Using social networks to communicate visually to voters
Tip: if you looked at the photo on this article before starting to read the text, then you’re like 90% of voters. If you’re not sure why this matters, you’re like most political commentators and...
View ArticleRetweeting for fun and advocacy
There’s an interesting debate over at the New Organizing Insititute about the use of the Retweet feature on Twitter. Matt Stempeck, the new media manager at NOI recommends that advocacy and progressive...
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Fluency, fonts and union design
Have you heard of the concept of fluency? Simply put (and for the purpose of this blog post), fluency is the “ease with which people process information”. Fluency affects a wide array of judgements...
View ArticleShort book review: Words that Work by Frank Luntz
What can infamous Republican word-smith and pollster Frank Luntz tell progressives about effective communication? As it turns out, quite a bit. In Words that Work, Luntz reveals his magic tricks and...
View ArticleStopping power: why good design matters
All unions, progressive organisations and political parties produce advertisements (or collateral) — whether posters, brochures, leaflets, billboards and so on. We can easily measure whether the...
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Five mistakes unions make in effective communications copywriting
I am a strong advocate of high-quality, professional communications for unions — which means getting professional writers and designers. This belief was the basis of my motivation to co-found Creative...
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Communication is king
I’ve got most of my experience in communications, marketing, graphic design and campaigning from the union movement, book-ended by political and non-profit experience. What I’ve seen across all three...
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Three ways to get the best out of your union’s communications
On Sunday 26 May I will be giving a presentation at the Our Communities conference, Communities in Control, as part of their Marketing & Social Media bootcamp. I was asked to speak about six...
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Volume of political email is a campaign boon, not bane
Jason at the Restless Capital blog has written about some interviews he’s conducted with the people who moderate politicians’ websites and email accounts. He notes that difficulty comes from “the...
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Debunking nine union communications myths
I’ve spoken with scores of unions around Australia and internationally about effective communications and campaigns. What I constantly hear is that it is rare for unions to have a communications plan....
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Day -6: Why focus is essential for campaigning
Have you been following the Australian election? There’s a lot happening each day, with announcements, stunts, gaffs and ads. All of this creates white noise — a political static — from which...
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Six mistakes for your union to avoid when using social media
Social media campaigning is very popular with unions at the moment. A number of high profile, successful campaigns (both union and other civil society organisations) are driving this rise. On the...
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Should your union advertise online?
Should unions advertise online? This question came up while I was travelling in the USA. How can your union determine whether it’s worth spending the time and money running ads, whether Google...
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Turn your union members into advocates
Every union organiser knows that the best person to recruit a new member isn’t the organiser but another member, a colleague. The most active, passionate members, who proudly encourage their work...
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Using evidence-based science for effective communications
Many people in unions and progressive politics talk about “framing” — made famous by George Lakoff’s Don’t Think of an Elephant — but it’s difficult to see what that means in practice. Effective...
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