We go about finding those words and the pictures that go with them a little differently than most. For us, each communication – TV, radio, online, anywhere - starts with two questions:
1.) And what feeling do you need to create to get them to do it? We would all like to believe that voters are all rational decision-makers searching for the best candidate with the best policy ideas. In reality, mo
st swing voters are busy, emotional creatures, who are not paying much conscious attention to you. We believe strongly in research-driven advertising. We believe equally strongly that your communication – whether it’s a single television, radio or online advertisement or a whole advertising campaign – should never simply be a regurgitation of the best testing message blocks. If it were, you could just point a camera at your poll. Instead, your communications should grab the viewers’ attention and evoke some kind of response. If you make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry or make them go “huh?”—well, then you’ve gotten into your targets’ heads and can actually start persuading. The result of our approach – we believe – is better looking, better sounding advertising that is more likely to get viewers’ attention and voters’ votes on Election Day. WHO WE ARE
76 Words grew out of the firm formerly known as Laguens Kully Klose. After ten-plus successful years, some of the brains of the outfit stepped out on our own, with a new name, new look, and new commitment, but with the same great creativity and service. We are:
SARAH FLOWERS
For more than a decade Sarah has been a political consultant specializing in television and film. Flowers entered the TV business after helping to elect Brad Carson to Congress from Oklahoma, providing a critical Democratic pick-up in a year that was not kind to Democrats. Sarah has worked for clients across the country, including Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, former New Mexico Lt. Diane Denish, Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, the Missouri, Oregon and Minnesota Democratic Caucuses, The Democratic Governor’s Association, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and The Nature Conservancy. Sarah has also contributed to a numerous successful ballot initiative campaigns, including defeat of parental notification in Oregon, the defeat of abortion bans in Colorado and South Dakota, and Missouri’s fight to protect stem cell research. Sarah is a frequent guest commentator on CNN and FOX News. She has been named a “Rising Star” by Campaigns and Elections Magazine“ and “A Young Woman of Achievement” by the Women’s Information Network. For her work producing breakthrough television, radio, print and online work Sarah has won more than a dozen Pollie Awards given by peers in the political industry. Sarah is the board chair of American University’s Women and Politics Institute’s Young Women Leaders Board, a position she has held for three years. She also serves as the programming director for Next Step. Both programs train young women from across the country for careers in politics. Sarah is a frequent guest lecturer at American University, George Washington University and has published on a variety of topics from “the new negative ad” to how women most effectively raise money. Last year, Voting in America has published Sarah’s work titled, “The Politics of Hope, Health and Morality: Stem Cell Research as a Reason for Voting”. MATT ERICKSON
Matt Erickson is a writer, strategist, and all-around message guru. In this capacity, he has helped elect candidates including U.S. Senators Ben Cardin, Debbie Stabenow, and Jon Tester; provided major strategic and message advice for organizations including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Education Association, and Southwest Michigan First; and helped pass major ballot initiatives including Florida’s historic 71% vote in favor of prohibiting smoking in restaurants. If a client campaign representative speaks, writes, mails, e-mails, or faxes a sentence to an audience, chances are that Matt has improved on it in the process.
