Public Relations Plan: The Democratic Party Campaign

Link to PDF: file:///Users/jennadepellegrini/Downloads/Public%20Relations%20Plan%20Final%20Draft.pdf

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Democratic Party prides itself on its diverse and inclusive community -- the party is for the people, and it strives to create a government that holds the interests of the people first. It aims to do this both in Capitol Hill and in the streets throughout the nation as a united party. The Democratic Party believes that the success of the nation and the party lies with the younger generation, and wishes to propel these future leaders into roles that can make a great change by creating and maintaining political and emotional bonds with them. By reaching out to these audiences and creating these bonds, the Democratic Party hopes to show how its brand aligns with the social values that this younger generation holds in importance, allowing them to find a long-term political identity with the Party. Ultimately what this campaign sets out to do is to show the targeted audiences through our messaging and outreach that the Democratic brand is for them; that the Party is a party for the people and the platform stands for what they believe in.

Campaign Goals: Show how the Democratic brand -- it’s a party for the people that stands for a more diverse, inclusive, and socially aware America-- and aligns with the social values of the targeted audiences, compelling them to create a long-term political identity and emotional bond with the Party.

Campaign Objectives: Effectively communicate and relay the Democratic Party Brand; Create an emotional and political bond with the targeted audiences; Communicate that politics does have consequences; Show how the Democratic Party speaks for the targeted audiences; Move the youth majority from party leaners to party loyalists.

Campaign Implementation Timeline: November 25, 2019 -- Early July 2020

Targeted Audiences: Millennials (Ages 38-23) and Early Generation Z (Ages 22-18).

SITUATION ANALYSIS

Campaign Challenges

The current party platform voted upon in 2016, needs to align with the social values and trends found within the targeted audiences if any political or emotional connection is to be established. The platform being pushed as of November 2019 is one of the most progressive to date and does address social issues that Millennials and Generation Z find important. These include:

Education - “Democrats want every child to have access to a quality public K-12 education, and for every college to be affordable. They want to increase the college-completion rate and the share of job-prepared students.”

The Environment - “Democrats want to curb climate change, protect America’s natural resources, and ensure the quality of our air, water, and land for current and future generations.”

Health Care - “Democrats have been fighting to secure universal healthcare for the American people- we’re proud to be the party that passed Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act.”

Immigration Reform - Democrats will continue to work toward comprehensive immigration reform that fixes our nation’s broken immigration system, improves border security, prioritizes enforcement so we are targeting criminals – not families.”

Preventing Gun Violence - “Democrats believe that we can reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of responsible gun owners- we should expand and strengthen background checks for those who want to purchase a firearm, we should treat gun violence as the deadly public health crisis it is.”

It’s crucial for the Democratic Party to push these platform ideals that currently align with the concerns the targeted audience has, making sure that they see the Party is taking not just a stance, but action towards fulfilling these platform promises. The Party brand is to be a party for the people, and the targeted audiences need to see action being taken in order for them to believe the brand is authentic. Without this authenticity, the targeted audience will be less likely to move from party- leaners to party- loyalists, and could even push some to register under a different party when it comes time to vote. These ideals need to be pushed during messaging and outreach in order to make the targeted audiences aware of what the party stands for and how it could potentially align with their stances on social issues.

In order to create a bond with the targeted audiences, the Democratic Party should make a point to push these platform stances out to their audiences and back up their drive with action. Many might not know about the stances the Party takes on these issues, and many might believe these to be just empty promises made by politicians if action is not taken and seen to be effective. Generation Z especially will not create a Democratic identity if they believe the party to be unauthentic and not able to deliver on its promises.

Campaign Obstacles

The younger generations of today’s society (Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z) now make up the clear majority of those eligible to vote. As of November 2018, nearly six-in-ten adults eligible to vote (59%) were from one of these three generations, with Boomers and older generations making up the other 41 percent (Pew Research Center, 2019).

Historically, younger generations are less likely to head to the polls than older generations, and this is something the Party will need to deal with as elections come up. While the main goal of this campaign is to create a long-term bond with the targeted audiences, the Party also need to look into why these younger generations are less politically active when voting. This will help with understanding the voting trends of these generations further, making it a bit easier to reach these audiences with our campaign. Understanding this will also help the Party understand how to get these younger generations to the polls when the time is needed. The Party should also consider how most of this generation was unenthusiastic in 2016 elections, but came out in bigger numbers to vote in 2018. While the President had a significant impact on this event, the Party should look into social issues like school shootings, continued gun violence and racist events, and environmental events like climate change in order to see what is so important to this generation, why it's important, and how the Party can capitalize on it to make this generation aligned with the Democratic Party as a whole.

The Republican Party is another obstacle for the campaign as the Presidential election nears, the Republican party will be pushing an opposing narrative to the one trying to be built by the campaign. The Party will have to be careful and strategic to refute these claims while also not giving them more air time in the process. The Party will also need to be careful of older family members who will influence the younger generations; family is the biggest persuasive factor, and as many of the older generations align more with the Republican Party platform, they could potentially dissuade the targeted audiences from identifying with the Democratic Party. However, as the targeted audiences are shaping up to be more independent and passionate about their social ideals, the Party can take advantage of this to provide them with a safe space or platform where they can freely interact with others who share their ideals. Ultimately, the Republican Party goes against what most of the targeted audiences stand for in terms of social issues, and this campaign can take advantage of that in order to try and get more constituents to either identify or align with the Democratic Party or move them away from the Republic Party as a whole.

Campaign Opportunities

The Pew Research Center reports that in the 2016 Presidential election, Millennials and Gen Xers cast more votes than Boomers and older generations, giving the younger generations a slight majority of total votes cast. Going forward to future elections, this trend may increase as more Millennials head towards the polls. Generational differences between Millennials and previous generations are also seen in their party affiliations. Among registered voters, 59% of Millennials affiliate themselves with the Democratic Party or lean Democratic, compared with about half of Boomers and Gen Xers (48% each) 43% of the Silent Generation (Pew Research Center, 2019). Given these statistics, the Party has the opportunity to reach these audiences who are already more predispositioned to find a political identity with the Party.

It’s predicted that by 2019, American Millennials are going to number around 73 million people, overtaking the Baby Boomer generation as the largest adult population in the U.S; this in part is due to increased immigration that boosts their numbers further. This presents the party with a great opportunity to gain the support of a large generation for a long time if the campaign is implemented successfully; this generation will become the frontrunners in future politics and policy making, and this could be a great opportunity for the Party if they can get these younger constituents to align with the Party’s ideals.

Another opportunity for the party would be the potential to drive the targeted audiences away from the Republican Party. The GOP tends to align more with older generations who claim a more traditionally conservative political identity. While the Party might not appeal to the entirety of the targeted audience, it can be a way to turn these audiences away from the GOP if they don’t become party loyalists. Party leaners are better than nothing, and in driving a wedge between the GOP and these generations, it can bolster the Democratic platform in the future.

TARGETED AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

Millennials (Constituents Ages 38-23)

Overall Millennial Trends (Pew Research Center and Census Bureau)

Overall, Millennials have brought more racial and ethnic diversity to American society than any other generation before, and are the second-largest generation after the Baby Boomers. Millennial women are more likely to enter the nation’s workforce than prior generations, Millennials also tend to be more educated (though this depends on the economic and financial situations of individuals) and are found to be living with their parents in their childhood homes for longer stretches of time. Millennials tend to lean more towards the Democratic Party and its progressive platform as compared to previous generations.

Millennials tend to have less faith in the overarching institutions in America. However, they also show the highest support of political independents. Millennials also have less faith in religious institutions, as many religious messages clash with the Millennial ideal of tolerance for religious, racial, gender, sexual orientation differences. Millennials are concerned about social justice and will not support institutions that they see as in conflict with social and economic equality. Millennials also now make up the clear majority to vote (more about voting behavior below).

The majority of millennials grew up in an electronics- filled, online world. Millennials are generally comfortable with the idea of public Internet life, meaning they are good at self-promotion and fostering connections through online media. Millennials can also be dependent on the Internet for learning how to do things.

Millennials and Social Issues (Pew Research Center and Census Bureau)

Millennials are also one of the most socially conscious, socially inclusive, and the largest growing generational cohort of our time. Many are willing to spend more and work for less in order to align themselves with brands that associate and support social values they advocate for.

Some of the larger social issues that Millennials prioritize in their daily lives are Environmental Sustainability; Prevention of Gun Violence; Health Care; Immigration; and Education. As the generation of diversity, Millennials also tend to be more tolerant of differences within society, and confident with themselves and individuals. They are often seen as slightly more optimistic about the future of America than other generations -- despite the fact that they are the first generation since the Silent Generation that is expected to be less economically successful than their parents.

Millennials and the Workplace and Marketing (Pew Research Center and Census Bureau)

Millennials also place extreme importance on authenticity -- being honest and actually doing what one claim to do will impact how this generation interacts with companies and other brands. Workplace satisfaction also matters more to Millennials than monetary compensation and work-life balance is often considered essential. They are less likely than previous generations to put up with an unpleasant work environment and much more likely to use social networking to broadcast their concerns.

Having grown up being bombarded by advertising, Millennials tend to be skeptical about promotional material of any kind. Whether buying products and services or considering employment, Millennials are more likely to listen to their friends than to be affected by marketing or public relations material. This characteristic makes both conventional marketing and employee recruitment practices often ineffective for Millennials.

Millennials have less brand loyalty than previous generations. They prefer to shop for products and features first and have little patience for inefficient or poor service. Because of this, Millennials place their trust in brands with superior product history such as Apple and Google. They seek digital tools to help manage their debt and see their banks as transactional as opposed to relational.

Millennial Income and Wealth Trends (Pew Research Center and Census Bureau)

The income rate for Millennials has remained flat over the past 50 years; this has resulted in a large wage gap between those that have attended higher education and those that have not. Household income gaps are also marked by this trend of education, though overall, Millennials have accumulated a bit less in their household incomes than previous generations. This has impacted the rate at which they form their own households, get married, and have children, as Millennials are statistically doing these at a much slower and older rate than previous generations. Millennials are also entering the workforce with more student loan debt than previous generations -- this also contributes towards the delay in major life purchases and events like marriage or buying homes. Because of this financial instability, Millennials prefer access over ownership which can be seen through their preference for on-demand services. They want partners that will help guide them to their big purchases.

Generation Z (Constituents Ages 22-18)

While the majority of this generation is not able to vote yet, the Democratic Party would be neglect to prepare for when this generation takes the stage as young adults. While Millennials have brought more racial and ethnic diversity to modern society, Generation Z is on track to be the United States’ most diverse and best-educated generation to date. Nearly half are racial or ethnic minorities, and while most are still in K-12 schools, the oldest Gen Zers are enrolling in college at a higher rate than even Millennials. Early indications are that their opinions on issues are similar to those of Millennials, which is something the Democratic Party should take advantage of in this campaign.

Generation Z is the sole generation in history to have grown up in a time completely filled with technology and the internet; they are used to the twenty-four-hour news cycle and statistically online for longer and more often periods of time than previous generations smartphones are their preferred method of communication and their main lifestyle tool. This generation has seen the struggle of Millennials and has adopted a more fiscally conservative approach to money and education; they want to avoid debt.

Generation Z spends a lot of time on social media, and advertising on those platforms needs to be customized to fit the medium. They are adept at finding insincere and inauthentic messages, so in order to interact with them, companies and brands need to meet and create purposeful conversations with them. Overall, Generation Z does not follow trends without justification, so earning their loyalty will take getting beyond the filters they have as a result of their online lives. Generation Z is a values-driven cohort, identifying with causes and supporting organizations that embrace them -- give Gen Z a reason to care about the party, and they’ll be more than willing to engage (Kasasa, 2019).

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES AND EARNED MEDIA

The Party should take a more reactive listening approach on social media platforms. The targeted audiences will make it known on these platforms that they are passionate about an issue or incident that has occurred, and the Party should react accordingly to their feelings. Examples of this include:

The school shooting that occurred in Santa Clarita on Thursday, November 14th. As of Saturday, November 16th, the official Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages for the Party have not posted anything about the recent school shootings in New Jersey or Santa Clarita.

The party should be posting in reaction to current events and issues that the targeted audiences are concerned about and that the party has taken a firm stance in.

ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) posts-- These platforms also post regularly as well, which is important as the Party should not allow its social media pages to become stagnate.

The Party should also use captivating messages and visual imagery in their posts in order to capture and retain interest and attention; the posts should also be cohesive and use a coherent writing style that doesn’t turn away viewers. Links and mentions of related articles, information, and videos should also be used in order to keep attention and provide an easy platform for information -- the targeted audiences won’t be interested if it is too hard or takes too long to find what they want. The Party should also attempt to minimize political advertisements as many in the target audience are tune out these messages-- especially during election years. Instead, the Party should take advantage of the season and utilize mainstream news sources These could include:

Mainstream News -- National and regional/ local television

Podcasts -- NPR (Fresh Air, All Things Considered)

Wire Services -- Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg

Newspapers -- The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today

Interest Groups and Publications -- NAACP, WWF, Americans for Gun Safety Foundation

National Television -- Good Morning America, The View, CBS News, ABC News, CNN

Online Publications -- Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, NPR, MSNBC, CNBC, Buzzfeed

Other Avenues -- Public transportation, small shops, coffee places, and other hubs

As these publications are already giving the Party news coverage as a result of the election year, the Party can take advantage of this coverage and push their brand image and message through these channels. As everyone is scrutinizing the actions of each party, this could be an optimal time to do some grassroots events pushing the party platform on social issues in order to help establish an emotional and political identity that the targeted audiences can relate to. They can see these actions on the news and want to align themselves with the party in support as a result of this.

These could include:

• Actively calling out gun violence and school shootings

• Sponsoring events like the Pride Parade in June, or endorsing LGBTQ pride events

• Sending out messages and proposals for maternal and fraternal leave during May and June

• Sponsoring the Women's March and having leaders participate in the March or its setup

• Supporting the Climate Change movement by sponsoring or setting up an event that gives back to the environment through donations or planting trees.

With these actions, the Democratic Party should also pitch their sponsorships and actions to the traditional news media through press releases that will catch the attention of journalists and persuade them to get the word out that the Party is taking action in these areas. While social media is big with the targeted audiences, traditional news outlets should not be ignored.

The Party should boost its social media presence through the use of recurring hashtags that can go viral- this will help with getting posts seen by more people, and will give the targeted audiences an umbrella to post under. The hashtags will also help in creating a social identity with the Party, which will help in creating that emotional and political bond.

Some recommended hashtags include:

#ImpeachThePeach -- can be used during the ongoing impeachment hearing that is being led by the Democratic Party in Congress.

#OkGOP -- this can be a good response tag towards claims that are made by the opposing party. It goes along with current trends while also politely dismisses the opposition’s narrative without giving them more attention that they can use to bolster their own platform.

#IVoteBlue or #ImWithDems -- a play on words, these can help when elections occur to help garner support while creating an umbrella community that party members can post under. It will help with creating those desired bonds.

The Party can also work on reclaiming words or phrases such as“Hunt for Justice” in place of “Witch Hunt.” -- can garner media attention that could lead to possible interviews or news coverage of the current trend. However, the Democratic Party should be cautious with this as trends also garner bad media attention that will be shot down by today’s “Cancelled Culture.”

Throughout the nine months of implementation, the Democratic Party should make a social media calendar and mark important future events that can be planned in advance. These can include national holidays like Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pride Month, President’s Day, and so on. Possible social media posts could include:

Take this and potentially highlight service members from local communities in D.C.- so actual families and maybe Congressmen/women who have also served? I would also include Republican candidates since the post would anger audiences if they saw a clear partisan bias with people mentioned. I would post multiple pictures, but put a memorial or something first so that people don’t claim favoritism. I wouldn’t make this too patriotic as that is more of a GOP staple, and feature modern veterans of all types of backgrounds and such.

I would add a hashtag to this first post, maybe #ImWithDems to create an umbrella sense of community. I would also add a picture of party members out doing something- handing out buttons or flyers, or of constituents holding up signs- make sure though that these are not representing particular candidates but the democratic party as a whole. Something more like this picture below, but without the link to a store or website that sells products. By avoiding promotions, it adds a bit more to the authenticity standpoint that is so important with the targeted audiences, and not giving off the sense that the Party is buying votes and supporters.

Influencers -- Influencers command attention from their followers, making them want to listen and follow along with their opinions. The Democratic Party should attempt to get in contact with these influencers and either collaborate on social media or follow and support an issue they are passionate about in order to get their attention.

Possible influencers include:

Emma Watson - social activist for gender equality and the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. The Party should focus on her campaign HeForShe, which has 2.8M commitments made, 1.3B social media conversations currently occurring, 1.1K events and counting.

Yara Shahidi -- social activist and actress who has started the campaign Eighteen x 18, in order to galvanize younger generations to vote.

Johnetta Elzie -- cited as a Black Lives Matter leader, she’s claimed to be a front-runner in the civil rights movement, and one of the world’s most inspiring modern leaders by her followers.

Charlene Carruthers -- she is the founding national director of Black Youth Project 100 and the Chicago Center for Leadership and Transformation, and recipient of the YWCA's Dr. Dorothy I. Height Award.

Beyond influencers, the Party can also take advantage of spokespersons and TV segments that tend to align with the Democratic Party. These spokespersons will reach a wide range of people in a way social media cannot, and can be influential towards getting the Democratic brand and platform out to the targeted audiences.

Potential spokespersons and TV segments include:

Stephen Colbert -- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

John Oliver -- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Trevor Noah -- The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

SNL -- Saturday Night Live

These particular spokespersons and TV hosts have a reputation of being truthful and trustworthy with their audiences, so if the Party can give them a story that does not compromise their messaging or trust, it could be an opportunity for the Party to not only get messaging out, but to gain some authenticity as well. These spokespersons also tend to be more liberal in politics, so by giving them a story about how the Party is sponsoring the Pride Parade or something similar, they might be willing to air it.

Ultimately, these messages will help the targeted audiences see that the Party is taking actions in areas they are concerned about while also making it easier for them to identify and align with the Party through different gateways. What we want the targeted audiences to take away from all of this is that the Party listens to the concerns of its constituents and stands firmly behind them on social issues-- it’s a party for the people that stands for a more diverse, inclusive, and socially aware America.