1. Targeting an overlapping space

What have previous campaigns said? – messaging out of the liberal bubble

Let’s start with examples from our reframing campaign cases and also from other sources of what has worked in messaging to this group. Also included in the table are what the value appeal.

When we look at the value appeals made in these campaigns and messaging research, we can clearly see that the approaches used move away from the traditional argument of progressives (economic benefit, rights, diversity, humanitarianism) and into areas that are normally the preserve of more right leaning views. In his excellent book on why people “are divided by religion and politics”, Haidt develops a “moral matrix” around 6 pillars and claims that conservatives have an easier time in many debates, as they have the chance to appeal to all six, whereas liberals often rely on the first 3:

Refer to the segmentatio here from the last chapter – and the space to operate in  - more conservative???

The pillars of loyalty, authority and sanctity tend to more to be based on ideas of community bonds and control, nation state, religious affinity. As you can see above in the examples table, all the messaging from campaigns and research has come over this line to make appeals on the more conservative side of the line.

It is also worth noting that many campaigners also report the that populists have an easier job in making their argument, i.e. they are not like us, so don’t trust them coming over here to take our stuff and change our way of life.  These ‘othering’ frames tend to be firmly based around the ‘us and them’ dichotomy which can be easily pushed??????

How far to go in finding your narrative space?

To start out with, there are many people who wish to put out a message of inclusion and diversity who are more than happy to go outside the liberal bubble. So good luck to them and happy campaigning, we need your voices out there in the discussion.

For others, this is a challenging line to cross. In our discussions with many stakeholders and campaigners to date, there is reluctance in crossing this line and it is summed up in a ‘selling out’ story, i.e. once we have crossed the line, we have given up our values. However, we would argue that this is going too far too quickly and that there are many possible more nuanced narrative spaces to find a way to appeal to this group and still be happy to argue a new line. Further, what is more challenging is not just your own position, you must also think of your existing supporters and the danger of isolating your base, if you go too far in your messaging. Many organisations we spoke to are trying to find this balance of keeping their base on board and also appealing to the anxious middle.

The following continuum is a non-exhaustive set of narrative space targets that build on the examples above and the plans of other activists we have talked to

Some other resistance to this approach focuses on the danger of reinforcing the ‘us and them’/othering narrative by adopting these messages.  To avoid this, campaigners tend to focus on the ‘new us’ type messaging, where the picture is not just of the immigrant nurse or doctor, but the nurse/doctor with patient. Like the example above, many campaigns have also used national sports teams of mixed ethnic background to get this new us across too. Although many of the liberal left may have some issues with strong patriotism, I think these kinds of community contribution messages and the diverse new us are possibly a more palatable bridge.

Hard as it is to believe for some we can also have very positive/inclusive patriotic stories too. For example, German campaigners can be patriotic about the Welkommens Kultur and happy to the leader in taking refugees who are suffering. This may be tough to sustain in the current discussions of ‘external processing’ but nevertheless, it was a huge moment and not one in which the country decided to build fences.

Difference between nationalism and patriotism

Reluctance to go here…

The message has got to be authentically yours

In choosing the narrative space you will target, it is not enough to think of your willingness to move your message. You are going to have to argue through this position to the facts, related policy proposals and analysis, so you really need to own the position you are putting forward. Further in the pressure of a heightened public debate, it may be difficult be convincing enough to hold strong to an argument that you have adopted as a strategic choice. So find your narrative space and own it!

Planning to targeting Narrative spaces and timing

You can see from this discussion, we are not talking about what you should say specifically in your messaging. Many authors point out[1] that you cannot think of reframing as a set to magic words which will miraculously fix the problem and turn around the opinion of a whole group. We must think of campaigning in a more long game perspective, with the need to engage over the longer term to change the momentum. From a practical perspective in the development of messages,

• you need to make your messaging culturally resonant and really only locals can really do this.

• Further and overlapping with the last point, you have to decide in which narrative spaces you are willing to go to.

• And last but not least, you need to test your messaging with the anxious middle before going out there with a campaign.

So what can we help you with – finding the broader narrative space that works, as we have done above. [should this be here]

Another dimension of stepping into the campaigns is to focus on upcoming events or discussions that might provide an opportunity for messaging in a resonant manner. In the 2 British Future examples in table ?, they had done attitude surveys and identified the centenary of WWI and the Euopean Football Chamionships as events that the target population are very interested in. This surveying was done a year or 2 before the campaigns, to get the timing right too.