org Instagram account links to a separate account specific to that issue. Clicking through each tagged post leads you further down the rabbit hole to more and more accounts, eventually showing that each image is composed of "I Voted" stickers. 1 vote = 1 sticker = 1 post.
THE TEAM:
Melissa Rooney (Strategy)
Robbie Persky (Art Direction)
John Sokolowski (Copywriting)