Getting out the Latino Vote in 2016 and Beyond
Introduction
The US Hispanic population and its influence have reached the tipping point. Specifically Hispanic Millennials are now larger than the current Baby Boomer demographic and growing. There is one shot to capture this demographic or lose the window of opportunity for generations:
Hispanics are the most brand loyal consumers in the World: Known fact.
Hispanic brand loyalty is generational: Entire families.
Once a brand loses this loyalty, Hispanics never re-engage: Unforgiving.
If a brand earns this loyalty, Hispanics will always be loyal and influence family and extended family to be loyal: Long term relationship.
Hispanics are the most responsive to “story telling”: Brands need to “speak with us”.
Without a comprehensive brand strategy and plan, The DNC will lose the opportunity to acquire the Hispanic consumer.
Objectives
To empower and inspire US Hispanics 18+ yrs of age to register & vote in the 2016 Presidential and Congressional elections
To develop a relationship with Hispanics based on trust and inclusion.
To increase the turnout of Hispanic voters from 48 % to 75% or more
To extend the success in 2016, own the Hispanic loyalty, and convert states like Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Texas to become reliably blue
Assumption
The DNC possesses reliable demographic data and voting statistics of US Hispanics. This document does not seek either to address or expand on DNC data.
Issues
US Hispanics have been underrepresented and marginalized in education, finance and civic representation, while being the fastest growing demographic in the US, in the last 40 years
The Latino share of eligible voters is growing Latinos will make up 13 percent of all eligible voters in 2016, a 2 percent increase from 2012 higher in some states. In Florida, for example, the share of eligible voters who are Latino will increase from 17.1 percent in 2012 to 20.2 percent in 2016. And in Nevada, the increase is from15.9% to 18.8%.
Hispanic voter turnout is low—compared to other groups. Hispanic voter turnout in 2012 was 48% compared with 64.1% for non-Hispanic whites and 66.2% for blacks.
A total of 800,000 Latinos turn 18 each year—one every 30 seconds (or more than 66,000 individuals per month). Ninety-three percent of Latino children are U.S.-born citizens and will be eligible to vote when they reach age 18. As of 2014, one in four children in the United States—17.6 million total—were Latino.
As of 2013, 3.9 million lawful permanent residents were eligible to become citizens but had not naturalized. They come from Latin American countries, with more than 2.7 million from Mexico. Horrified by the anti-Hispanic messages coming from Trump, Cruz and others, they are applying for citizenship in record numbers.
Hispanic voters are voting for Democrats in ever-increasing margins (% voting for D minus % voting for R). The margins were 18% in 2004, 36% in 2008 and 44% in 2012
These five facts suggest that increasing Hispanic turnout could—and likely would—lead to the election of many more Democrats.
Traditional methods to reach Hispanics are ineffective. They include
Hispano/Leadership to reach/engage
TV/Print
US Hispanic Millennials feel betrayed by politics, elected officials and parties
US Hispanic Millennials distrust politicians and parties
The US Hispanic Demographic is made up of multiple “Hispanic” or “Latino” cultures
There is no homogeneous Omni-channel platform that can scale across each Hispanic/Latino community in the country to
Discover/learn issues and how they impact local communities
Share and express point-of-view re: issues
Feel included in process
Be motivated to take action (Register and vote)
Solution
In order for a dramatic and impactful GOTV and branding effort targeting the US Hispanic eligible voters, the solution must be focused on the US Hispanic Millennial. This effort will be successful if the brand marketing is based on issues and conversations versus direct politicking, polling, advertising and robo-calling. P2P now replaces Door-to-door, which obligates the 2016 effort to have a strong digital and interative/experiential execution.
To register Hispanic/Latino Millennial voters and motivate them to vote via an Omni-channel platform to include:
Web
Mobile Messaging Platforms
Mobile Video Vehicles (automobile or other)
In person experiential events + voter registration
The features of an Omni-channel platform, with Viral Loop, scalable to dozens of Hispanic Communities Nationally:
GOTV
Responsive Web applications with deep link interaction connecting partner sites
P2P / P2G mobile application based on Messaging
Issue Discovery + Call To Action
Broadcast issues (content) to mobile application and website
Subscriber expresses opinion or sentiment
Straw voting
Allow communities to engage with each other and create sustainable behavior
Social Media +Networking
Link all social media & networks to mobile applications and website
Allow direct targeting of local communities
Reach out to communities
Experiential events in conjunction with video story telling and local events
Organize local events via mobile city-to-city
Provide video based storytelling of Hispanics/Latinos to express themselves
Setup GOTV activities at each local event