“The revolution will not be televised” Well, not if we have anything to do to with it!
An underdog with a progressive platform, Senator Bernie needed to authentically get his message to voters. A man born and raised in the Republic of Brooklyn, who had spent his political career in Vermont, needed to get minorities to understand what his political revolution was all about.
While the senator had been brining out crowds in the tens of thousands, he needed to grow the share of minority voters and members of the New Americana. The messaging had to be relatable to these groups. It had to empower them, not break them down. It had to get to the point, without dumbing it down.
Key messages around the rights of immigrants, his stance against police brutality, the removal of big money in politics, increasing the minimum wage, and providing education and health care for all were all important platforms we had to share.
We had to make potential voters feel like they were part of the movement—active members—not just passive observers.
We understood that because Senator Sanders was not a household name, it was going to take leveraging his surrogates to not only educate voters, but to inspired them to get out and vote.
The team developed the platform of WAKE UP! A way to deliver an energizing messaging that would help educate, inspire and mobilize members of the New Americana to vote. Specifically African American and Latino voters.
The platform launched with a terrestrial radio spot in South Carolina featuring the voice of Spike Lee (cementing Mr. Lee’s endorsement), which went viral online reaching over 162,967 mentions across just Facebook and Twitter, and over 100,500 Soundcloud Streams. Additionally, reaching 311 million impressions on Twitter.
The platform grew as we focused on including the diversity of the Bernie Sanders campaign.
Directed by Spike Lee at Brooklyn College, we brought together an all-star group of surrogates to talk about the issues that mattered to them. The group members included: Mr. Harry Belafonte, Susan Sarandon, Dr. Cornel West, Tessa Thompson, Rosario Dawson, Linda Sarsour, Erica Garner, Alan Cumming, Gabby Hoffman and many more.
Radio, TV and a long form piece of content were created from the shoot.