Make Sure Nothing Stops You
Electoral Commission
Issue 7 | July 2008
Agency
Farm
Creative Team
Gary Robinson - Creative Director;Owen Lee - Creative Director;Kevin Colquhoun ;Gregor Findlay
Production Team
Richard Mountney - Photographer for Press; Morag Edwards - Photographer for Ambient; Stink - Production Company; Neil Harris - Director for TV; Olivia Coleman - Radio / TV Voiceover
Other Credits
Emma DiGiacomo - Account Director;Paul Jeffrey - Planner;Nina Ziaullah - Client;Dan Jones – Client
Date
March – April 2008
Background
The Electoral Commission needed to maximise the number of eligible electors registered to vote before registration deadline. The aim was to achieve this by not only raising awareness of the need to register, but also by encouraging response through various routes (including phone, web and text).
Idea
There are a number of reasons why people aren’t currently registered to vote. Farm’s strategy was to focus on the fact that people think registering is a hassle, and to simplify the process. The beer mats and washroom posters were designed to do more than simply raise awareness of registration, in addition giving potential voters a simple way (texting) to register themselves. The formats gave the opportunity to persuade the target of the logic of registration and raise some of the issues, then allowing the text response mechanic to work to its potential. The campaign also used humour to engage with the student and young pub-goer audience, as many view registering to vote a less than interesting topic.
The ambient and outdoor executions formed part of a wider integrated campaign also involving TV, press and radio. In driving voting registrations amongst non-registered eligible voters, the very fact that they weren't registered ruled out more direct communication methods. Potential voters were told to ‘make sure nothing stops you’ – like moving house, not realising they could register or simply forgetting to register in time – and encouraged to register through simple methods.
Results
Final figures are not yet available, but levels of calls to the call centre more than doubled compared to the previous period despite only half the number of local authorities having elections. Around 23,000 registration forms were downloaded from the website. In the small test areas of pub activity, current statistics show a remarkable 293 responses over the three-week period.
Target Audience
Students and young pub-goers (18 to 25-year-olds)
Size
350,000 beer mats (distributed in 350 venues in 10 cities); 808 washroom sites in 202 venues
Our Thoughts
Getting students and young adults to register to vote in a witty and engaging way is an achievement in itself, but it was the clever use of text response that really caught our attention. Positioning the executions in a pub environment was a smart idea too, with the natural venue of ‘setting the world to rights’ being a perfect bedfellow for political activity.