How do you make campaigns that really move people?
COLUMN On May 23, the Campaigning Summit Zurich will take place - a meeting place for marketing and PR, NGOs and companies. In his column, organizer Peter Metzinger* explains what makes good campaigning.What is the point of the Campaigning Summit Zurich if, as an acquaintance recently said, you could go to a different event every day in Zurich anyway?The Campaigning Summit Zurich is the only event where companies and associations can meet and exchange ideas with NGOs, public affairs and political communication with election campaigns, advertising, PR and social media with change management. This diversity increases the likelihood of getting new food for thought.Campaigning is located at the interface of the above-mentioned disciplines. This is relevant because the demands on them have grown enormously and one can less and less afford to move mentally and intellectually only within one's own profession.Cross-media, interdisciplinary, integrated - these terms are also inherent characteristics of campaigning. Because it's always about being able to pull out ALL the stops, so as not to throw money out the window by choosing the right tool. The toolboxes range all the way to organizational, personal and customized application development.Campaigning wants concrete change. To achieve this, it is sometimes necessary to look beyond the professional deformation that catches everyone at some point, to leave the comfort of the established ways and to dare to do something completely new that is simply at odds with the landscape.This is the topic of the presentation "Campaigning beyond the comfort zone" by Greenpeace campaigner Graziella Reggazzoni at the Campaigning Summit Zurich 2014. She not only provides insight into the campaign mechanisms behind the spectacular actions in the Russian Arctic, but also addresses a topic that also concerns many marketing and communications professionals in companies: the fear of free fall when trying something completely new. Successful campaigns, however, often presuppose precisely that.Dominique von Matt will approach the topic from a somewhat different angle. He has long since left the familiar paths of classic advertising and is devoting himself to cross-media storytelling. This also requires courage and a willingness to innovate.Innovation and what we need to be able to do in the future are the guiding themes of Philipp Maderthaner's and my own presentation.And finally, keynote speaker Gregor Poynton of Blue State Digital, Obama's "secret digital marketing weapon," will reveal what businesses can learn from politics, how to successfully move people, and how the referendum on Scottish independence is progressing.It's not the variety of topics that make for good campaigning, but the variety of toolkits to be used, combined with good strategic planning. For anyone interested, this unique event is a must. The leitmotif of giving campaigning in Switzerland an international platform means in concrete terms that on this one day in Zurich, representatives of companies, associations, parties, voting committees and NGOs from Europe and the USA will meet to discuss the one question that underlies the event: how do you make campaigns that really move people?
