organization of grassroots activity that the Internet pres- ents its opportunity. Let’s focus on the what of campaigning, rather than the


how. What is it we seek to do? We want to communicate a message to the public so they vote for our candidate or issue. In a drastic simplification of the issue, you will recall Albert Mehrabian’s three elements of communication that “communication comprises 55% body language, 38% tone of voice, [and] 7% content of words”. The model is illus- trative of why radio is more effective at connecting with people than the printed word. When a medium lacks a component of the communications mix, it amplifies cer- tain aspects of communication – like how words led to a more rational discourse in the 1800s, or how, with the advent of television it mattered how our leaders looked. It also leads to the difficulty of finding any consultant that has mastered all the mediums. Like John McCain’s appeal to “friends”, each medium adjustment is to try and better connect with the voter,


Social media can lead to better organization and connectivity with your volunteers and the Internet allows you to be more agile in your coordination of resources


making up for distance and the lacking components of the communication mix. While it is true social media al- lows for a conversation, lacking in traditional mediums, it continues to have its own deficiencies of communication. Only personal, in person, appeals can communicate your message to the electorate – nothing can ever replace it. But, you may say, it’s a headache organizing, printing all


those walk-lists and coordinating the volunteers to make it into the office. Some of them don’t even make it, and we need to make sure enough come to warrant all the time spent. Then we have to enter in the data that takes hours, and there’s little value in conducting voter ID too shortly before Election Day, as we can’t get it into the system by the time GOTV starts. The answer to your problems is a combination of the social media, the Internet, and mobile. Nielson anticipates smartphones, those optimized for Internet and apps, will overtake feature phones by the end of 2011. This heralds the next stage of campaigns. Instead of always needing to bring in the volunteers, the volunteers will always have access to the campaign - in their pocket. Social media can lead to better organization and connectivity with your volunteers and the Internet allows you to be more ag-


ile in your coordination of resources, assigning phone or door canvassing and receiving the data in real-time. Scott Brown’s ‘Walking Edge’ solution and the OFA canvassing app were only the first foray into this market. D2D Campaign Solutions offers an Internet and mo- bile solution to do just this, taking full use of the volun- teers’ time and resources. It connects the campaign more directly with volunteers to monitor their progress and reward preferred behaviour, and allows the campaign to more quickly respond to voters’ requests for lawn signs and other follow-up. While the solution focuses on the power of mobile, it produces paper walk-lists for those without smartphones, and provides a volunteer web in- terface for phoning both before and on Election Day. It works for all campaigns from municipal to presidential and allows the campaign the ability to update their database on the go. It brings grassroots activity to the next level, bring- ing technology to leverage your most precious resource in getting more votes on Election Day: your volunteers. Knowledge is power. The interface allows more nu- anced collection of information like support level and which issues matter to individual voters. This is mass cus- tomization applied to the political arena and enhances the way campaigns will be run, away from more stale mass communication techniques that was never as effective as person-to-person contact. With mobile, technology has taken politics full circle.


Julian Haigh is one of the founders of D2D Campaign Solu- tions. He has been involved in 5 campaigns at all three levels of government, including a winning federal campaign war room. During his tenure on Parliament Hill , he produced, wrote and reported for MPtv – a daily web-cast on Hill-happenings. Since returning to Vancouver, he quickly developed an affinity to the growing new media community assisting DigiBC with their Olympic promotions and recently coordinating B2B sessions at the Merging + Media Masterclass & Conference. He can be reached at julian.haigh@d2dcampaign.com and followed on Twitter @D2DCampaign.


April 2011 | Campaigns & Elections 21


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