Word Choice, Channel Standards and Ontario’s “Big Decision”

Wednesday, October 10th is Election and Referendum Day in Ontario. Branded as Your Big Decision, Government communications have been designed to educate voters on their Referendum choices. Official Government data reveals that almost $7 Million Dollars have been allocated to educate voters on the Referendum. Given that we rarely have the luxury of such generous budgets, the team at WaterCooler thought that this would be a great opportunity to look at the communications campaign and see what we can learn.

Our most immediate concern was the campaign’s name. On hearing the term “Your Big Decision”, our team had some very different reactions. A senior associate thought that this name made sense.... Because a “Big Decision” has wide-reaching implications, she felt this name would encourage voters to shake their apathy and learn more about their choices. Conversely, a younger member of our team thought that a “Big Decision” sounded like a daunting choice in which no outcome was ideal. He called the name a Governmental misstep, saying that “Your Big Decision” seemed to promote a complex choice by highlighting just how overwhelming it would be to make your selection. Consulting with a few colleagues, we quickly noticed that everyone we spoke to under the age of 30 agreed that the campaign name had negative connotations. It’s not hard to see how this is relevant to us as communicators. When launching a campaign to multigenerational audiences, the specific words chosen are clearly just as important as the message, the channels or any other element.

Reading the press release that outlined the full scope of the Your Big Decision promotional campaign, we were impressed. While a number of traditional media were utilized, communications also included a website, a downloadable Referendum web link / widget, a presence on Facebook and a Youtube video. However, we had a mixed reaction to how the specific tools were used. The Government’s Facebook site was an unmistakable success. Because the Referendum’s Facebook group was left completely open to user participation, neutral Government content quickly took a backseat to voter opinion, as group members energized the page with new discuss threads, videos and heated postings on their personal preference. The Referendum’s YouTube Video was far less successful. Void of sound, video and even full colour, the clip feels more like a clumsy afterthought then a targeted strategic campaign element. When compared to dynamic Referendum videos like the Citizens Assembly offering, it’s clear that the Government missed the mark. When using Social Media, content that fails to meet channel standards and engage the audience just doesn’t work.

The Government's experience with the Your Big Decision campaign has important implications for communicators launching a campaign to a multigenerational audience. Regardless of the channels used, we need to ensure the key messages are relevant to all audiences. If we decide to utilize Social Networking tools as a part of the campaign, we need to ensure that they are used appropriately and engage the specific users that are targeted. Now that we have that figured out, bring on the $7 Million Dollar Budgets!!


Links:
www.yourbigdecision.com
Elections Canada Projected Costs PDF
www.yourbigdecision.com/widget
Your Big Decision on Facebook
Your Big Decision on Youtube
Ontario Citizens Assembly on Youtube