+ Patagonia: Tying Voting to Brand Mission
Patagonia is a leader in this conversation in 2 ways:
Patagonia is an ardent advocate for companies giving their employees paid time off to vote. Since 2016, Patagonia has completely closed its headquarters, distribution center, and stores nationwide for the general election days. Taking action beyond their own company, they are also a founding member of the Time To Vote initiative, a nonpartisan business-led initiative to ensure employees don’t have to choose between voting and earning a paycheck. It has since signed on 1900+ organizations to the pledge.
Patagonia encourages its customers to vote candidates into office who believe in, and will advocate for policy around, climate change. The protection of public lands and protection of the environment is central to Patagonia’s mission, business model, and customers’ lifestyles.
The Patagonia case study is a good example of how a brand is successful when it connects civic participation initiatives to deeper company purpose, mission, and values.
+ Snapchat: A Massive Customer GOTV Campaign
To help prepare young people for the 2020 election, Snapchat rolled out a number of new in-app features building off of their in-app voter registration feature from 2018. Besides the voter registration program, Snapchat partnered with organizations like BallotReady, DemocracyWorks, ACLU, Vote Early Day, and more to create a “Voter Guide” that provides Snapchat users with helpful information and resources around voting procedures, ballot education, and registration. They also created a Vote Checklist and Before You Vote mini that helps users make a plan for voting.
When Snapchat began its voting programs in 2018, they successfully registered 450,000 people through its app prior to the midterms. And Snapchat’s data shows that 50% of those registered actually went out and voted.
+ Lyft: Finding Your Unique Role to Contribute
For many citizens, one of the largest barriers to voting is actually getting to the polls.
Recognizing this, in August 2018, Lyft announced free rides to the polls for the midterm elections. The announcement was the company’s most-liked tweet of 2018. Social media conversation around Lyft on Election Day trended 97% positive. The initiative was praised in national press, including The New York Times, CNN, NBC News, TechCrunch, Fast Company, and more.
For 2020, Lyft has expanded the program offering free and discounted rides for voters to the polls throughout the entire primary calendar and general election. Lyft is partnering with nonprofits including Voto Latino, League of Women Voters, National Federation of the Blind, Student Veterans of America, and the National Urban League for the program. These partners will distribute rides directly to people in their networks whom they identify as most in need of transportation.
The Lyft case study is a good example of identifying a specific need around which your brand is uniquely poised to take impactful action.
