2022 Local Government Elections
Campaign strategy lead, Electoral Commission of South Australia
The situation
Council elections are voluntary and participation has declined at every election in the last 25 years. With participation around 30% for years, and some districts below 15%, maintaining and growing turnout was critical for public confidence in the process and electoral integrity. They also fell in the same calendar year as two major parliamentary elections, so there were high levels of voter fatigue and disinterest in local government.
The real problem
This was not an awareness problem, it was a relevance problem: people didn't see the relevance of local councils in their daily lives, so had no motivation to vote. And the mechanism: postal voting asks people to complete and return a ballot themselves, a different behaviour with more steps and more places to give up. Telling more people about the election would not have moved it; we needed to create relevance and tell people what to do.
What we did
Built an integrated campaign across enrolment, nominations and voting rather than one message
Created relevance for the audience by focusing on what councils did for them, councils are more than rates, roads and rubbish
Built awareness of timing and responsibilities, not just the event
Encouraged business and non-citizen enrolment and promoted early completion and return of ballots
Coordinated messaging across ECSA, councils and the LGA
The result
Participation lifted from 30% to over 34%, a gain of more than 13% increase against a long-term decline, the first time participation had increased in over 25 years.
First-week postal ballot returns rose by 300%, improving processing efficiency and delivering results faster.
Campaign assets
Video
Campaign: 15A
Campaign: 30A
Images
OOH: Billboard Planner
Social Post (In Situ)
Documents
Press Ad: Half Page
Press Ad: Strip
Press Ad: Quarter Vertical (Example)
Why it matters to you
Growth comes from people acting, not from people noticing. Most marketing that fails has bought the attention and skipped the step that turns it into behaviour.
Facing something similar?
Getting people to notice and getting them to act are two different jobs. Let's talk about which one you're missing.
Tell us what you're trying to shift. We'll come back to you within one business day.