Yes to the initiative for a 13th AHV pension

National referendum campaign

A targeted and broad-based campaign with the aim of mobilizing every possible vote - beyond the traditional ranks of the left.

The initiative for a 13th AHV pension represented a unique opportunity to strengthen the Swiss welfare state. Never before in the history of Swiss initiative law has a popular initiative been accepted that sought to introduce a far-reaching social achievement. It had been clear to us for some time that this initiative could potentially be won.

On behalf of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB), we were able to provide intensive and diverse support for the campaign for the 13th AHV pension. We have worked closely with the SGB for many years on various campaigns and projects.

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The Challenge

In late fall 2023, the Federal Council unexpectedly set the voting date for March 3, 2024 at short notice. This meant that - contrary to other plans - we had to start an intensive campaign immediately and with little preparation.

Votes far beyond the traditional left-wing camp would be necessary for approval. Strategies had to be developed to specifically convince and mobilize these target groups.

It was clear that the No side, financed by business associations and corporations, would run a campaign worth millions. We had a very limited campaign budget at our disposal - but we knew that thousands and thousands of people were on our side. We had to play on this strength.

A targeted and adaptive strategy

Working closely with the SGB campaign team, we developed clear and effective strategies and approaches:

• Focus on our strength

  Involve supporters with a strong community campaign.

• Definition of specific target groups for persuasion and mobilization based on opinion research and testing

  • Retired people are directly affected by the initiative, but they are also statistically the most likely to vote.

  • Non-party members and some supporters of the SVP and the center, especially the poorer and less well educated.

  • Swiss citizens with a migration background who are particularly affected by low pensions.

  • Women, since their pensions are on average 32% lower than those of men. Additionally, women are more likely to vote left than men.

• Special focus on tipping cantons

  By analyzing similar past votes in recent years and using a new forecasting model, we identified the cantons that are crucial for achieving a majority of the cantons. We created regional content and focused digital advertising on these tipping cantons.

• Monitoring the mood

  We were able to constantly adapt our strategies based on surveys and our forecasts. We also took comments on social networks and in the media into account in order to adapt our communication.

• Efficient and uncomplicated collaboration

  Thanks to weekly check-ins with the SGB team and an exchange without unnecessary formalities, we were able to propose and adapt projects during the course of the project. And we were able to quickly implement ideas, suggestions and requests submitted by SGB.

We present in more detail three campaign areas in which we were heavily involved. All work was carried out in close consultation and division of labor with the SGB campaign team, whom we would like to thank for their cooperation. Further work was carried out by the Feinheit agency, e.g. the creation of the campaign visuals.

1. supporters as amplifiers: Community campaign

Community development and activation

Thanks to many years of joint development work with the SGB, we were able to activate a large number of supporters for the voting phase shortly after the surprising announcement of the voting date. We immediately sensed that people in the country were extremely willing to personally campaign for a Yes vote. A survey on support resulted in thousands of responses. From people who are themselves dependent on a 13th AHV pension and from many solidarity supporters. These people have invested a lot of time and small donations for a Yes to the 13th AHV.

Convince and mobilize

This base of supporters really got the campaign going: Through regular email communication, concrete call-to-actions (sharing digital content, distributing flyers, donations, etc.) and a presence on social media, these tens of thousands of supporters were able to spread the campaign messages as amplifiers. They did a lot of persuading and mobilizing in their environment.

Mobilization platform

We set up a mobilization platform (conceptualization and implementation) that allowed people to easily send a reminder message to their relatives and friends via Whatsapp or other communication channels. A counter showed how many people were reached as part of this large-scale campaign: over 715,000 people!

Letterbox tool

Over 2,600 people throughout Switzerland have signed up to distribute flyers in their neighborhoods. In order to coordinate this, we developed a tool that shows on a map which letterboxes the flyers should be distributed to. As a result, over 200,000 flyers were distributed to letterboxes by volunteers.

WhatsApp campaign

People were encouraged to share content via WhatsApp in multiple languages. We created specific images and videos for this purpose, which the community forwarded independently.

2. targeted online persuasion and mobilization: Digital campaign

Messaging and strategy

With our digital campaign, we played out nine different communication strands to different target groups. Our goal: to appeal to both the head and the gut by emphasizing facts and simultaneously capturing emotions.

Some examples:

• Old-age poverty during Christmas

• Diasporas addressed in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Albanian and Serbian

• Women specifically addressed

• Addressed the opposition and showed how broad the support is. (SVP & center dissenters)

• Addressing the risk of confusion between the pension initiatives

Our main target groups were people aged 45+ and the cantons where there could be a shortage. In particular, we continuously adapted the strategy for the cantons in line with new findings.

Wide reach across a variety of communication channels

• Youtube: Strong focus on videos.

• Radio: spots for Internet radio.

• Instagram and Facebook : Paid Social Media Ads.

• Display ads on websites such as Tages Anzeiger, Blick, Watson, etc.

Creating content

We produced most of the content ourselves or via our network (images, videos, radio spots). Our content was designed in such a way that it could be forwarded.

Results

Throughout the campaign, we have...

• ...generated over 71 million impressions.

• ...achieved over 200,000 clicks on various landing pages.

• ...videos that achieved 3.5 million complete views.

3. financing through small donations: Fundraising

Together with the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB), we planned and implemented a successful fundraising campaign.

Our approach

• Multi-channel fundraising

  Addressing the target group via various channels such as direct mail fundraising (paper) and digital fundraising (e-mail)

• Personalized communication

  Suitable messages for different donor groups.

• Emotional appeal

  Clarification of the importance of the 13th AHV pension for people in Switzerland.

• Rapid Response

  We reacted quickly to current events and integrated them into our fundraising activities.

• Simple donation options

  Fast and uncomplicated donations via online form, Twint or payment slip

The result

• Above-average participation: Over 25,000 individual donations were received for this campaign

• High level of donations: Many small donations, which in total made a significant contribution to financing the campaign.

6 months of campaigning, 10 employees involved, 1 historic success

This campaign, supported by tens of thousands of committed people and organized by the SGB, made the historic result of 58% in favour on 3 March 24 possible. Never before has a social policy initiative from the left been accepted.

It was an honor to be a part of it!

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