In a world of “them vs us,” Nebraska State Senator Bob Krist knew he wanted his campaign for governor to unite Nebraskans under the pursuit of our old state slogan, “The Good Life.” Senator Krist’s mission was to build a campaign that brought a seat to the table for everyone and our task was figuring out what tools he needed to do it.
While Senator Krist was known for his independent streak in the Nebraska Legislature, residents outside the eastern half of the state needed to know why this military veteran and experienced legislator would make a good governor.
BCom built the Krist for Nebraska campaign a digital empire, from its website to videos, to photographs, to digital content and email fundraising. Our team helped create Senator Krist’s digital campaign assets from start to finish and we were lucky enough to see the project through from its infancy to election day.
We created a website that could serve as both a source of general information, as well somewhere constituents could turn for more information. Through the use of a video library, we provided an insider look into Bob Krist as a person — a proud husband, father, and grandfather, not just a candidate. We also gave constituents a chance to share their ideas for how to build a better Nebraska through our vision form, which provided space for sharing ideas and important issues.
As election day grew closer, we shifted our focus into creating the Team Krist voting center, a hub of relevant voter information. There, we provided details on deadlines, simple steps like finding a polling location, and useful links to third-party governmental sources.
In creating branding for the campaign, we produced a modern and simple logo that reflected Senator Krist’s ties to the United States Military.
It was also critical that our branding and visuals convey Senator Krist’s and his running mate, Lynne Walz’s, personalities. Bob and Lynne are proud everyday working Nebraskans who made it a point to get to know their constituents by traveling across the state. Our team captured Bob and Lynne at their best and most candid, widely distributing the images across all digital channels.
Throughout the campaign, we pushed Senator Krist’s independent, bi-partisan messaging through social media and digital fundraising emails. Our messaging stuck to three principles: unity, giving a voice to the average Nebraskan and touting Bob’s problem-solving skills and know-how as an experienced legislator.
Making sure you put the right creative in front of the correct audience is key to any ad’s success. Our team knew people ages from the ages of 18 to 34 are at the frontline of political change and put serious effort and resources to engage with them. With a large percent of Snapchat users in this demographic and an estimated 80% of Snapchat users eligible to vote, Snapchat ads proved a valuable resource to utilize in the campaign’s digital media mix.
Another get out the vote strategy was a GOTV filter on Snapchat. We wanted to encompass Bob as a person and politician. Instead of having him wear a suit and tie like a typical politician, we dressed him in his famous brown Air Force jacket, standing next to his yard sign and using the color red for Nebraska.
The filter’s stats proved that users were engaging with the filter, using it, saving it, and even sharing with their friends on Snapchat.
Google Ads also played a large part in our campaign. We used a combination of search, display, and YouTube ads to increase awareness and drive web traffic. On Google we largely focused on targeting Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District or those searching for or interested in news and politics. By the end of the campaign, our Google ads appeared on screen 2,434,155 times.
Twitter was used in our digital media mix for general awareness and to increase engagement among Krist’s supporters.
Over the campaign we used several video ads to increase awareness. We launched and tested several video campaigns on both Facebook and YouTube. In the end, videos ended up being some of our strongest performing ads in reach and engagement. Our Youtube ads did particularly well at retaining the attention of our audience with over 25% of viewers watching the entire video.