{"id":957,"date":"2016-03-19T19:39:01","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T19:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/?p=957"},"modified":"2021-03-11T16:57:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T16:57:22","slug":"48-campaign-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/?p=957","title":{"rendered":"48 Campaign Strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a list of \u2018campaign strategies\u2019. I\u2019m not saying they are the best or the most applicable but they might help in planning or rethinking a campaign.<\/h3>\n

Some or all can also be seen or used as tactics. Indeed the distinction between tactics and strategy is to some extent situational, as a tactic (a way of doing something or a how-to) used to strategic effect, becomes a strategy. Other times people distinguish them by scale, or may see strategy as about a series of moves to get a big result whereas tactics are more like tools and small moves that can be adopted responsively. I wouldn\u2019t worry too much about defining the difference, although some people do love that sort of discussion.<\/h3>\n

There are many other lists of strategies, most notably on marketing, warfare and politics, not to mention ecological and evolutionary strategies. Some of these are relevant to civil society campaigns but the underlying predicates are rarely as clear cut or universally applicable. In business for instance the purpose is usually to make money. In war to overcome your opponent by use or threat of force, and gain or hold territory. In politics to get votes, gain or stay in power or be popular to help do that. Those make strategies and results easier to define. NGO or change campaigns are a lot more variable.<\/h3>\n

This list does not include more systematic attempts to rethink or create your campaign, for example to make an evidence-based Critical Path<\/a> to change, or to use PSB or RASPB<\/a> or CAMPCAT<\/a>, audience research, organisational level campaign strategies, framing, stories, visual language and so on. For more on those see elsewhere at this website (eg planner here<\/a>) and lots more in my book How to Win Campaigns: Communications for Change<\/em>.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 A subsequent post<\/a> shares some values strategies.<\/h3>\n
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    The Brick in the Pond<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is the very simplest campaign strategy. Start doing something and see what happens: an iterative approach. The intention may be just to \u2018put the cat amongst pigeons\u2019 and stir things up a bit, and to learn from how the actors respond. Or to see where you make any progress. It\u2019s often the de facto approach adopted by groups who do not have any \u2018strategy\u2019 informed by previous experience or skills but it may also be a justifiable choice for quite \u2018sophisticated\u2019 campaigners when the costs of situation analysis, R +D and all the other work that can go into planning a campaign with optimised chances of success, seem higher than the potential benefits. (The other obvious dimension to take into account is risks).<\/p>\n

    A support-building variant is to do this in a new place but using well proven tactics, just to see who shows up to support you. I\u2019ve seen people do this in \u2018new\u2019 countries where it\u2019s hard to locate allies.<\/p>\n

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      Drop a Dead Dog on the Table<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Popularised by Australian political spin doctor Lynton Crosby. A \u2018shock\u2019 way to stop people talking about something, and so create the opportunity to get them to switch to talking about something else you\u2019d rather they focused on.<\/p>\n

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        RTS<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        An old favourite of Greenpeace. \u2018Return to Sender\u2019. Send the problem back to its maker. For instance company A claims it\u2019s effluent process water is as clean as the river intake it came from, so call them out on this by connecting their \u2018out\u2019 pipe to their \u2018in\u2019 pipe. Greenpeace once sent a whole train load of toxic waste destined to be dumped in Czechoslovakia, back to Germany. Friends of the Earth famously returned \u2018non-returnable\u2019 bottles<\/a> to Cadbury-Schweppes, the makers.<\/p>\n

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          Diffuse to Acute<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Machiavelli and a host of other political operators have noticed that something a lot of people are a bit worried about has nothing like the political potential of something that a smaller number of people are very concerned about. Converting an \u2018issue\u2019 from diffuse to acute is strategy to move it up the political agenda.<\/p>\n

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            Build a Majority<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Few NGO campaigns actually need to do this, although outsiders often assume it is<\/em> needed because they transpose assumptions from politics. Even fewer campaign groups have the potential to do it: hence it\u2019s usually a case for alliances and coalitions where it is needed. But many campaigns do need majority support in key areas or at key steps on a pathway.<\/p>\n

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              Add Heuristics<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              This is a cheap, quick and, at least in theory, an easy way to tune up any campaign communications. Heuristics are \u2018rules\u2019 about things that work more than they don\u2019t work, based on cognitive biases (eg social proof, consistency, loss aversion). The simplest is \u2018liking\u2019. Make people like you and they are more likely to agree with you or help you.\u00a0\u00a0 Lots online about this<\/a>. See chapter on the more useful ones in How to Win Campaigns<\/em><\/a>\u2019, or Influence the Psychology of Persuasion<\/em><\/a> or Thinking Fast and Slow<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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                Boot-strapping<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Build resources and assets by use of net positive strategies\/ tactics. Start with nothing, or not much, and do your campaigning in a way that leaves you with more help, money or other assets and resources than you had before. Then do it again. Being net positive in this way usually requires being more \u2018popular\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Most non-campaign alternatives with the same effect require running a successful business (or illegality !). Some campaigners struggle with the being-popular bit.<\/p>\n

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                  Create a Pool to Fish From<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Need to find your potential constituency or build a followership or \u2018movement\u2019 ? Do something to attract people who see the subject as relevant to them, and then recruit the subset within that who can be aligned to your approach or objective. A get-them-to-come-to-you or to a thing you-have-caused or -created approach.<\/p>\n

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                    Make a Halo Campaign<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    A halo-brand is one that \u2018shines the light\u2019 of its desirable properties onto other brands in the same family or \u2018guild\u2019. For example a car model which is a market leader, and which has properties that can then be emulated or echoed in other models which are made to look a bit similar. VW famously did this with the Golf (the Passat being a fat squashed Golf, the Polo a shrunken Golf etc, attracting buyers who\u2019d really rather have a Golf but can\u2019t as it\u2019s too small, costly or whatever). Some campaign groups achieve this by accident and many fail to do it at all. It helps a lot because making any subsequent campaign look and feel a bit like a famous campaign that a lot of people liked, makes it easier to gain support, and more likely to be successful because success is expected.<\/p>\n

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                      Credibility Jump<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      Change who you are in a campaign. Useful if your campaign group is doing way too much of the heavy lifting. For instance where governments or businesses are slowly and incrementally responding to your efforts but not actively helping. For example move from advocate to delivery and thereby get a new authority, power or influence. Only works if you are prepared to change roles and resource that.<\/p>\n

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                        Put Something at Risk<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                        Your supporters care about what you want to achieve but do the decision-makers ? For instance ask campaigners or supporters what \u2019s at risk and they are likely to say things like \u2018human rights\u2019 or \u2018air quality\u2019 or \u2018human health\u2019 but the decision maker may be more concerned about reputation, popularity, profits or market share. \u00a0Study them and learn what they do<\/em> care about until you find a way to make your campaign somehow put that at risk.<\/p>\n

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                          Invoke Proportional Response<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                          In most democracies (and many non-democratic leaders assiduously try to do the same thing, fearing unpopularity), \u00a0there is a norm (social expectation) that if something is wanted enough, leaders should take note and respond proportionately. This is why politicians want to be seen to stay in step with public opinion (responsive, listening, caring): so they have to \u2019give something\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s both a quantitative (numbers, how many want this ?) and qualitative (who wants it ?) game. This is what underlies the influence of groups like Avaaz and 38 Degrees: aggregators and manifesters of opinion.<\/p>\n

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                            The Wedge Issue<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                            A classic strategy in political circles where parties vie to maximise their vote share. By focussing debate on an issue that unites their team but divides the opposition, they aim to emerge as the largest bloc. Generally under-used by NGOs, who often attack a whole sector in their rhetoric when they would better approach it by dividing the opposition, and\/or adopting \u2018salami tactics\u2019 and taking out one part of the problem at a time.<\/p>\n

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                              The Fault Line<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                              This may be used to \u2018split the pack\u2019 as in #13 but is more relevant when considering a single target. Assuming you have identified the best target to focus on to get change, learn about their interests and processes and look for a potential fault line or vulnerability. Few organisations are homogenous, most have differences of interest internally. Many balance business or political plays which are potentially in conflict. Examine how you can frame your campaign which plays on a weakness or fault-line which they will recognize.<\/p>\n

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                                Trojan Horse<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                Does what it says on the box.\u00a0 Get inside the opposition camp by being attractive and then open the door, physically or metaphorically.<\/p>\n

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                                  Triangulate<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                  Classically used to reframe away from a bipolar issue standoff (eg where you are in a stalemate with a single opponent) by bringing a new actor or target into play. Defensively popular with politicians wanting to reduce your campaign momentum by getting you into conflict with a third party, eg business, the old, young, sick, poor, Father Christmas or cat owners. Useful to create political space for governments to concede to your demands where it is opposed by another important player. For instance conservationists want protection for marine areas and fishermen oppose it. So create a distinction<\/a> between \u2018good\u2019 (less opposed) fishermen and \u2018bad\u2019 (opposed) fishermen, perhaps on small-fisher\/ big-fisher lines.<\/p>\n

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                                    Catch People Doing Something Good<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                    A marketer\u2019s approach that can be applied to campaigns. Reach a new audience defined by already doing something (a behaviour) consistent with what you want people to do, or to support. Congratulate them, help them, get them to like you. Show them that people-like-them are for one or another reason also likely to do your thing, and then get them to do that. The second behaviour may be your end destination or a demonstration to others that it is popular. Behaviour repetition or extension rather than complete change.<\/p>\n

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                                      Stimulate Anticipation-Reaction<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                      Simon Bryceson points out that many political decisions are not a reaction to events but an anticipation of an event happening, and the possible consequences (see his Political Checklist<\/a>). If you can pull it off, this is often a lot cheaper and easier than trying to force a decision maker to act. They read the signs and make a calculation. \u00a0It also means they must understand, or think they understand, your strategy and what you are able to deliver. Campaigners often assume a target must already understand their strategy when that is not the case.<\/p>\n

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                                        Remind of\/invoke Precedent (pattern match)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                        This can relate to #18 as in \u201cremember the last time they did this ?\u201d but it may not be about you. Nearly every institution or individual decision-maker will have a memory about good or bad past experiences, \u2018lessons not to be forgotten\u2019. Find out what these are and brainstorm about how your campaign can hit those nightmare buttons in a good way.\u00a0 (Can also apply to reminding them of golden moments and pointing out that this is an equivalent opportunity.\u00a0 If it is).<\/p>\n

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                                          The Bush Fire<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                          This plays to the advantage of \u2018insurgent\u2019 players needing to build bottom- up support, especially across wide areas (geographically or socially).\u00a0\u00a0 Especially at the start of a campaign in which your opponents are embedded, established and strongest in a centralised position (eg in the \u2018corridors of power\u2019), creating a bushfire of disconnected, distant and hard-to-grasp campaign fronts can be a strategy which creates a dilemma for the other side. They can try to ignore you or they can \u2018ride out\u2019 and try to take the bushfires on one at a time but often they do not have the logistical capacity to do that. This needs constantly growing momentum to work (eg divestment<\/a>), and a will to stay slightly beyond reach. Central co-option<\/a> can starve the bushfires of oxygen.<\/p>\n

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                                            The Theft or Takeover<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                            Take something away from your opponent.\u00a0\u00a0 Most applicable once a campaign is fairly mature and many options have been explored.\u00a0\u00a0 It could be an ally who is persuaded to switch sides, or an asset which is repurposed, as in \u2018subvertising\u2019 of ad posters or many of the works on the Yes Men<\/a> in which they borrow identities or corporate venues.\u00a0 It can also be a real thing which you use to good effect (and then give back – in English law at least, it’s not actually theft if you don’t intend to permanently deprive the owner of it).<\/p>\n

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                                              Make the Weather<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                              Another political term with connotations of sorcerers \u2018talking up the weather\u2019, which means to create a public conversation or mood, an atmosphere which sets expectations and makes some things harder, others easier. This strategy may be needed to first affect the context so as to raise the chances of success for a more specific subsequent intervention to reach your intended change objective. An allied idea is winning the \u2018air war\u2019 or media conversation in a political fight (implying though that this may not win the \u2018ground war\u2019 of actual behaviours such as voting).<\/p>\n

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                                                Get the Door Opened for You<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                A great many campaigns are oppositional. See the hill, take the hill; batter down the door of the opponent. A more effective strategy may be to explore the possibilities for inducing someone to open the door for you. This usually requires inside knowledge, thoroughly understanding the interests and dynamics at work in the target organisation. Campaign groups which become dogmatic and ideologically opposed to a target they \u2018love to hate\u2019 rarely look into such possibilities.<\/p>\n

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                                                  Tactical Positioning<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                  Perhaps the most useful of the many \u2018stratagems\u2019 proposed by the much quoted and less-read ancient Chinese master strategist Sun Tzu, in his book The Art of War<\/em><\/a>. This says simply to identify your best tactic, and then plan strategies which enable you to use it. Requires some discipline.<\/p>\n

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                                                    Distraction<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                    Like outflanking, ambushes and surprise, a \u2018feint\u2019 or attack designed to draw the enemies attention away from one place to another, is a pretty obvious tactic. That\u2019s one type of distraction but distraction need not involve any sort of offensive move. J K Galbraith describes in the Age of Uncertainty<\/em><\/a> how Karl Marx came to write his crucial document Address to the Working Classes<\/em>. The \u2018First International\u2019 \u2013 <\/em>a meeting of the \u2018stateless proletarians\u2019 intended to form the Marxist \u2018organisational weapon\u2019 was held in 1864. An Address<\/em> was to be written as the key propagandist tract. Galbraith says Marx was appalled at the \u2018verbosity, illiteracy and general crudity\u2019 of the draft. So exploiting his role as Secretary, and \u2018knowing the subject to be irresistible\u2019, he \u2018got the members discussing rules\u2019. With the members suitably distracted, Marx rewrote the seminal text himself. As any parent discovers, the best type of distraction is one the target enjoys.<\/p>\n

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                                                      Surfing<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                      Some of the most prominent campaigners I know are secret or brazen practitioners of issue surfing. Almost all will pay lip service to the importance of systematic \u2018strategy\u2019 but disliking the hard slog and tedium of analysis and planning, they instead become expert in deft exploitation of media trends and opportunities, and social debate. This gets attention but an obvious risk is that it really only feeds the needs of the media or social media, and it is no use in making headway \u2018against the current\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes it does \u2018work\u2019 in more instrumental terms and they manage to use frequent and high profile commentary to influence real outcomes in terms of change.<\/p>\n

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                                                        Explaining<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                        Some politicians and campaigners manage to develop a reputation for explaining events, for being meaning-givers.\u00a0\u00a0 It could be said that those \u2018think tanks\u2019 which are in effect campaign groups, also do this, as their most high profile and wide-cast interventions are usually to explain events which already have significant attention. This strategy avoids the need to create the events, although it is rarely as potent as one which allows a campaign group to create events \u2018at will\u2019. It usually requires a long history of reputation making.<\/p>\n

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                                                          Create a \u2018Killing Ground\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                          In military terms this is self-explanatory: it\u2019s an area where the enemy can be targeted and killed, often by using a feature of topography to determine where to site your forces. The equivalent in campaigning, where the ‘killing’ is only metaphorical,\u00a0 could be cases such as where an opponent which is generally outside public view or beyond the influence of public judgements (eg do or do not buy their products), can be held to account. This might be a stage in a process or cycle where they are unusually vulnerable, or it might be created by changing the context so that they are unusually exposed.<\/p>\n

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                                                            Attrition<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                            Possibly the dullest, least imaginative and often the crudest of all strategies; intended to wear down or wear away an opponent or obstacle. Got a bad name in World War 1 as generals sent waves of men \u2018over the top\u2019 from their trenches to be slaughtered in \u2018no man\u2019s land\u2019. On the other hand, it suits organisations with a followership, often fairly closed, which actively enjoys the \u2018long march\u2019. \u00a0A dumb form involves constant effort but informed persistence, never quite stopping altogether and coming back with a bigger push at times of opportunity, is often vital for the long term success of a campaign. See Daphne Wysham\u2019s almost lone 16 year campaign<\/a> to get the World Bank to stop financing coal plants.<\/p>\n

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                                                              Entryism<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                              Much loved by the \u2018old left\u2019 Trotskyists<\/a> in the UK, this involves infiltrating organisations (typically unions of political parties) and colonising them from within, before changing their policies. \u00a0 A similar dynamic though can apply in any organisation open to membership of some sort, for example a company that can simply be bought into, or most political or social organisations. On the other hand in social groups (NGOs are no exception), culture is often harder to change than anything else so it\u2019s often quicker and more effective to establish a new organisation, NGO, business or otherwise.<\/p>\n

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                                                                Drain the Swamp<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                A strategy of force and often last resort but which even cause groups may find themselves faced by if they cannot for example induce regulators to enforce rules, or \u2018rules\u2019 for a sector are only voluntary (as in many certification schemes). A way to identify the last remaining sources of the problem or opponents.<\/p>\n

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                                                                  Know More About Your Opponent Than They Do<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                  We\u2019ve all seen those spy movies where the handler or interrogator tries to make the subject feel helpless by revealing something the subject thought was private. The idea is that the hapless subject then believes that \u201cwe know everything about you\u201d. \u00a0Well it can work in real life.\u00a0\u00a0 If you do some good research into customers of companies or politicians voters it can give you some great ideas about how to get them on your side. As well as using it to try and activate support, you should at least consider sharing some of this in a pre-launch meeting with your target. It\u2019s unsettling to discover that campaigners know more about you than you do yourself. What else do they know ?<\/p>\n

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                                                                    The Slingshot<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                    A way of boosting momentum.<\/p>\n

                                                                    Wikipedia says:<\/p>\n

                                                                    \u2018In <\/em>orbital mechanics<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>aerospace engineering<\/em><\/a>, a gravitational slingshot<\/strong>, gravity assist maneuver<\/strong>, or swing-by<\/strong> is the use of the relative movement (e.g. orbit around the Sun) and <\/em>gravity<\/em><\/a> of a <\/em>planet<\/em><\/a> or other <\/em>astronomical object<\/em><\/a> to alter the <\/em>path<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>speed<\/em><\/a> of a <\/em>spacecraft<\/em><\/a>, typically in order to save <\/em>propellant<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>time<\/em><\/a>, and expense. Gravity assistance can be used to <\/em>accelerate<\/em><\/a> a spacecraft, that is, to increase or decrease its speed and\/or redirect its path.<\/em><\/p>\n

                                                                    The “assist” is provided by the motion of the gravitating body as it pulls on the spacecraft.<\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/em><\/a> It was used by interplanetary probes from <\/em>Mariner 10<\/em><\/a> onwards, including the two <\/em>Voyager<\/em><\/a> probes’ notable <\/em>flybys<\/em><\/a> of Jupiter and Saturn\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

                                                                    And there you go. Point being that by luck, your normally obscure topic of concern may suddenly become highly salient because some newsworthy event means a huge number of people are talking about or looking at it. Or could be made to do so because it is suddenly \u2018relevant\u2019. For a (typically very) short period you have an opportunity to dominate mindspace and attention at very little cost in time and effort. Timing is of the essence. An environmental (and rather predictable) example is the Olympics. It\u2019s typically a much bigger \u2018issue\u2019 or national concern than the environment but for a short time, \u2018the nation\u2019 wants to be \u2018the best\u2019 in all things in the \u2018eyes of the world\u2019 and so it wants the Olympics to be the best in environmental terms too. Used well, this can have a lasting legacy in terms of greater velocity\/ momentum for environmental matters in a country, even redirecting trends or pathways.<\/p>\n

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                                                                      Signal the Inevitable<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                      Lets\u2019 face it, in most cases your concern is not uppermost in the minds of mainstream decision makers, otherwise you would not need to be campaigning.\u00a0\u00a0 They mostly do not feel that they need to pay attention although they may humour you by the occasional invitation to talk. Unelected politicians are some of the worst, and media are no better: they are mostly ultra-short-term, interested only in how they perform on the day. Governments and some businesses (and investors) however, do plan for the future, at least a bit. This is where analytical evidence can play a role. If you can show that (your desired) change is eventually inevitable, the custodians of the \u2018long view\u2019 will start to mark-up your priorities. Back in the 1980s two of the earliest inside-track allies for \u2018doing something\u2019 about climate change were the NATO military who had long-trend secret measurements of thinning arctic ice (their preferred hiding place for nuclear missile submarines), and the re-insurance industry (whose existence was and is threatened by increasingly severe weather impacts).<\/p>\n

                                                                      But it\u2019s not pure analytics which is in play here. Concepts like the \u2018ratchet of history\u2019 illustrated by lookalike technology change (the horse gave way to the combustion engine car, that will give way to \u2026) are intuitive frames which politicians use to convince themselves and others that some change is inevitable.<\/p>\n

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                                                                        Be the Zeitgeist<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                        Be most in step with the public mood. \u2018The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time: zeitgeist’. If you get known (get a track record) as a group which is one-step-ahead in terms of the developing or breaking public mood or concern, your views and concerns carry weight with those who think that sort of thing is important. And that includes some values groups (see subsequent post), and any company or politician which is playing to the \u2018leading edge\u2019 (currently for example, Apple).\u00a0\u00a0 Polling plays some role in this.<\/p>\n

                                                                        You don\u2019t have to brilliant at it, only better than your opponent who has to suffer something by not being as good at it. How<\/em> you do campaigning is important in achieving this.<\/p>\n

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                                                                          Shoot the Fox<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                          This involves removing a key point of opposition\u2019s strategy: it is often competitor related (in politics) but as it essentially about removing cause to be concerned or focus attention, it can affect any campaign. See here for a good example<\/a> from Simon Wright of Save The Children. It can also work the other way round, ie to the advantage of the campaigners.<\/p>\n

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                                                                            Smoke Out Silent Beneficiaries<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                            Very often campaign groups struggle away making change and other players benefit.\u00a0\u00a0 They may remain the \u2019silent majority\u2019 but more important, they are silent beneficiaries. Force them to take a view, get them off the fence and you can increase the weight behind your campaign considerably but be careful, as being too belligerent may have the opposite result. Achieving your objective may be hugely important to you but only one of several options to make an advance for them. Often, enabling them to align with your cause without visibly joining it, will make it easier to shift them Natural justice is on your side in these cases because of the effort and exchange heuristics: it\u2019s wrong to gain by others efforts without actually helping yourself. Make it just uncomfortable enough to stop them staying \u2018neutral\u2019 or silent. They have usually been lying low and hoping not to be noticed.<\/p>\n

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                                                                              Pin the Blame<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                              This is a political favourite and the sort of thing that gets politicians a bad name but almost everybody does it. \u00a0Something bad happens: it\u2019s an opportunity to attach the blame, which often has consequences. Don\u2019t be too squeamish.<\/p>\n

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                                                                                Shift Dimensions<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                Effective campaigns usually need to be multi-dimensional and you may have \u2018mined\u2019 the potential of one (eg scientific, economic, technical) but not another (eg spiritual, emotional). So a strategy of re-casting the campaign in another dimension may enliven it and open up opportunities to make rapid progress. The main obstacles to this are usually internal.<\/p>\n

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                                                                                  Change the Players<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                  This is the sort of thing they teach about in business school because a classic example is competition dynamics where a \u2018market entrant\u2019 upsets the apple cart. For instance, renewable energy technologies were for decades dominated by enterprises owned by oil companies. Advantage to campaigners trying to get renewables taken seriously: government listened to oil companies. Disadvantage: they had a structural interest in keeping renewables as a \u2018bet hedge\u2019 while they mined value from fossil fuels. So levering new players with no such cross interests into the market (eg electronics companies) was a good second step strategy.<\/p>\n

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                                                                                  1. \n

                                                                                    Mainstreaming<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                    Few campaigns begin life \u2018in the mainstream\u2019. This is partly for reasons of values (to be covered by some strategies in a subsequent list) as well as because most campaigns are about trying to change established (mainstream) practices. Many however reach a point where they need more mainstream support to progress.\u00a0\u00a0 The best way to make a \u2018message\u2019 mainstream is often to use a mainstream messenger, which may mean starting with one or two \u2018messengers\u2019 that mainstream media is interested in or gives space or attention to, for other reasons. This usually means that campaign groups which are not themselves seen as mainstream, have to \u2018let go\u2019 of \u2018the message\u2019. Campaign groups which intentionally or by default spend most of their effort talking to their existing base, may never achieve this. It can need a deliberate effort and investment, including working with organisations with a broader reach than your own.<\/p>\n

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                                                                                    1. \n

                                                                                      Cut off the Means to Persist<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                      A classic military strategy designed to sap the strength or ability of the enemy to continue. Not an attempt to persuade the opponent or to directly overcome them. \u00a0An example might be cutting supply lines or some other key factor such as the support of an ally. Campaign planners need to do force field and power analysis to study this, understanding and breaking down the requirements of the opponent\u2019s operation to find one or another element that can be changed. For instance they might rely on the support or involvement of a particular group in society, which may not be aware of your case, so suggesting a new focus in a communications strategy.<\/p>\n

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                                                                                      1. \n

                                                                                        Make the Intangible Tangible<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                        Campaigns conceived because of scientific or other \u2018expert\u2019 knowledge frequently fail to engage a wider audience because the impact of the problem remains intangible to most people. For example if they do not see evidence of it now, they may assume it only exists elsewhere or in the future or the past, even when they themselves are affected. Making something more visible, or more disruptive to everyday life, are two ways to change this, whether directly or by introducing proxy indicators such as signs of its presence.\u00a0 Religions do it by having costumes, building temples, creating ceremonies and so on.<\/p>\n

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                                                                                        1. \n

                                                                                          Bear Witness<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                          The founding principle of campaigning by the religious group The Quakers. \u00a0The Quakers believe that one should be truthful and honest and avoid statements that are technically correct but misleading. In campaigns it has come to mean that if you are present at a point where something wrong is happening you say so, and try to stop it in a non-violent way. If it cannot be stopped, it is at least exposed.\u00a0\u00a0 Anti-nuclear Quaker campaigns (which started with the voyage of the Golden Rule<\/em><\/a> in 1958) played a key role in inspiring the formation of Greenpeace (in 1971), which adopted \u2018bearing witness\u2019 as a central element of its strategy of non-violent direct action.<\/p>\n

                                                                                            \n
                                                                                          1. \n

                                                                                            Make the \u2018Impossible\u2019 Happen<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                            A classic error in campaign planning is to omit from the plan anything that seems impossible. This is where the truisms of politics (the art of the possible) do not transfer to campaigning, which is partly the art of the impossible. Making the \u2018impossible\u2019 happen can sometimes be hugely inspirational, even it is only temporary. That can then transform what is possible. There are many things people disapprove of, or would like to happen but which they do nothing about because change seems impossible (\u2018values expectancy\u2019). Whether by stopping the problem if only momentarily, or implementing a solution, even if it cannot be sustained for an extended period of real time, showing that it can be done, is a powerful way to build a constituency for insisting that it be done.<\/p>\n

                                                                                              \n
                                                                                            1. \n

                                                                                              The Telescope<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                              Campaigns using this strategy bring forwards the future consequences of not acting now and \u2018actualise\u2019 it in a compelling way. Or recover something better from the past to show that such a reality could be resurrected or retrieved.<\/p>\n

                                                                                                \n
                                                                                              1. \n

                                                                                                Change the Victim<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                                Campaigns which show that a class of victims are suffering that decision-makers and the audiences they care about have a high empathy with, are more likely to succeed that those where the putative victims are people or things they do not much care about. (Campaigners who want to change who the decision makers or secondary audiences care about need to do that first: just telling them to care is unlikely to work.). A simple example is the baby heuristic.\u00a0\u00a0 Humans are hardwired to care about babies (the baby heuristic) and small children, more than they do about other humans, as illustrated by the famous \u2018Edinburgh Wallet Experiment<\/a>\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 So make your campaign about babies as victims and odds are that it will become more effective. [This can also include finding a victim where there appears to be none].<\/p>\n

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                                                                                                1. \n

                                                                                                  Give Away the Credit<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                                                                  In this strategy you make someone else the beneficiary of you winning, thereby recruiting them into the effort. \u00a0Not taking the credit of course has its downsides as if you do it too often, your organisation does not appear to be effective, at least for audiences outside the cognoscenti. It may even involve campaigning to incentivise agreement by putting in work to advance the interests of the decision maker but at the very least, sensible campaigners will thank an organisation or individual which has done what they asked for, and preferably try to enlist them as allies for further change.<\/p>\n

                                                                                                  ———————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n

                                                                                                  If you have something to add, please leave a comment !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                                                                                  Here\u2019s a list of \u2018campaign strategies\u2019. I\u2019m not saying they are the best or the most applicable but they might help in planning or rethinking a campaign. Some or all can also be seen or used as tactics. Indeed the … 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-957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957","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=957"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2733,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957\/revisions\/2733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threeworlds.campaignstrategy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}