No Voodoo RequiredThe introductory guidebook to campaigning.

Campaigning

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The question is; just what exactly is campaigning? Well, we might be familiar with advertising campaigns, whose purpose is to sell a particular product, service or idea, political campaigns, which serve the purpose of winning votes and social campaigns, which aim to right injustices. Campaigns are a set of strategies and tactics or concerted actions aimed at achieving change in beliefs, practices and policies.

In social campaigning, we campaign to hold those responsible accountable for their actions as well as ensure society’s direct involvement in making change happen. Campaigners recognise that there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to influence behaviour change, and that problems as well as change are often a web of interlinked factors.

Campaigns, like love and relationships can be a lot of hard work, but in the end, they are definitely worth the wait. So let’s talk about love...…

Have you ever been in love? Ever felt that crazy-cannot-describe-the-intensity-of-that-insane-emotional-rollercoaster journey or if you will, descent into madness, like your life was no longer the same after you met that special someone? And all you knew from that moment on was that you were going to do all you could to make sure that you would not rest until that person, the object of your desire, would be the main feature in your life? Well, I have. Fortunately for me while at a fundraising concert there he was, just as I’d imagined. Great smile, impeccable manners, intoxicating laugh. I was caught hook line and sinker and knew that HE was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Unfortunately for me however, he didn’t seem to even notice my existence. I realized then that I had to launch a plan to get him to fall in love with me.

Identify your goals :

After pointing out your problem, knowing deeply what it is about, now you set the goal that the campaign will help you to achieve. This is the reason you are campaigning.The ultimate change you will be fighting for.

And so there he was at this Christmas fundraising concert my friends dragged me to learning casually against the wall, smiling while watching the musicians on stage give it their all. I was grumpy up until then. I elbowed both of the girls and arched my eyebrows in his direction. Eyes immediately lit up and they excitedly started talking about the guys he was standing next to. It seemed the girls knew his friends. Yes! We’ve got an in! I started doing a little crazy-dance inside my head and as everybody else continued to watch the performance, I continued to watch him. I remember him surprising everybody at one point by jumping up on stage, grabbing a sax and without skipping a beat, jamming with the musicians like a long lost member of the band. After the electrifying performance concluded with a standing ovation, the girls whisked me off in the direction of Mr. Man’s earlier spotted friends. They introduced me and we hit it off.

At some point he joined in on the conversation and I almost burnt my ears off with the intensity of my blush when we locked eyes. Miraculously I somehow managed to be cool, calm down and collect myself. I found out that he worked as a project manager for a small humanitarian firm with big ambitions, that he played the saxophone in his spare time and loved going to jazz concerts.

I floated home that night and made my plan. It was quite simple really; I knew in my heart of hearts that he was the infamous ‘One’ and I knew that he was an eligible bachelor. So with the help of the girls I defined my smart objective. Him placing the appropriate ring for the 4th finger of my left hand before next Christmas would be ideal. Which then meant that we would have to be living together for at least 6 months beforehand, and dating at least 4 months before moving in together, which by calculations meant that I needed to him to ask me out on a date pronto.

Set Clear Objectives:

Set Critical Path :

Setting objectives allows you to organize the actions to be taken to achieve your goals. From the way you have understood the problem/ the situation you should set S.M.AR.T objectives. Each objective must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound.

Define the different sequences of change or outcome which will allow you to reach your objective. By this, you should get a clear understanding of steps of changes and scale them. This will help you gage whether or not you are on the right path to achieving your objectives. There are also short-term objectives that contribute to your overall objective.

I dedicated an entire week to find out as much as I could about him, verifying that he was at least not of the crazy variety or had a string of illegitimate children and deployed the girls to gather more info from his friends. I also trolled around in cyberspace and found out a little bit more about his personal life, his aspirations, his friends, the places he’s been to, etc. I found out that he valued his family a lot, he was well travelled, loved dancing Zouk and was conveniently planning to attend an upcoming Jazz concert, causing me to spurt my morning latte all over my new shirt. When I finally managed to get my fingers steady I immediately messaged the girls to set operation: oh-i-didn’t-know-you-came-here-too-what-a-small-world-! in motion.

Mobilization - Do Your Research:

Research helps to understand the nature, the extend and the complexity of the problem you are facing. From this good comprehension of the problem and of the situation you could focus on a well-defined issue(s) that can be addressed and resolved. Campaign research should help you answer 3 key questions.

1. What is the problem ? 2. Who are the different stakeholders, their positions and interests ? 3. Why should the problem & solution matter to each of the stakeholders ?

And so it was that I found myself standing in front of the beauty shop, and after a rigorous couple of hours my nails, hair and skin were all in check. Next stop, which was the part the girls were waiting for the most…the shopping spree. I went home that evening with an upgraded look and an upgraded attitude.

Develop the Brand Identity:

Tonight was the night. The mission was not Dress to impress. More like Dress to annihilate. The girls came over to help me get ready and by the time we left home I was looking and feeling like an A star diva. He had no choice but to want to get to know me. We arrived on the scene fashionably late, and although the Jazz concert had already started Mr. Man and his friends spotted us and waved us over to where they ironically had three empty seats near them.

The first step in developing a brand identity is to set a story-line.What message will help you reach your target easily? What are the feelings, sounds, words and images you want associated with the solution you are proposing ? This brand identity could be defined from a story-line.

Mobilize Support:

Throughout the concert he tried made conversation and kept flashing me billionaire smiles. At the end, the girls and I shared a drink with them and then said our goodbyes, stating that there was another function we were heading out to. This surprised Mr. Man and before we left he got the courage to finally ask me for my phone number. He called me the day after, just as I was about to start preparing lunch to ask me out. I was stunned. My plan is in action! I thought ecstatically, I agreed and asked him to pick me up for dinner at eight.

To mobilize support, you need to reply to this: Who can help me achieve my goal? But, first of all you have to define what kind of support you need. Then, set the list of support and assign them their role so that they will be more effective. Actions taken and carried out by people you have mobilized should show that you have succeeded in your mobilization.

Dinner turned into drinks, which turned into a second marvellous datefilled with laughter and intimate conversation. Before long we had gone out on a marathon of dates and were thoroughly enjoying discovering what made us tick. I set down my list of requirements as to what I was looking for in a partner and he checked all the boxes. He also clarified that he was looking for a serious and committed long-term relationship and that he had every intention of courting me.

Be very clear about your “Call to Action”:

To know if your target understands your message, you have to be as clear as possible when you define the “call to action’’. That means that what you want them to do as soon as they get your message should be very clear.

The media is a very powerful ally that can be strategically used to help your message reach a wider audience. Attention should be paid to identify your specific target audience and then choose the media that best reaches that audience.

Media:

To help me on my quest i enlisted the help of a shared acquaintance. Both Mr. Man and i knew her through the same social circles and the fact that neither of us were very close to her made it perfect. I met up with her for lunch and asked her to help me on my mission to win his heart. In the spirit of female solidarity, she excitedly obliged and being a natural motor-mouth news of her ‘talking me up’ came my way sooner than i ever expected. I knew this was successful when i bumped into one of his friends again at a fundraiser and he confided that i had quite the good reputation.

A few weeks in I realised we were at a crucial make-or-break part of the dating process, and in order to be taken as a serious candidate two things needed to happen. I needed to meet his family and I needed to make a good impression. So when the day came around and I was introduced at Sunday brunch I made sure my manners were impeccable, that I was extremely attentive and polite and it seems my efforts paid off cause his family, most importantly, his mother loved me.

Power Analysis helps you determine who’s who on the ‘importance’ scale:

Before you determine the right people to lobby, you need to develop your power analysis, which will point out the main actors that have direct or indirect influence over your key target. It is after this that you then shape and define your targets to lobby.

I brought out all my positive attributes in full force and demonstrated that I was loyal, dependable, and for the position of future wife, the best possible candidate. After a couple of months, it was official; he’d finally fallen in love with me and was letting the world know about it. And just as I’d planned, with the blessing of his family, we moved in together after 6 months of intense courtship. We learned a lot about each other then. Our strengths and weaknesses and learning to fully accept each other brought us together in a bond so close it was almost unbreakable. Even when his ex-girlfriend tried to make a come-back into his life I was supportive, loyal but firmly stood my ground on the fact that he had to prove how serious he was about us. And so it was that on my birthday, Two months before Christmas, after serving me breakfast in bed, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

Expect the unexpected!

There are likely to be unexpected events during your campaign. Allies will turn into opponents, opportunities will present themselves along the way. You need to constantly reasess your power analysis and adapt to a forever changing situation.

In hindsight I realised that none of this would have ever been possible without campaigning as relentlessly as I did. We overcome obstacles such as his fear of intimacy and fought obstacles such as his ex girlfriend trying to win back his heart and after all this I finally won. I was going to be Mrs. Man.

Monitor and Evaluate your Campaign:

Has your target understood your message? Have they acted as you want? Have you succeeded in you campaign, achivied your objectives and reached your goal ?To answer these questions you have to evaluate your campaign.This means reviewing the success indicators you had set according to your objectives. We have two phases of evaluation :

- The on-going monitoring lets you know if you are doing what you planned to do. If not it allows you to re-focus and adjust.- The review takes place at a mid point, yearly, or when you finish your campaign.

You then compare the final result with your objectives.

The End

Niyel is an innovative campaigns agency that specialises in targeted and creative strategies for development, political and cultural agendas.

Niyel brings together a team of young, eclectic and wise campaigners with a whole lot of swag. We help institutions, groups and individuals turn their campaign into a world-wide yes.

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Written and Conceptualised byFaty Kane , Valerie Traore , Stephanie Gichau , Narcisse N’zi

Illustrated & Designed byStephanie Gichau , Antoine Alain Diatta