The Challenge
Nearly 12,000 young people turn 18 every day, but it doesn't mean they're immediately signing up to vote when they do. How could Rock the Vote modernize its messaging and cut through the political and social noise in order to meet young people where they actually are - online - and get excited about voting now and into the future?
Rock the Vote, a household name and fondly remembered organization of the 90s, was entering its 25th anniversary year and needed to find a way to connect with the youth of today to ensure they registered - and then ideally turned out - to vote in the all-important 2016 Election Year. The Elle team was brought on to help reelevate awareness of Rock the Vote and its mission, educate the next generation of young people/media/influencers on the organization, and to create extensive buzz that helped drive people directly to register to vote. In order to achieve these big goals, Elle brought about a return to the powerful and take-charge Rock the Vote messaging of old, and the team collectively determined that Rock the Vote would help America's diverse and impassioned youth speak their "truth to power." This updated voice and tone reflected an optimistic, informed, motivated, effective, driven, welcoming, fun, and real approach to politics, the world, and the task at hand: to successfully help register millions more young people to vote in the 2016 election.
Our Approach
Elle's hyper-personalized and strategically targeted approach included creating conversations and garnering press that spanned youth, online and social media outlets to reach young people directly, while also securing numerous major national broadcast and feature press wins in order to achieve buy-in from board members, corporate partners, and funders. The team helped to ensure that Rock the Vote forged social media platform partnerships (Snapchat, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, etc.) that could also turn into media and awareness building moments, while simultaneously securing top influencers in both the social media and traditional realm (pop and rap superstar musicians, actors beloved by young people, and comedians, among others). The Elle multi-tiered, creative influencer strategy included (but was not limited to) tapping talent for Rock the Vote branded videos and content creation, implementing a series of digital influencer panels with powerhouse talent agencies including CAA and WME, helping to facilitate and support community-facing events and speaking opportunities for Rock the Vote ambassadors at the DNC, RNC, White House Correspondent's Dinner, and more.
Our Impact
Rock the Vote registering more than 1.6 million new young voters and receiving media coverage with upwards of 9 billion impressions for the year; and the organization's Truth to Power campaign and activations being featured in the press stemming from Elite Daily, Mashable, Upworthy, Teen Vogue, Billboard, and Nylon, to The New York Times, The Washington Post, to Politico and The Hill in order to showcase Rock the Vote's established political clout as well as their ability to be the voice of and for young people. Rock the Vote organizational leadership appeared on national television ranging from The TODAY Show and MTV, to MSNBC (numerous times), CNBC, HLN, NPR, and beyond, and the team's work with the media also aided in the cultivation of the largest women's / lifestyle media partnership in the nonprofit's history, #OurVoteCounts, as more than 50+ outlets signed on to use Rock the Vote's white label voter registration tool to help register their readers/viewers. Additionally, influencers secured spanned Kendall Jenner, Katy Perry, will.i.am and Black Eyed Peas, Chelsea Handler, Matison Pettis, Becky G, rappers T.I. and Roc Nation, and countless YouTube stars and digital influencers ranging from The Fat Jew to Liza Koshy, which all contributed to billions of video impressions and social media shares.