The past handful of months have been all kinds of tense and exciting in the Philippines in the lead up to the Presidential elections that happened this May 9, 2022. As different parties pursued their campaigns for their respective presidential candidate, VCS teamed up with civil-minded organizations across different communication fields and industries to create and launch a pro-bono nationwide Voters’ Education Campaign.

This Voters’ Education Campaign was created in partnership with Ad Foundation of the Philippines, the Ad Standards Council of the Philippines (ASC), the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA), the Out-of-Home Advertising Association of the Philippines (OHAAP), the United Print Media Group Philippines (UPMG), publications Philippine Star, Business World, Manila Bulletin, and People’s Journal, as well as TV stations GMA, ABS-CBN, RPN 9, and CNN Philippines.

VCS stepped up as the creative partner for this endeavor. Our humble creative marketing agency spearheaded the conceptualization of the campaign’s big idea, as well as the design sense and execution for the publicity materials.

CONCEPTUALIZING THE CAMPAIGN

Because this Voters’ Education Campaign was going to be launched nationwide and in partnership with many private organizations, it had to be inclusive and non-partisan to any political candidate or party.

The campaign’s message must be positive and universal. Its goal was not to tell people who we should vote for, but to remind us of the power and sanctity of our right to vote.

In crafting the campaign’s big idea, Team VCS brainstormed over several weeks. We discussed the exact messaging angle that we wanted to deliver, and how this message may be perceived by different sectors of Philippine society.

Cracking the big idea for an inclusive Voters’ Education Campaign is different from crafting a big idea for a brand. We didn’t have the luxury of a narrowed-down market segment, with their targeted needs and values.

Instead, this campaign must appeal to as broad a base as necessary in order for the message to be effective.

The team zeroed in on the big idea of “Sa darating na eleksyon, huwag ninyo kami kalimutan.” This idea takes inspiration from a statement often uttered by politicians running for office when they appeal to voters to keep their names in mind on election day, and vote for them.

Our creative marketing agency placed a unique spin on this statement to have representatives of different Philippine social sectors say the same line, appealing to fellow voters and countrymen to keep their sector and needs in mind before shading that ballot.

The ultimate goal of this campaign is to remind all voters that our vote has an effect on the lives of different people across the nation. The campaign’s hope was to insist that voters take a moment and think of the power and influence of our vote, and recognize the responsibility we all carry.

DESIGNING AND EXECUTING THE CAMPAIGN

Once we pitched the big idea to our partner organizations and received their approval, it was time to come up with design studies. As part of the campaign, we were tasked to create digital art cards, print ads, a billboard, 30-second radio ads, and 30-second TV spots.

The first thing VCS considered in creating these publicity materials is the target audience for each platform, and how these audiences will consume the content.

For digital art cards that will appear on social media, we needed thumb stoppers that will get audiences to hover over the content. Once the art card designs and headlines grabbed audiences’ attention, the wall copies can serve as additional information.

Featured

Art Cards

The design for print media content was the same for the billboards. For this, we needed a strong visual and snappy copy that motorists can see and absorb in a matter of moments as they continue their commute or drive across Metro Manila highways.

Print Media

For the radio ad, we took a look at the types of people who usually have their radios on all day: motorists and store owners. From there, we chose to feature the social sectors that they can most relate to and empathize with.

The TV ad was the most challenging to create because it needed to be as short as an average ad, it needed compelling visuals, and it had the potential to reach the most eyeballs. VCS created two TV ads that featured various underrepresented and vulnerable sectors of Philippine society.

TV ADS

OPTIMISM OF THE WILL: HOW TO CRAFT A NATIONWIDE VOTERS’ EDUCATION CAMPAIGN

CONCEPTUALIZING THE CAMPAIGN

DESIGNING AND EXECUTING THE CAMPAIGN