Challenge
2006 was an extraordinarily busy election year in California: statewide races for everything from U.S. Senate to Insurance Commissioner, hundreds of local races and eight statewide ballot initiatives. More than $200 million would be spent on TV and radio advertising alone statewide. Our client, a coalition headed by Planned Parenthood called The Campaign for Real Teen Safety, No on Proposition 85, did not have a large budget for broadcast media. In a crowded market, No on Prop 85 only had $4.2 million for television, which is a true pittance for effective statewide advertising in California.

Moreover, a proposition on the same issue—mandating that a physician notify a parent or legal guardian of a pregnant minor at least 48 hours before performing an abortion—had just been defeated in 2005 as Proposition 73. Raising money to defeat the proposition once again had been a daunting task. So every dollar raised had to produce maximum impact at the polling place.

Our Work
Ogilvy PR first absorbed the latest findings by Lake Research, which had been polling on behalf of Planned Parenthood for three years. Polling indicated a significant shift between 2005 and 2006, as supporters of Proposition 85 exploited the issue of child predators on the Internet to "move the needle" in their favor. Counteracting this fear required a delicate repositioning of the core message.

• 2006 messaging was adjusted to highlight the plight of California’s most vulnerable teens—those who could not go to their own parents because of fear for their safety.
• To communicate this message within budget while having the most impact, a TV spot called "Think Outside Your Bubble" was created and tested against four other concepts in two media markets.
• The image of a bubble, drifting from one neighborhood yard into another, overhearing what went on in neighborhood homes, served as a memorable and creative visual.
• As the voice-over reminded listeners that not all children live in homes where daughters can approach their parents, the bubble—a surrogate for the viewer—stops outside a home and overhears a violent argument and the breaking of glass.
• Initially, the spot was created to move women voters who, in polling, said they were going to vote to support Proposition 85 because they thought they should be involved in their daughters' lives. But polling also showed that a focus on violent families and less fortunate girls could move them and others to "no."
• While the spot had the desired impact with women focus group members, it also tested strongly with men, many of whom said they knew of violent, dysfunctional homes in their own neighborhood.
• In addition to creating "Think Outside Your Bubble," spot, we developed a separate Latino outreach program, aligned ourselves with an AFL-CIO direct mail effort, and garnered support from all major Democratic Party officeholders.

Results

• Every major California newspaper editorialized against Proposition 85, and the campaign was able to change the stance on two papers that supported the similar initiative in 2005.
• Eight counties that had voted for the similar proposition in 2005 "flipped" and voted against 85.
• In Northern California, where the ad had the most play, post-election focus groups gave the spot a higher recall factor than ads featuring President Bill Clinton.
• In 2005, voters rejected the initiative by just over 5 percent. In 2006, the margin grew to 9.5 percent.

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