#SpruceUpSeattle: King's Dream Offers Marketing to Help Mayor Bruce Harrell Win Historic 2021 Race.
In 2021, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States faced a whirlwind of racial tensions, civil unrest, a housing and homelessness crisis, and an economic downturn. Bruce Harrell, a native of Seattle and City Council President, abandoned retirement and entered the mayoral race to restore confidence and bring social justice to the city. To win the election, Harrell's campaign team realized they needed to target the impassioned millennial voters and hired King's Dream Business Consulting for messaging and marketing.
During the 2021 mayoral race, King's Dream social media consultants managed Bruce Harrell's social media accounts to appeal to the youth liberal demographic and improve his campaign messaging to differentiate him from his socialist opponent, M. Lorena Gonzalez. The race was highly competitive, with both candidates focusing on the city's most pressing issues. However, things became somewhat contentious, with both candidates seeking traction and social leverage.
The Deliverables.
Timeline & Budget:
2 months; $3,000.00
Social Media Management & Content Creation.
Expanding your audience is crucial to outdo your competitors, whether you're a small business or a small campaign team. Hiring a social media management agency can help you promote your product or service on social media platforms. The King's Dream marketing department is no exception to this rule. However, social media consulting in the political arena requires a higher sensitivity to shifts in public opinion and media strategy. The new media content was generated using Bruce Harrell's established brand, which King's Dream employed to create original brand elements. The team conducted extensive research to understand Bruce's target demographic, which gave them insight into crafting messaging and responses suitable for the city's mayoral office.
The Client.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Bruce Harrell is the son of a Black father and a Japanese mother. Throughout his childhood, his parents raised him to respect where he came from and to believe in his wildest dreams, one of which was to be elected Mayor of his beloved hometown.
Harrell graduated valedictorian from Garfield High School. He then went to the University of Washington on a football scholarship and volunteered as a tutor with UW's Prisoner Counseling Program. Harrell graduated with a passion for helping underprivileged communities advance toward a wealth of opportunity not often afforded them. Harrell then went to law school and often represented small businesses pro bono. After three terms on the City Council, Harrell was selected to lead the city's COVID-19 Small Business Recovery Task Force in 2020.
The Problem.
Despite Harrell's background in social justice and government policy, he lacked a considerable social media presence that could appeal to the burgeoning young generation of Seattleites. In fact, Bruce did not particularly enjoy social media (who can blame him?).
If Mayor Harrell were going to grow visibility and recognition amongst the city's millennial population (folks born between 1981 and 1996), he would have to be where they were - on their devices, where his campaign promises and proposals could be viewed 24 hours a day. This was vital during the contract term as King's Dream was hired only weeks before the polls ended.
The race could have gone either way, with Bruce, the seasoned Centrist, and Lorena Gonzalez, endorsed by one of the most vocal Socialists in the country- Bernie "Feel the Bern" Sanders. On the contrary, Gonzalez accumulated a rather large group of Seattle's young adult voters, so the odds were not in Harrell's favor regarding social media. Frankly, Mayor Bruce was viewed unfavorably In this segment as the "old wealthy dude" who leaned towards Reform versus Revolution. The firm was tasked to combat a wider, radicalized audience by enlisting Harrell's core values and community affiliations.
"Mayor Bruce called me for the first time out of the blue after we started services. We mainly worked with his outreach team to coordinate efforts, but talking to him about Twitter and Instagram on the phone was surreal! We regularly interacted with the campaign team and glued our eyes to our devices- monitoring the live feeds and researching trends, engagements, and reducing response times. That's how you establish a community online without an advertisement budget. At the time, no paid ads were eligible for political social media posts, so we knew we had to leverage earned media" - Jawan Harris, King's Dream Consulting
The Solution.
The strategy began during the King's Dream discovery consultation with a Bruce Harrell team member. Together, they brainstormed ways to raise Harrell's social media presence and showcase more layers of his personality and values expressed through the intended audience's paradigm. Though Mayor Harrell's presence on Facebook was satisfactory, King's Dream determined that Instagram and Twitter, frequented by younger users aged 25-34, would be their primary media apparatus. Soon after the Discovery consultation and initial strategy session, and after receiving a briefing from the campaign team, King's Dream officially launched the project. The firm now had to deliver on the most visible and polarizing social media management contracts awarded since its establishment in 2020.
King's Dream conducted a comprehensive social media audit, generated weekly reports, provided suggestions for improvement, and created Instagram Highlights (they were actually still kinda new at that point, crazy right) to categorize and compile content formatted as digestible daily reminders and explanations of each of his campaign commitments.
"It was one for the books. We will never do politics again... That was our social proof of concept. Polls don't lie" - Jawan Harris, King's Dream Business Consulting
The Result.
The increased social media presence, spearheaded by King's Dream, had a tangible effect on Harrell's campaign. Instagram followers increased by 488% during King's Dream's tenure. Twitter and Instagram engagements earned a 2X multiple across both platforms, respectively. The number of posts on each platform boosted fivefold. The social media posts King's Dream created helped to extend Mayor Harrell's following, engagement, and overall approachability during the final vigorous stretch of the 2021 campaign trail.
Allowing someone else to represent your goals, beliefs, and character can be a potentially monumental risk. However, without significant risk, history books become callously forgetful.
King's Dream successfully synchronized marketing efforts with the campaign team and earned trust through regular updates, generating reports, and emphasizing the advantages of choosing Bruce to guide the city from widespread financial distress and social unrest. Though a monthly social media calendar was established, the firm also permitted margin for flexibility to adapt quickly and avoid landmines.
On November 2, 2021, Bruce Harrell was elected Mayor of Seattle, Washington. Harrell is the city's first Asian-American Mayor and the second African-American Mayor. King's Dream's tiny but mighty social media strategist delivered on its promise to the campaign team- minor capital investment for maximum organic results.
Media gallery.
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Rachel Estes is a skilled copywriter with a talent for crafting captivating and informative articles and blogs. Her passion for keeping readers informed and inspired shines through her writing, making her an invaluable asset to any project she takes on.
