Featur e
In addition to maps and targeting services, Spectrum cross-analyzes demograph- ics and election results to produce a detailed profile of the voters for each party in a riding or region. Profiles can then be produced to help us understand who the swing voters are -- the characteris- tics of the people who sup- ported your party this time but not the previous election, and of those who used to be supporters but who are no longer. These data services, and
others that are emerging as Canadian demographic data and tools mature, allow politi-
Microtargeting in Canadian political campaigns has yet to reach the level of significance that it has in campaigns in the United States, but new technolo- gies, and the opportunity to use them, are emerging.
cific identification of addresses or people, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. U.S. campaigns may have the op- portunity to address people by name while identifying their hot buttons, but that opportunity has its own pitfalls: the data is often out of date, can identify people incorrectly, and for mild-mannered Canadians is probably too close to home. Canadians want to be approached about something that
matters to them, but without being singled out in a way that suggests that someone is tracking them. This means using more subtle methods, delivering key messages that are spe- cific to the type of person you’re targeting but not identify- ing anyone specifically, and ensuring that the message is not one that is offensive to people outside your target group. Data produced by companies like Manifold provide very
detailed intelligence on the types of inhabitants in each postal code, allowing Canadian campaigns - retail marketing and political alike - to spend budgets more effectively and achieve better results. Spectrum Electoral Demographics now offers a first of its
kind service to local political campaigns and to parties cen- trally that brings this detailed data into an electoral perspec- tive. The information is re-shaped to match the poll bound- aries of a previous federal, provincial, or municipal campaign, giving campaign strategists detailed demographics that can be plotted on the map beside the poll by poll election results -- and understood in an election context.
46 Campaigns & Elections | Canadian Edition
cal parties to augment the survey research that they tradi- tionally use. Parties look to understand and classify groups of voters (such as soccer moms or empty nesters) and for- mulate strategies to win the support of these segments, how- ever survey research is limited by the sample size of various demographics included in the survey and can get very costly - and at the local riding level is simply not practical. De- tailed analytics based on micro-demographics and previous election results can provide a more complete picture because hundreds of data variables can included and sample sizes are no longer an issue. With new data and intelligence in hand, we can now tar-
get in both local campaigns and central party campaigns by identifying polls, postal codes, or postal walks (Canada Post letter carrier routes) that have the highest concentration of the people being targeted. This can help us get more value for dollar with call centres (requiring fewer calls and getting better results in voter ID or fundraising efforts), allow more strategic issue-based lit drops or other mailings, and enable campaigns to identify the areas on the map where they are more likely to find the people they’re looking for. Microtargeting in Canadian political campaigns has yet to
reach the level of significance that it has in campaigns in the United States, but new technologies, and the opportunity to use them, are emerging. We will continue to benefit from learning the best practices in the U.S. and to some degree from their methods and technologies. More importantly the unique elements of Canadian political landscape are leading to our own systems being developed, and as the data and the technology continue to improve, they will become more commonplace in our campaigns.
Mitch Wexler is the principal of Politrain Consulting, which offers several products for campaigns and elected representatives including
PollMaps.ca and Spectrum Electoral Demographics (
www.spectrumdemographics.com).
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