Voter turnout in the 2018 midterm elections was the highest of any midterm election in the last century. One of the contributing factors? Vast numbers of companies encouraged both their employees and consumers to show up and vote. Fast-forward to the strange times we are living in, and a much larger election: how is your company or agency approaching the topic of voting when it comes to your employees and/or consumers?
Politics at work can be tricky. We aren’t talking about bringing politics into your agency or marketing department. We are however, encouraging you to consider making it easier for your employees to vote. Why? Well, beyond the notion of “civic duty,” it’s good for business. In 2018, many companies’ “get out the vote” programs didn’t just get more voters to the polls. Their efforts helped to raise brand awareness, strengthen relationships between employees and shareholders, open dialogue with elected officials, and boosted company morale. Essentially, making it easy for your employees to vote shows them (and the rest of the world) that you care.
This week MIG joined 1300+ companies and agencies like Best Buy, Nike, Twitter, Visa, Zillow, Allison+Partners, Deutsch LA, Hill Holiday, Porter Novelli and WPP when we enrolled with Time to Vote. Time to Vote is a nonpartisan effort for companies that want to contribute to the culture shift needed to increase voter participation in our country’s elections. It is led by CEOs who are interested in increasing voter participation. By enrolling, MIG is making the commitment that employees can take off whatever time they need to vote.
Our friend Lisa Unsworth, a Managing Director at Porter Novelli, captured the moment well:
“Porter Novelli is happy to support one of the most important principles of democracy by giving people time off to vote. Having businesses ban together to propel this constitutional right is a demonstration of our commitment to the ideals that make our country great.”
So now, we are asking you to do the same. The advertising and marketing industries play an incredibly important role in our society. Some agencies across this country actually shut down completely on November 6 in 2018. Others have the commitment to do their part to encourage voting this year.
“Because Washington State is 100% mail-in voting, we have designated the Monday before the election (Monday, November 2nd) as a DNA Holiday and are encouraging all employees to use the day to volunteer time calling voters in States that have in-person voting, encouraging them to vote. We are providing a variety of organizations as resources to enable phone banking. “
– Alan Brown, Co-Founder & CEO, DNA
We believe more firms and organizations — especially small businesses, which employ the vast majority of people — should join the pro-voting movement.
Time to Vote is one of many solutions for companies and agencies to help contribute to our Democracy. Here is the link to register: https://www.maketimetovote.org. We hope to see your name on the list.
Lindsay O’Neil
Mercer Island Group
