R/GA and the Ad Council bring back GoVoteBot for midterm election
In 2016 R/GA created the GoVoteBot with the AdCouncil to help make the voting process more understandable to the electorate. Now it's back for the 2018 midterm elections, beefed up with a new AI component and pushed by a social media campaign to help encourage the nation to get out and vote.
GoVoteBot returns for midterm elections
Every US voter has his or her own highly-personal reason for voting. Whether health, family, safety, income or education, most people vote for their particular interests and ideals. Many people still, however, struggle to figure out how to vote, as the US electoral system is complex, nuanced and at times frustrating.
R/GA’s challenge was to create a solution that allows all eligible voters to vote for whatever it is they want, using a non-partisan campaign that keeps everyone’s pre-election concerns in mind.
The agency was inspired by a single statistic from the US Census: in 2014, only 16.2% of 18-to-34-year-olds turned out to vote in the midterm elections. Therefore, four in five people in that coveted age group missed an opportunity. Simply stated, if young people want their voices heard in 2018, they need to show up at the polls, and the GoVoteBot is a tool to help get them there.
R/GA noted that millennials and Gen Z voters often went to their peers first with their voting questions. So, the agency created a messenger bot that combined the ease of talking to a friend with power of a search engine.
GoVoteBot is geared to answer any questions users might have about registration, polling, absentee ballots, and much more. R/GA’s team of young creatives, activists, and technologists improved in the previous iteration of the tool in order to empower young midterm voters by equipping them with straightforward information and simplified resources.
R/GA leveraged its Brand AI practice to make GoVoteBot smarter. It understands critical, location-specific questions like, "Where's my polling location in Montana?" "Where can I vote early in Florida?" and "Do I get time off to vote in Nevada?".
Thanks to data from partner US Vote Foundation, the bot now surfaces some of voters’ top questions. These include topics such as: "Do I need to vote for all of the races on the ballot?" or "How do I change my party affiliation for the November general election?"
For the target demographic, sharing passion is critical, so R/GA included a meme generator that lets users share their own specific reasons for voting in this election. The bot creates a customized image to share, helping spread the word about the importance of voting.
In addition, the Ad Council will support and amplify the initiative across social channels.
