JOHN MANLOVE | CASE STUDIES | MANLOVE FOR CONGRESS
Clarify
John Manlove has been a civic leader in Pasadena, Texas, for more than 20 years. His service includes eight years as a council member and six years as mayor.
In 2008, John saw the opportunity to take his public service one level higher. Pasadena is in Congressional District 22, a longtime Republican district held by Tom DeLay. Due to DeLay's abrupt resignation during the 2006 congressional elections, a Democrat ended up winning. Understandably, in 2008, Republicans were likely to take the seat back — 10 contenders entered the field.
John was among them. Due to the size of the field, the objective was to achieve first or second place in the primary — either would assure a place in the run-off election.
The district's size and shape, however, created some challenges. Three of the candidates had significantly greater name identification. Also, the campaign started with only four months left, one of which was December, effectively leaving only three months to increase our name recognition.
Brand
Out of the field of 10 candidates, John was the only one with experience in business and in ministry, both of which rated as high importance among likely voters, the target market. A clear brand position was decided: “Business Man – Man of Faith.” An award-winning icon was developed to capture the essence of the brand identity.
Reach
The campaign's primary active media were direct mail and television (broadcast and cable). A campaign website was also developed to explain John's platform in detail. The media budget was $400,000, with approximately $300,000 for TV and $100,000 for direct mail. The TV budget was held until the last 14 days of the campaign to create an abundance of frequency in the final decision making days.
Results
The campaign was highly effective at establishing name recognition. John went from the bottom tier of candidates to the top tier. The early direct mail moved him into the second tier, and the TV push gave him another boost. Within three weeks of the election, John was polled in the third position.
That proved true on election day. Unfortunately, even though he came in first or second in three of the four counties represented, John narrowly missed the No. 2 position and the subsequent runoff election.
AWARDS
National Pollie Award for the “Businessman Man – Man of Faith” Icon |
