PR Revolutionizes Political Campaigning with TV Ad Contest

In today's democratic landscape where billion-dollar political machines and
high-priced consultants dominate the media, the voices of "real" people seem
all but non-existent in the news during election time. Wealthy campaign
contributors train presidential candidates to project their own personal
values and qualities to the image-obsessed media, often at the expense of
the issues important to the average American. Rarely does the media give a
voice to ordinary people - simply because ordinary people do not have the
money and connections to compete with the political machine and reach a
national audience.

So where does this leave grass roots activists with zero connections and
even less money hoping to break into the national scene? "In the past, when
you looked at activism, telephones and door-to-door outreach were the only
means of campaigning," explains Trevor Fitzgibbon, director of media
relations for Washington, D.C.-based PR firm Fenton Communications.

Fitzgibbon and the team at Fenton had a unique challenge when they signed on
with MoveOn.org in 2003: MoveOn wanted to up the ante for civic
participation in the 2004 presidential election by involving "real" people
in politics on an unprecedented scale. They created the MoveOn.org Voter
Fund in the fall of 2003 with the goal of engaging millions of average
Americans in the electoral process - and MoveOn vowed to make their voices
heard.

"MoveOn has always tried to turn the traditional style of doing business on
its head," Fitzgibbon says. "Organizing, fund-raising, television ads -
MoveOn wanted to help revolutionize all this. They wanted to add substance
and send out a call to action - a vehicle for people's voices to be heard."

With the goal of empowering ordinary citizens at the forefront of the
campaign, Fenton and MoveOn hit on a brilliant concept while brainstorming
ideas for a television ad. "Rather than pay high-priced media consultants to
put together 30-second television spots, we figured, let's let the people do
it," Fitzgibbon says.

The "Bush in 30 Seconds" contest was conceived. Americans nationwide were
invited to invent and submit their own television commercials about the Bush
Administration. The best homemade ads would be voted on by fellow citizens
and ultimately by a panel of celebrity judges who had signed up to help
MoveOn achieve its mission. Thus, grass roots democracy, modern technology
and pop culture would clash to revolutionize mainstream political
advertising. With the help of Fenton, MoveOn would brand itself as the hip,
politically savvy, progressive organization leading America in the new
century.

Fenton embarked on a three-month media plan to capitalize on MoveOn's
growing popularity and the star spokespersons it had recruited: Michael
Moore, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, James Carville and Russell Simmons were among
the celebrities now on board. "The star power, along with the whole
overarching concept, triggered a bunch of media in the announcement stage
alone," Fitzgibbon says.

But the key component of the campaign was Fenton's strategic media
targeting. "Fenton not only got the top political reporters interested, but
also pop culture and music writers," Fitzgibbon explains. "We endorsed an
intertwining message: politics and pop culture. We targeted outlets across
the whole spectrum - from The New York Times to Rolling Stone."

When MoveOn announced the finalists for the "Bush in 30 Seconds" contest,
another wave of media hit. Then, during the awards ceremony at the
Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, MoveOn announced that the winning ad would
not only be aired during the week of Bush's State of the Union address, but
that the organization had raised enough money to air the ad during the Super
Bowl. This announcement triggered a new wave of hyper publicity and
attention that was unforeseen and potentially deadly to the campaign. But
once again, Fenton and MoveOn managed to turn conventional media practice on
its head and capitalize

Here's how: The winning ad was "Child's Play," a wordless commercial showing
children working unpleasant jobs - washing dishes, hauling garbage and other
tasks - with the tag line, "Guess who's going to pay off President Bush's $1
trillion deficit?"

Stories in The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, NPR and several
stories apiece from the AP and CNN resulted. But media coverage for the ad
was severely heightened when CBS refused to air the winning ad during the
Super Bowl.

"CBS was running ads for the War on Drugs and Viagra, yet somehow our ad of
little kids doing adult jobs was deemed controversial," Fitzgibbon says. "We
went back and forth with CBS, responding to them each time through several
press releases. The debate over the ad garnered so much more coverage and
attention than it would have had CBS just aired the ad during the Super
Bowl."

Even People magazine, Fox News and "Saturday Night Live" covered MoveOn.
There was so much earned media, in fact, that the Dean of Penn's Annenberg
School for Communication said, "Child's Play" achieved "the most air time
with the least dollars extended on any ad in the history of the republic."
Ultimately, MoveOn's fundraising skyrocketed and 150,000 new members joined
within three months.

Read on as Fitzgibbon offers tips and explains why this campaign won the
Silver in Issue/Cause Advocacy at the 2005 Bulldog Awards for Excellence in
Media Relations & Publicity.

1. Don't be intimidated - reach out to top journalists first
"When unveiling and launching a new campaign, always go after the most
well-respected journalists first," Fitzgibbon advises. "Especially the
journalists covering the subject that you're working on - give these
reporters a lot of access before you send out any broad releases. The
resulting hits will give you a built-in credibility and will set the tone
for the rest of the stories that are written about you or your client."

2. Find and highlight the news peg
"Always wrap your releases - and frame the campaign in a strategic way -
around interesting news pegs," he recommends. "With MoveOn, there have been
times when we sent out press releases literally within two seconds after
news breaks. For example, when Sandra Day O'Connor stepped down and there
was a Supreme Court vacancy, we reacted immediately. This kind of urgency
will grab the media's attention and help get your other messages out as
well. Because we reacted so quickly to the Sandra Day O'Connor news,
MoveOn's ads not only scored coverage on all of the network evening news -
for free - but "Meet the Press" aired both of our ads. To buy a 30-second ad
spot on "Meet the Press" can cost $70,000, but you can never do it because
these spots are always sold out. Consequently, clients who strategically
frame their campaigns around news pegs will always get the greatest
attention."

3. Humanize and speak to the heart
"More than anything else, attempt to convince your client to invest in
hard-hitting ads and campaigns that speak to the heart," he says. "And
really try to capture that in a visual way. With MoveOn, we always
concentrate on what the end product is going look like through the lens of a
camera - the visual."

4. Timing, timing, timing
"Timing is everything," he stresses. "Always urge your clients to
strategically time campaigns, especially when you're coordinating PR and
advertising. You want to launch a hard-hitting call to action at the exact
same time you're launching an advertisement. For example, when CBS refused
to run the 'Bush in 30 Seconds' ad, we advised MoveOn to tie that
controversy to their advertising campaign against media consolidation. This
kind of timing will strengthen your message and increase your outreach
considerably. So often I see organizations decide they want to do a TV ad,
but because they don't time it right - they don't frame it around
preexisting news pegs, for example - the ad doesn't have the impact it
should."

WINNER'S PROFILE:

"Bush in 30 Seconds" wouldn't have happened without the outstanding work of
Michelle Mulkey; Jenny Park; Roberto Delgado; Kawana Lloyd; Bill Hamilton;
Jessica Smith - all of whom were instrumental in the strategy, pitching top
political and entertainment press. Also, Laura Dawn, Eli Pariser, Johnathan
Soros and David Fenton developed the entire concept.

Online, August 31, 2005