1.4 Opportunity or opening

The first step of the narrative change planning process – Find a focus and opening - consists of five elements that guide you in the development of a campaign strategy. On this page, we focus on the fourth element - Opportunity or opening.

FIND A FOCUS & OPENING
Elements
  1. Target middle segment(s) & current frames/positions
  2. Positive value map
  3. Narrative space for your campaign 
  4. Opportunity or opening
  5. Feasible campaign objectives

 

Elements 2, 3 and 4 in step 1 are interrelated and go together as a block: In order to arrive at a resonant space that engages the middle, campaigners need to: 

  1. Map out the positive values that the target audience sees themselves promoting or defending in their views (1.2); 
  2. Find a value overlap and choose a narrative space that is a suitable appeal for the organisation running the campaign (1.3); and
  3. which connects to an identified upcoming debate or event (1.4).

This is a kind of funnelling process that leads to a resonant messaging space (see the diagram on step 1.2). So, the final task in the funnelling process is to identify an event, opportunity or debate that allow you to reach the target segment(s) at scale and engage them in the debate you want to have.
 

Choose an event or debate that is a suitable opening and fits the timing for your campaign

Once you have identified the value overlap and narrative space to build a campaign on, next campaigners need to think about an event or debate to target for the campaign. This is the question of timing and also a stepping stone to reaching a large portion of your target audience, i.e. an issue of scale. This can be a very simple decision if there is a pressing policy issue or decision-making process that you need to influence, but in less pressing circumstances, you may wish to select an appropriate event or opportunity to align with. 

The two UK cases illustrate these two different approaches:

CASE 1 – Poppy Hijab – British Future - UK
In this case, British Future did research in 2012 and tried to figure out what events or debates the middle segments in the UK would be concerned with or involved in over the next few years. The centenary of World War One in 2014 clearly came up and this was the opening selected for the campaign.
CASE 2 – Shrewsbury Prayer Centre – Hope Not Hate - UK
In this case, the campaign was a response to a planning decision to build a prayer centre for the Muslim community in the town that was already underway at that time and looked like it could fail without intervention. This resulted in a short reactionary campaign conducted over two months and was successful in helping to deliver the planning decision.
 

 

Once you decide on an event or debate to respond or connect to, this will then also help narrow down and consolidate your decision in the funnelling process on which of the range of overlapping values you share with the middle is the best fit for this opportunity, e.g. the right to worship and decency appeals at the heart of the Hope Not Hate case were driven by the focus on the issue of the prayer centre.

We have also had broad discussions with the campaign teams we’re working with in Germany about whether to create an event or opportunity as part of their campaign plans or tie campaigns to an ongoing/existing event, e.g. a festival or significant national celebration or occasion. There are many in this campaigning field focused on creating events or experiences (e.g. getting unusual suspects to eat together, listen and build empathy) and on producing public messages, but that does take significant constituency and funding to make that happen. Other campaigners have decided to use existing occasions, festivals and events to connect to (e.g. every city has an annual festival in Germany) that many people from the movable middle will attend, and dovetailing with such an existing event facilitates connecting to a large group of your target segment.

 

PLANNING CHECKLIST
Step 1.4: Opportunity or Opening
  • Are you responding to a particular issue, situation or decision-making process? If yes, the timing is clear for your intervention.
  • If not, what kinds of events or debates that are coming up will more naturally attract large portions of the target middle segments? Check the calendar of city/state events to give you ideas.
  • Which event or occasion would allow you to have the kind of debate or discussion you what to have?
  • Will you consider creating your own event as part of the campaign? If so what are the advantages in doing do over using an existing event? And what kind of reach would you expect to have from your own event? Do carefully consider feasibility and resources required for this option.
  • Which of the list of value appeals overlapping with the target segments that you are comfortable messaging into, are also the best fit with your chosen target event or debate?

 

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