VIRGINIA CREATIVE SERVICES
In final six weeks of the 2017 campaign, the DNC commissioned GOOD POLITICAL to support over 15 House of Delegate candidates with 20+ video deliverables.
Our initial goal helping Tom Perriello’s efforts was to support 8 candidates. Tom's impressions:
“Reactions to your videos so far have been amazing! Really can’t thank you enough.
You put lightning in a bottle twice in one day! You are clearly fueled by Tiger blood and a deep sense of justice. Thank you!”
Deliverables varied by situation, but the core competencies were “candidate highlight videos,” “NowThis-ian messaging videos,” and an “ensemble GOTV piece” customized for regional, statewide and national play.
Many of these candidates previously had zero rich content to promote on digital. Unable to afford TV, beyond mailers they never had succinct messaging product to reach new audiences.
““The candidate bio footage was incredibly valuable, not just for the initial product, but for creating more products. It allowed us to turn around an Obama video in less than 3 days and create much shorter versions closer to GOTV. Investing in going out and shooting this sort of thing for candidates right after primaries seems like a no-brainer. Most candidates would either:
a) never be able to afford this themselves
b) not feel comfortable they raised enough $ to afford it until too late in the cycle
c) not be versatile enough to turn what was shot for TV into digital content.””
TEST CASES
CANDIDATE HIGHLIGHT
In total, across several platforms and accounts, our work was seen over ONE MILLION times, with millions more impressions – and largely in hyper-targeted areas we wanted in Virginia. Paid was expensive down the stretch, but 50,000+ saw Djuna’s Facebook video from Roanoke. Over 80% of most of the videos views/engagement were within the Commonwealth.
WinVA intended to boost this post by $100, but after its performance added $850.
With 90+ Retweets, this was by FAR her best performing post of the campaign (she rarely got more than five RTs)
WIN VIRGINIA Testimonial: Chris Westfield, Campaign Manager
“The story of ‘I was activated by the Women’s March and then ran’ is incredibly powerful as a candidate recruitment tool and the fact that so many of this year’s competitive candidates got their start there isn’t as widely known as it should be. Your videos are the only thing I’ve seen get to any traction making that point.”
ENSEMBLE GOTV
Not only was this a success aiding the efforts of Win Virginia, but these creative services are a unifying force in the field. Producing “Let’s Get To Work” brought together Win VA, The Arena Summit, Mobilize, the DLCC, the DNC and Northam’s campaign on a successful project that everyone could engage with.
Nationally, creative messaging in the field lifted up new leaders and helped tell grassroots narratives, with shares from orgs Emily’s List, and many notable Obama alum, including the heads of Crooked Media.
WinVA spent $20,000+ on paid advertising for this video. The Arena promoted on Instagram and Facebook as well.
Average watch time was :08 seconds (high for a :30 spot).
Impressions were highest in coveted 25-34 market.
"NOW THIS-IAN" VIDEO
By commissioning this work, the DNC also boasts a new library of organizing assets for future products.
The Monday before Election, this post was had 109,000 organic views on Twitter alone. If amplified by The Democrats, we project the reach would have been significantly higher.
WIN VIRGINIA Testimonial: Chris Westfield, Campaign Manager
“The caucus would never put together something that cut across districts. In a wave year, fueling that macro narrative is going to be crucial– and state leg caucuses will never spend the money to do it."
WHY INVEST IN QUALITY CREATIVE SERVICES
ON THE GROUND?
For comparison, a straight on clip from the rally was organically viewed 2600 times via WinVA's Facebook (which only has 700 likes) and shared 79 times. The link to find your delegate or pledge to vote was clicked 8 times.
"Let's Get To Work" on WinVA's 700-like page was organically viewed 9,800 times and shared 370 times. The link to find your delegate or pledge to vote was clicked 29 times.
"Let's Get to Work" was, at The Youths say, “🔥 fire 🔥” for the field as a rally cry for volunteers, organizers and delegate campaign managers:
““just watched again — first time I’ve had chills in a while”
”you made me cry”
”I’m literally crying, it’s SO good”
”I’ve watched that shit a million times today””
CONCLUSION: LET'S WORK TOGETHER.
The Virginia pilot demonstrated what it set out to do. The DNC served state parties and local races, helping them nail their first-impression with voters and fire them up down the stretch. Seeing is believing, and now there is a firm desire for more content work at every level.
There are many added institutional benefits beyond the final video product. These are product that can continue to highlight – and point back to – Democrats defending democracy in every corner of a state.
Quality video ads are as essential as mailers in modern races, yet cost-prohibitive for a majority of campaigns. State parties, as a continued provider of the infrastructural needs of Democrats everywhere, can bundle creative services to reduce costs for all, and aid in solving this problem for many. It's immediate value, putting local narratives on the national stage, and demonstrates tangible results.