Putting ideas out into the political marketplace and expecting them to succeed on their own is never going to happen. There is a dance that needs to take place if the ideas are to have any chance at all. Knowing this dance and taking the right steps is the job of public affairs.
There is not one dance that will always succeed. The steps required for your campaign needs to be based on the needs of the intended audience and include elements that will appeal to them. There may be standard moves but also the need to go freestyle.
Anything too off the wall is unlikely to be taken up. A radical approach is often simply undeliverable within the context of the current political system. There is the chance of real change through incremental steps but to go from 1 to 4 is unlikely but a series of smaller moves, 1 to 2 to 3 and then to 4, is more possible.
- Design the steps around the process. Rather than putting your own ideas out there, the campaign dance needs to focus on the audience, the ones you are trying to impress with your moves, and the pressures on them. What they can do and when, should impact on what you do and when. Realistic requests made at the right time are more likely to find favour.
- Dancing with the right people. There is nothing worse than picking the wrong potential partner. At the very least, it is embarrassing and shows a lack of awareness. Engaging with the right audience, again at the right time, shows that you know what you are talking about. It avoids putting anyone in an awkward position if they are simply irrelevant to your issue. Others may get annoyed if they receive contact for little apparent reason other than you haven’t done your research properly. Those stakeholders may be needed in future so this simple mistake is best avoided.
- Build the positive dance. Effective campaigning is mostly about building positive sentiment and offering the solutions. If there needs to be a negative aspect then this can come later but only once you have gained ‘permission’ through having built a positive relationship.
- Get others to join in. There is no point in being on the dancefloor all alone. You need some others to join in and dance to the same steps. This can help build momentum and shows you are not alone. This can mean putting rivalries to one side and, sometimes, realising that you need to step out of the spotlight.
- Adaptability. If the dance isn’t working then the campaign needs to be able to change its steps. Just keeping on will not work. But an appreciation of the need to change can only come about by listening to other voices on the dancefloor and also those standing around the edges. The ability to adapt to circumstances or the messages delivered by others can be the difference between a short, ineffective campaign and one that actually delivers.
- The dance does not always have to be in public. The role of public support can be useful but is not always the right approach. Engaging with the right officials from the outset should always be the first thing to do. The information about timings and stakeholders can be invaluable. Whereas going with a full frontal media and public opinion assault may just alienate political audiences.
The choreography of a campaign can be just as important as the messages and the proposed solution. The political dance needs to be mapped out and timetabled otherwise you will find yourself out of step.