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Winning Campaigns' Articles
Campaign Sign Essentials
By Kirby Ralston
Real Estate professionals say the three most important things when selling a house are location, location, location. Candidates that successfully promote or “sell” themselves with campaign signs know that the three essential considerations regarding a lawn sign campaign are name recognition, copy brevity, and location.
Location
Location is very important and certainly a key element when considering sites for your campaign signs. Putting your signs in a high traffic area is important, but make certain that your municipality or state does not restrict your placement of the signs. None of us need to start off our campaign with a city or state sign violation.
Residential areas close to elementary schools are great locations for your campaign signs. Not only do the parents drop off and pick up their children on a daily basis to these schools, but many of these schools will be used for polling places in the upcoming election. Business locations in the immediate vicinity are also great choices.
Be strategic in placing your signs within the boundaries of your home district. Allow a nice smattering of signs but don’t overdo it. Too many signs in one yard equals wasted location opportunities.
Name Recognition
When considering your yard sign promotion, the most important consideration should be your message or simply your name recognition. That is clearly what you have to communicate and to sell - your good name!
Start with your last name. It should be the single most prominent element displayed on your campaign sign. Make sure your sign allows enough space to adequately display your name. Don’t try to squeeze your name on a small sign if it clearly is not legible with a quick glance. Remember that you have only seconds to deliver this message. Any attempt at delivering a long message will result in failure to deliver any message.
An old adage comes to mind, “don’t put a round peg in a square hole.” If it looks congested it probably is and you should move to a larger sign size. Conversely if your name is short, a big sign will show too much blank space and will be equally unwise as it will appear vacant, as if you had little to say. Choose your message and sign size together so that the imprint area is proportionally filled and the text is large enough to read in a few seconds.
Message
The first line on the sign should simply say “Elect or Vote.” If “Re-Elect, Return, or Retain,” is appropriate then by all means use it on your campaign sign.
Your last name must be of primary importance, but your first name or nickname could play an important role as well. You want your sign to be remembered, more importantly, you want to be remembered. If two or more candidates are running with the same last name in your community you must separate yourself by displaying your first name on the sign. Most importantly is to use your name as it will be printed on the ballot.
Remember a passenger in a passing vehicle has two to three seconds at the most to view your campaign sign. That is why it is critical to make sure the voter can clearly recognize the name ID with a quick glance.
If you are commonly known throughout your community by your nickname, then by all means, use it on your sign. Conversely, if a large section of the community does not know you by your nickname, then do not use it on the sign – this is no time to begin educating the public to know your nickname.
Your name should be displayed in the largest and boldest font possible for the space allowed. A font such as Helvetica or Arial would be your best choice as they are easily read. Keeping your copy brief is essential to the proper display of your sign. A cluttered sign can not be easily read and defeats the purpose of a winning campaign sign. Keep your sign simple!
Make sure you clearly identify what position you are running for. There should be no doubt that the voter is able to quickly view your name with the office you are seeking. The last full line of your sign is the best place to display the office that you seek.
Don’t clutter your sign with a slogan unless it is very brief and easily read or catchy. Having said that, slogans generally do not improve signs and are better displayed on direct mailings or handout cards where you have plenty of space but with limited space on a campaign sign it’s unnecessary and often impractical. Pictures of the candidate are a poor allotment of space on small signs and add greatly to the cost of the sign, delay production, and generally take away space from the display size of your name. Save the pictures for brochures and large highway signs where applicable.
Party identification may be important but that’s more of a personal preference issue and can often be demonstrated by the use of color. Some states require it so know your individual state laws (if any) before printing your campaign signs. In other cases, just the letter “D” for Democrat or “R” for Republican may be all that is needed. Any respectable screen printer can even provide you the Democratic Donkey or Republican Elephant symbol at no extra charge.
Some states require the committee’s name, treasurer’s name and his or her address. Other states require a lengthy official statement that is printed verbatim at the bottom of each sign. Some others require the name of the screen printer who printed the signs. Legal political disclaimers may be required in your state, so do your homework before going to the expense of printing any campaign material. Re-printing is a waste of resources that some campaigns never recover from.
Union label or union bug can be important if you have union support in your community. Just make sure your screen printer is a union printer and can use it legally when printing your campaign signs.
Another item to consider would be the color scheme you are using on your campaign sign. If you already have a color scheme made up, stick with it. Be consistent; make sure all your campaign material is created from a consistent color scheme. If you do not have a color scheme then keep it simple. A one color dark background with white letters can often do the trick in the most cost effective way. This combination can also be seen from a farther distance more clearly. A sign with a white background will blend into the surroundings whereas a sign with a dark background will be far more noticeable against the horizon.
Lastly find out when the first date you can legally put up signs in your community. You’ll want to line up your locations early by verbal commitments from your supporters. It also knocks out your competition from using the same locations by calling first and planning ahead.
Building name recognition with campaign signs may not be easy but it’s essential in running a winning campaign!
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Winning Campaigns' Articles
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July 2008 |
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Rolling Out Your Campaign Message |
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By Ron Faucheux
A campaign message positions your candidacy relative to the political environment and your opposition. It is about strengths and weaknesses, yours and those of your rival. As such, your central message should include a strong positive element based on your candidacy’s strengths – explaining why you’re right for the job -- and should also include a strong comparative element, based on how you’re different (and better) than your opposition. |
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Campaign Sign Essentials |
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By Kirby Ralston
Real Estate professionals say the three most important things when selling a house are location, location, location. Candidates that successfully promote or “sell” themselves with campaign signs know that the three essential considerations regarding a lawn sign campaign are name recognition, copy brevity, and location. |
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Sign Strategy By Political Sign Professionals |
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Resource Material from Thomas W. Keefe, Joe Garecht, Jim Burrows
Edited By Jim Burrows
Despite their lowly reputation, political yard signs are an essential tool that campaigns, both big and small, use to help raise their candidate's name identification and get it in front of the voters repeatedly. Signs help to insure name recognition when the voter steps into the voting booth – in relative terms nothing else is more important. |
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Email Marketing Works: But What Are The Rules? |
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By Tommi Pryor
Political campaigns and advocacy organizations are turning more and more to email marketing to generate awareness, raise funds, recruit volunteers, acquire members or subscribers, distribute their calls-to-action and to get out the vote. This article is the first in an ongoing series designed to help political marketers understand how to utilize this medium most effectively. |
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Crisis Management: The Public Relations Nightmare |
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By Holly Robichaud
In this day and age of “gotcha” politics, the 24-hours news cycle, blogs, u-tube, and camera phones, why do some politicians still feel insulated from the scandal of cheating on their spouse, tapping toes in the bathroom, and hiding cash in the freezer? |
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Print Media: What You Will Encounter? |
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By Allan Bonner
Many books have been written to prove that print was a dead medium. They’re all good books and frankly, most are still around, but then, so is the print medium. |
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July 2008 Online Publication |
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