In 2016, Voters in Oregon had an awesome opportunity to vote for a measure that was guaranteed to change the lives of young people living in the state. For many years, Oregon public high schools offered career-technical education, also known as “vocational ed.” However, cuts in state funding ended those programs with huge consequences. By 2016, Oregon had the fourth-lowest graduation rate in the country. One in four high school students dropped out. But with a budget surplus, Measure 98 would take a portion of the existing education budget and dedicate it specifically to restoration of some of these programs, giving Oregon high school students opportunities outside of the “college track.”
HGCreative was brought on board early on to conceptualize, game-out and execute an 8-month conversation with voters. The tasks at hand included: an opinion leaders acquisition campaign, a social media list-building campaign, a long, slow burn of key messages to our large audiences, and finally, a multi-creative, multi-media-market television and digital persuasion campaign. In the end, we wrote, shot and created 30 different ads. Some intended for digital buys, some for social media, others for research, focus groups and ad tests, and finally, television. Using different messages, messengers and mediums helped us understand our universe of voters, and ultimately, meant an overwhelming win in a tough year.