{"id":279,"date":"2013-10-10T11:29:53","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T11:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/?p=279"},"modified":"2013-10-10T11:29:53","modified_gmt":"2013-10-10T11:29:53","slug":"using-the-three-stories-case-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/?p=279","title":{"rendered":"Using the Three Stories \u2013 Case Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

In How to Win Campaigns<\/a><\/i>, I promote the idea that every campaign needs the Three Stories.\u00a0 These don\u2019t usually win the campaign for you but are an explanation of why you are doing it.\u00a0 Useful in your \u2018elevator pitch\u2019 situations.\u00a0 Each has a test.\u00a0 (I think I originally got this from Ed Gyde<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Popular<\/b> story \u2013 understandable (test it out) by your relatives, neighbours etc.. The default story to use if in any doubt, and the only one to use with \u2018the public\u2019.\u00a0 No jargon.<\/p>\n

The Professional<\/b> story \u2013 the way the policy community see it.\u00a0 Jargon usually required here.\u00a0 This is the default internal campaign language but must not be allowed into the general public or media domain except maybe with trade\/ professional press or policy community blogs etc.<\/p>\n

The Political<\/b> story \u2013 what\u2019s in it for me as a politician (or CEO etc).\u00a0 This is not to be confused with the Professional story.\u00a0 Top decision makers are not interested in your campaign goals (that only annoys them), they are interested in the benefits to them and their organisation in terms of profits, career prospects, gaining advantage, being popular, not losing their job, and so on. \u00a0These are your \u2018benefit\u2019 selling points. \u00a0See also Bryceson\u2019s Political Checklist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below is a case study in this, contributed by Nikki Williams<\/a> at the UK charity The Woodland Trust<\/a>, which combines practical conservation with campaigning.\u00a0\u00a0 Thanks Nikki.<\/p>\n

Dear Danny \u2013 a case study from the Woodland Trust<\/b><\/p>\n

Early in 2013 the Woodland Trust decided to break out of its mould. Instead of the usual ancient woodland threat or woodland policy campaigning, we decided to hit the big guys at the Treasury. We knew that with a Spending Review looming and all the noise that would build up around it, we needed to remind the Treasury of the huge value for money, trees and woods provide.<\/p>\n

Having been able to share the idea with Chris at the E Campaigning Forum, he had given me a top tip that we had never really put in place before \u2013 write 3 stories for the campaign: a public, a political and a professional one.<\/p>\n

Now, the Woodland Trust places itself as a conservation charity first, with a campaigning \u2018arm\u2019 rather than calling itself a campaigning organisation. As a result we usually have a bit of a bun fight when everyone tries to get their audience\u2019s point into the single narrative, each trying not to undercut the other. This, quite frankly just forced compromise that often reduced the strength of our message.<\/p>\n

Using the 3 stories approach created a much more productive way of working across the teams. People felt they could place their key issues for their audience better, rather than trying to make a \u2018one size delivers for all\u2019 narrative. The 3 narratives positively influenced across each final draft and tweak, keeping them relevant to their audience starting point but clearly showing the golden thread of our issue running through all three. I don\u2019t think we have achieved quite such clarity before.<\/p>\n

As a result, our energy was able to be put into the creative interpretation of the campaign which resulted in us producing a play on our iconic banknote for supporters to send to the Treasury.<\/p>\n

On the side of the note designed to engage the public was their narrative, aimed to inspire them to be the voice for woods and trees during the spending review. It worked a treat! The public responded fantastically by posting over 5,500 Bank of Woodland<\/a> notes with Danny Alexander\u2019s face on, to the Treasury in 2 weeks.<\/p>\n

The message they sent reminded Government that woods\u00a0contribute \u00a34.7 billion to the English economy every year and that if every household in Britain had access to quality green space it could save \u00a32.1 billion in health care costs \u2013 or in other words, the political narrative!<\/strong><\/p>\n

And on the back of the campaign we got a thirty minute meeting with George Osborne\u2019s Special Adviser at the Treasury and Danny Alexander recorded a message<\/a> to Woodland Trust supporters from one of our woods in Scotland.<\/p>\n

But our favorite anecdote was the Treasury advisor who told us he loved the campaign so much, he\u2019d taken hard copies home for his mother in law to send back in to the Treasury!<\/p>\n

Links – http:\/\/wtcampaigns.wordpress.com\/2013\/08\/02\/dear-danny-chief-secretary-responds-to-your-note\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Original call to action with full messaging http:\/\/www.woodlandtrust.org.uk\/en\/campaigning\/our-campaigns\/Documents\/sr-download-full.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In How to Win Campaigns, I promote the idea that every campaign needs the Three Stories.\u00a0 These don\u2019t usually win the campaign for you but are an explanation of why you are doing it.\u00a0 Useful in your \u2018elevator pitch\u2019 situations.\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}