Eight tactics to win an election

Anyone who follows me on social media knows I don’t shy away from political discourse. 

My passion for politics has risen over the last decade as I’ve watched my son growing up. I want him to live in a hopeful country and a caring society, not ruined or wrecked, but where hope is alive and well.  

Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, no intelligent person could fail to admit the current occupants of Downing Street have run out of ideas, instead reliant on demoralising culture wars and division.

So, what follows is a basic blueprint for winning the next election, applicable in the UK and US too. A sort of tactical crib sheet any opposition party might want, on how to mobilise millions and coalesce around a cause in 2024. 

It is feasible that every key theme and policy launch can be delivered like an entertainment strategy. Parties can make each core announcement more like a fashion drop, all designed to create groundswell which no longer feels like stale marketing, but that fuels true advocacy and action at the ballot box.

1. Use IRL memes

Citizen marketing was a big part of Obama's success in the 2010s. The Barack Obama ‘Hope’ poster, designed by American artist Shepard Fairey, was first printed and used as a guerrilla style street poster. The image was a stylised stencil portrait of Obama in solid red, beige and blue, with the words ‘progress’, ‘hope’, or ‘change’ underneath. 

By July 2008, Sticker Robot had printed over 200,000 vinyl ‘hope’ stickers, 75 per cent of which had been given away to support Obama's campaign. The image became one of the most widely recognised symbols of that campaign, spawning many variations and imitations. This was meme culture before it was a thing and in real life. This strategy worked because it made assets available for audiences and let them do the canvassing. Tie this thinking with 2024 level creators and it is possible to create algorithmic rocket fuel. 

2. Micro leaders, assemble! 

Enlist the help of talent in the form of micro leaders who can work the streams and algorithms harder than you ever will. Audiences mistrust politicians and have become utterly disenfranchised with the new political populist battleground. So, to help promote issues at a distance, have your micro leaders doing the key policy work for you. Athletes, artists, DJs, presenters and sports stars who want to push issues are the real game changers right now. Look at Raheem Sterling (anti-racism), Marcus Rashford (child poverty) and Stormzy (diversity in c-suite) to name three. Bring on board culturally symbolic talent to fight for their particular cause, galvanising the audiences their way. They can be A-political but, if pitted against the inadequate status quo, their impact can be huge.

3. Find the right words

Blue State Digital famously took plaudits for their targeted direct email campaigns which helped sweep Obama to power. They honed subject titles and nailed specific word uses to make email open rates fly. The use of AI can harness this approach and super-charge it. And it’s not just about buzz words. AI can study the impact of language in the last thirty years and decide in an instant which words to avoid for their ‘apathy triggers’, as well as which to use on repeat for greater resonance.

4. PR is everywhere 

PR is everything and everywhere, not just a single curated press release. Consider the entire campaign trail atomised into thousands of PR points and frame the message at every single juncture, every single day. 

5. Move at the speed of a meme

First mover advantage always wins and ensures a ripple effect of credit coming your way long after others have copied or mimicked your tactics and policies. Setting up core groups on messaging platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp means you’ll be able to disseminate key information instantly and encourage the sharing from your ‘engine room’. The use of an instant delivery system creates a climate of trust and assumes innovation is always at the heart of what you’re doing. 

6. Start spreading the news 

The Obama campaign made widespread use of social networks, including Facebook and MySpace but also niche ones then such as AsianAve, Black Planet and Eons. Back then 1,500 groups were even created on the photo sharing site Flickr to help spread the campaign message. The thinking was to take the politics to where the people were regardless of platform type, and this is so important today. With the likes of Meta choking true reach and X (formerly Twitter) stifling the spread of information, it isn't sufficient to publish messaging on these sites and assume you've reached your audiences. 

You need multiple channels and touch points. This is about creating bespoke content experiences distinct to the platforms they’re sitting on. Aligning to passions, transcending dry political news, sliding into societal and cultural conversations. You cannot do this with clumsy intrusive ads which interrupt what your audiences are really interested in. You need to be what they’re interested in, wherever they are.

Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram are vital broadcasting points. Cultivating conversation in communities like Discord, listening to what is being talked about and harnessing it for your own use, is an important ‘temperature check’ for direction and campaign trajectory. 

7. Pledge cards as memes 

Learn from Netflix and you’ll see how it was actually audiences that spread the word about shows like Tiger King, Bird Box and Squid Game. This wasn’t marketing done by the platform, this was marketing done by us. Identify the viral hook in the message, the positive powerful part which will be the centre point of a thousand GIFs, graphics and memes. This is the intoxicating fuel that voting audiences need to spread what matters without you doing so much as a party political broadcast. 

8. Real time fact checking

In a world accustomed to the language and grammar of VAR in sports, we should use video clips in all spaces, from YouTube to split screen TikToks, with the intent of calling out misinformation. Juxtapose unarguable untruths against the real stated facts, properly checked and delivered instantaneously into the palm of the electorates’ hand.

James Kirkham is the founder of Iconic, the full-service agency and entertainment company.