The 2010 UK General Election had the potential to be an historic one for the Green Party. We were briefed to devise their election campaign and help position them as the credible alternative to the three main parties with the aim of getting the first ever Green MP into a UK parliament.
Although all three main UK parties were talking about 'change', the vast majority of voters we spoke to told us they saw the parties as indecipherable from one another. Our strategy was to position the party as the only real alternative to the three main parties, and in doing so, convey their range of policies beyond just the environment.
The solution was an innovative multi-media campaign with a strong digital focus. The idea was to make every part of the campaign as sharable and relevant to people as possible and show that the Greens have some of the most progressive ideas on how to tackle day to day political issues such as housing, pensions, the health service and banks, underpinned by the most forward thinking ideas on the environment. To try and make a very small budget go as far as it possibly could, we targeted specific regions, Brighton Pavilion and Norwich East, and used social media to amplify the message nationwide.
Rather than just rely on the usual media channels, the campaign put the politics into the hands of the public, allowing them to decide when, where and how they interacted with the Green Party, be it via TV, web or mobile.
The campaign incorporated an online hub, onlygreen.org.uk, a Party Election Broadcast for TV that could be personalised online and sent to friends and family, outdoor posters, featuring short codes which allowed passers by to immediately download video content into their phones, and a shareable Policy Matchmaker mobile phone application that prompted users to answer ten simple questions before working out how closely their views matched with those of the Green Party.
There was an extremely positive response to the campaign both off and online. A combination of interactive communication and on-the-ground canvassing brought the Green Party and the electorate closer that ever before, resulting in The Greens achieving their main aim - Caroline Lucas becoming the first ever Green MP in British history.