The Vision

Motivated by messages focused on resilience and collective empowerment,  informed citizens take action to counter voter suppression in all its forms. Their activism achieves free and fair ballot access for every eligible voter and breathes new life into our democracy.

The Challenge

Build an online hub to educate, inform, and inspire audiences on voter suppression, steering clear of partisan framing and presenting the issue in clear and accurate terms. Content strategy, information architecture, and messaging had to keep pace when the Covid-19 pandemic forced organizers to shift the focus of the “And Still I Vote” campaign from in-person to at-home activism. Finding the right tone –positive to inspire hope, but straightforward in acknowledging the artfulness and complexity of modern voter suppression — would help audiences recognize their role as change agents in tackling this urgent problem.

Our Approach

“And Still I Vote” aimed to maximize its reach and impact among voters in the 2020 election cycle, and to meet this goal our team translated campaign branding and creative concepts into  a compelling web presence by early 2020. Once lockdown hit, we changed gears to organize content and functionality around virtual options. An online action center offered a range of at-home options for fighting voter suppression, while features such a Twitch integration and social media wall provided a sense of energy and excitement. To ensure that we didn’t lose sight of efficacy in a scramble to meet the demands of the election calendar, we executed development and audience research along separate but parallel tracks.

We were then able to integrate our findings into development in an iterative feedback loop. Our blend of flexibility and rigor helped us keep pace with the changing needs of our client and their campaign over the course of a fast moving election cycle.

Results so far

“And Still I Vote” launched with an event celebrating the 55th anniversary of the historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and from there garnered national attention through the support of numerous prominent activists and performers. With a mobile-first, highly energizing design, the campaign website effectively funneled the traffic generated by high-profile events.

Our research suggested that declarative language relating to themes of dignity, self-determination, and community, alongside real stories of voter suppression, would inspire action more effectively than combative messages of defiance.

By shifting to a positive frame and emphasizing the role of regular people in urgent efforts to shore up democracy, “And Still I Vote” helped to achieve record election turnout levels among communities of color and younger voters. This turnout included newly informed voters who planned how to vote safely during a pandemic, and who understood what they needed to do to protect their vote and ensure their voice was heard in our electoral process.

Our comprehensive research approach included interviews with subject matter experts, message testing on Google Ads, surveys and heat map analysis. Combining these methods, we crafted messages of positivity and resilience that outperformed existing campaign messaging in testing.