One system, two parties, many Americans feeling left out. Our political system has fostered an endless shouting match between two ways of thinking. Liberal and conservative values collide while 42% of Americans call themselves independents, uninspired by either option. Because nobody is understanding voters with any real depth. At W&W, we wanted to tackle this problem by applying the private sector research methodologies that we use on brands like Nike and startups like Bonobos, Harry’s and Oscar. So we started four/twelve, a research initiative to get deep with voters in a new way. Because if we can get these voters motivated around new school candidates, we can change our system for the better.

1. 10/3/17
Connecting Political Candidates to America’s Middle Ground
1
Independent Voter Report

2. 2
four/twelve is a political research and candidate strategy offering
of Wolf & Wilhelmine, a premium brand strategy shop based in Brooklyn, NY.
We take a cross discipline
(quant and qual) research
approach that is empathetic
and rigorous.
We build candidate brands and
strategies to inspire voters to vote
for people they can believe in.
We know that the health of
America depends on our deep
understanding of voters.
WHAT WE DO WHY WE’RE HERE HOW WE DO IT

3. Republicans and Democrats are at war, and in this conflict, nobody
wins and voters lose. Because voters are left searching for more.
The public sector’s approach to research is too traditional —
times are changing and the realm of politics isn’t changing with
it. Connecting, engaging and swaying American voters isn’t the
same as it was ten years ago...
3
America is being pulled
left and right, but not forward

4. In an age of too much
information, talk is cheap
The internet and fair trade have provided us constant access
to new ideas and perspectives, giving rise to a newfound
freedom to be ourselves.
But, this also opens the floodgates to misinformation,
deceptive messaging and radical opinions — this has made
us critical of messages, news headlines and campaign
promises.
4

5. 5
We have to radically
rethink how we
approach voter
engagement
FROM
Messages
Targeting
demographics
Party Values
On pedestals
Behaviors
Of the people
Engaging values
Personal Purpose
TO

6. 6
Based on our research:
On average, a candidate’s Party label makes up
only 8% of a Virginia voter’s decision.
But 30% of their decision is determined by the
candidate’s personal attributes.
To get in deep with people and understand
the core of their beliefs, a creative research
approach is necessary. No one knows this
better than the private sector.
Americans vote for
people, not party

7. The private sector is making brands
feel more human than candidates
The private sector has invested in understanding people by
exploring new research methods, getting in deep with audiences
and leveraging the power of brand.
Brands aren’t just marketing tactics — they express the reason a
business, organization or person exists, how they operate, what they
stand for and what they stand against.
7

8. 8
Our insights nailed the
root cause of people’s
distrust with health
insurance companies so
Oscar Health could
navigate truth and better
serve their budding
consumer base.
Our team helped Hurley
realize, through rigorous
qualitative, that surfers
today reject flash and
ego for positive vibes and
memories – they seek
brands that help them live
that life.
We designed a
multi-sensory workshop,
using location, props and
thought stimulus for the
Global Bacardi leadership
team to determine and
understand who they
naturally resonate with as
a brand.
We’ve helped brands connect with people

9. To us, an audience is an
audience. A voter is a consumer.
Candidate messaging
is brand messaging.
A vote is a brand choice. Voter
research should be approached
in the same way.
9
Now we want to help
candidates connect
with people

10. Our quantitative approach reimagines the possibilities of private
sector research models applied to the public sector.
Our qualitative research yields behaviors that any candidate can adopt, but
we work with candidates to align those behaviors with their vision and values.
Our nomadic process allows us to be where voters are — in their
homes — to get in deep with them, asking better questions to
understand them outside of the ballot box.
10
Our process
A rock-solid
candidate brand
IMMERSION
SMART DATA
CO-CREATION
We offer a 360° approach to building candidate brands — each piece of the
cycle drives the development of a rock-solid and influential candidate brand.

11. Our empathetic quantitative research
Our research bolsters traditional private sector research approaches by using the same techniques that
brands use to understand the core makeup and motivations of audiences. We believe that stories need
data and data needs stories – you win by blending the two.
11
Our quantitative research utilizes the most advanced techniques
from modern marketing science, including discrete choice and behavioral
models. These models are typically used to evaluate drivers behind brand
choice, but here, we have adapted these models to understand the
dynamics of voter choice.
We gave voters hypothetical candidates to choose between in a race for
Virginia’s next governor, systematically varying their attributes (e.g. their
background, party affiliation, positions on issues like terrorism and
healthcare, and their personal qualities). We then used statistical
methods to back out the importance of say – their position on the
economy – in making their choice, and which position was most favorable
for each respondent.
Similar to classic consumer segmentation in the world of brand, we
clustered voters and built segments of like-minded people.
Candidate A Candidate B
I would not
vote for
either of
these
candidates
Party Republican Democrat
Age 34 54
Position
on
Healthcare
“The government
should provide
affordable options
for healthcare.”
“Access to
healthcare is an
individual’s
responsibility.”
...
Select Candidate A Select Candidate B
A sketch of a “choice block” above

12. Our immersive qualitative research
By leveraging cutting-edge quantitative and qualitative methodologies, we can determine
what independent voters find important, what makes them tick and, ultimately, how to guide
their voting decisions.
12
Our qualitative research explores the emotional depth of consumers in order to identify the roots and manifestations
of their beliefs. In this case, the consumer is the Independent voter. We believe speaking with consumers in real life, in the
comfort of their homes, gives us the opportunity to build trust with them and observe another dimension of their lives.
While it may seem like an unusual way to conduct research in the public sphere, it’s an invaluable tool in the private sector
and has uncovered insights that have launched some of the most successful brands of all time.
With an empathetic approach and a rigorous interview method, we were able to uncover the rich stories of independent
voters and develop insights to offer candidates looking to connect with them.

13. Theory is never enough
We needed to test our hunch that our private sector methodologies
could make a difference in the public sector world by doing
research with real voters.
We identified Virginia as the perfect place to conduct a case study.
Not only is there a high number of Independent voters, it’s a
state-level battleground between both major parties. We knew we
would be speaking with voters that really felt the polarity in politics.
13

14. Beginning with smart data, we sent
surveys to Virginia swing voters to gauge
the most important factors leading to the
candidates they support and vote for.
But, we believe data needs stories and so
we hit the road and went down to Virginia
to immerse ourselves through qualitative
research — blending our data with
insightful conversation.
Virginia Road Dispatch
by the numbers:
3 regions
16 cities
22 interviewees
42 hours of raw video
66 hours of audio
1449 pages of transcripts

15. Our findings
Three themes, nine behaviors and a whole lot of research.
15
1. Add honesty to your arsenal
2. Flex humility & reject the pedestal
3. Take the middle road less travelled

16. While the war rages between Democrats and Republicans, Independent
voters, or 42% of Americans, are left out of the political conversation
and are not represented by our current politicians. Independent voters have
felt betrayed by politicians on the left and right too many times. They now
look for candidates who are honest, down-to-earth and lead the charge
in creating change through compromise, not hiding behind party lines.
Behaviors speak louder than words — our voters want to see their
potential leaders as authentic and compassionate human beings. Without a
default stance, Independent voters are constantly looking to piece together
their opinions, and they’re struggling against so many media companies
and news personalities with specific agendas. But it’s more than just
having a social media account: they want information that comes
directly from candidates without polish, something they can believe in,
digest and internalize. Candidates willing to learn from our work can
campaign powerfully from the middle to gain support from the middle.
Executive summary
16

17. 17
Watch our video to see our research first hand: https://vimeo.com/241920328

18. 18
Reject party talking points and be open with the
public about your life out of the office. Interact with
other politicians like colleagues, not enemies. Tell
your story of perseverance and development.
Wrestle with extreme views, don’t dismiss them.
Commit to digging into issues collaboratively with
all parties to find new solutions to old problems.
These voters aren’t
asking for much
Transparency and personability matter most
Progress and compromise place high on their list

19. Candidates are strongest at center-left
19
FAR-LEFT:
“Guns are dangerous and must be severely regulated.”
CENTER-LEFT:
“Guns should be limited to those who pass
extensive background checks and safety tests.”
CENTER-RIGHT:
“Gun control legislation should ultimately
fall on individual states.”
FAR-RIGHT:
“Americans have an undeniable
constitutional right to bear arms.”
Virginia voters’ strongest preference on policy stance is center-left across the board. Democrats have most
to gain from realigning their position from a liberal far-left to a more moderate center-left.

20. 20
Add honesty to
your arsenal
Candidates are brands.
Candidates market
themselves to persuade an
audience to choose them over
others just as brands do.
Consumers are sick of
traditional brands like voters
are sick of traditional
candidates. Voters are
backing candidates who feel
real and honest.
Flex humility &
reject the pedestal
Voters aren’t looking for a
candidate to blindly follow. They
want a candidate they can
trust, that has the ambition to
create a positive change in the
world rather than adding
change to their own pockets.
Voters believe politicians should
start acting like leaders rather
than demagogues.
Take the middle road
less traveled
With brands, taking the middle
road is usually a weak approach
since it implies there’s a lack of
POV. This makes a brand feel
irrelevant as culture shifts. In
politics, taking the middle road
means the opposite. Since there
are blue and red shades to any
political argument, taking the
middle road takes courage.
We’ve identified three major themes that connect candidates with modern Virginians.
Candidate brands: three themes

21. Our approach: Framing around behavior
Once we collected and examined all of our quantitative and qualitative data, we moved on to the most important
part of our process: Constructing adoptable behaviors out of our voter insights to help candidates win
elections. The following document is a list of our findings, framed as themes that capture the values that resonate
with Independent voters.
21
Each theme offers
four key elements:
Behavior
An adoptable behavior for
candidates looking to connect
with Independent voters.
Research inputs
Our quantitative and qualitative
research points that substantiate
the behavior.
How it comes to life
An example of how the behavior
can powerfully come to life.
How it works with brands
How the private sector uses these
behaviors and how we’ve applied
these behaviors to brands.

22. 22
THEME ONE
Add honesty to your arsenal
Candidates are brands. Candidates market themselves to persuade an audience to
choose them over others just as brands do. Consumers are sick of traditional brands like
voters are sick of traditional candidates.
Independent voters are backing candidates who feel real and honest.
They’ve seen career politicians over the years campaigning on promises only to go back
on their words. They’ve felt the pang of shame upon realizing the candidates they’ve
supported become “puppets” of the Democratic or Republican agenda.

23. 23
Just 8% of voter choice results from a
candidate’s party identification. Voters
don’t use party label, Democrat or
Republican, to inform their choice when
choosing a candidate. The two major
parties are losing the trust and relevancy of
the American voter. Voters do focus on a
candidate’s policy positions, messaging
and personal qualities. While party brands
languish, candidate grands surge.
Age, ethnicity, prior occupation, family life,
character strengths and volunteer history
(specifically preferring health and
education causes) are all considered in
30% of voter decisions.

24. Behaviors
The tried and true method of connecting with the new sensibilities of consumers can be applied
to the new sensibilities of Independent voters. Find the intersection between your values and
the needs of these voters, expressing yourself honestly while being passionate about your
role in society. Let your natural personality shine through your campaign. When you run into
difficulties in your role, be vocal about it. Don’t be afraid to tell these voters that you don’t know
what the solution to a problem is but that you will make it a priority to find one.
24
| Add honesty to your arsenal |
With people talking about “fake news”
and the obvious partisanship of major
news companies, Independent voters
are struggling to find the truth. Many
of them listen and watch several news
programs before judging right from
wrong. For these voters, news has
become an obsession, but there’s so
much it’s overwhelming.
Tell it straight
“It used to be, you’d read the
newspaper in the morning, watch the
news at night. That’s what I heard my
parents doing, now it’s just a constant
barrage and it can be overwhelming.
And being overwhelmed, it’s almost
like it takes away the capacity to
really process things, to digest them,
to give them their proper thought
because it’s on to the next thing.”
Matt Give them clean information
that comes directly from
your team or pulls from
fact-based news companies.

25. Behaviors
25
| Add honesty to your arsenal |
Independent voters want to know
that they’re backing a real person
and not a blind follower of a major
party. They consider many factors
when deciding the sincerity of a
candidate, including language,
recreational activities and their
relationships with other politicians.
Don’t be an actor
“I am looking for candidates who
have more real life experience... are
not so far removed from day-to-day
living that they've become entirely
insulated in the think tank
called Washington.”
Randy
Reject party talking
points and be open with
the public about your
hobbies and interact
with other politicians
like colleagues, not
enemies.

26. 26
Independent voters have a hard time
thinking of politicians as squeaky
clean. They’re not only critical of the
two party system, they’re critical of
politicians who act as if they’ve never
done wrong. They want human
politicians that don’t hide their
mistakes but rather celebrate them
as learning moments.
Celebrate
your mistakes
“I feel like a lot of politicians have a
front. They have the ... I am the family
man, or the family woman, I’m a
good Christian, I’m this, I’m that,
instead of, I am a person that has
made mistakes. These are the things I
do every day, just like you.”
Mary Give them your story of
perseverance and
development.
Behaviors
| Add honesty to your arsenal |

27. 27
Host Facebook Live Q&As
Give people the opportunity to
connect with you and your family
through Facebook Live. Showing that
you and your family are real people
makes you feel extremely relatable
and builds a bridge of trust.
Hold “Independent-only” events
Allow voters with moderate views to be
in the same room with you, understand
you on a human level and foster natural
conversations.
Create data rich infographics
Connect you and your campaign
to the facts with digestible,
bite-size content and set up a rapid
distro network for disseminating.
| Add honesty to your arsenal |
How this could come to life

28. | Add honesty to your arsenal |
Voters are consumers — they choose their candidates like they choose their brands, weighing
multiple attributes to come to a decision whether they should vote one way or whether they
should buy another way. Our voters hold many of the same values that consumers hold, a
need for genuine, salt-of-the-earth choices that rival trendy or traditional brands.
Over the years, audiences have become fatigued by mass-marketed, cookie-cutter brands. In
an effort to find brands that go against the grain, consumers seek authenticity — brands
with a story, a heritage and a realness that separates them from the generic pack.
Authenticity still reigns supreme in the private sector but many brands have bandwagoned
their way into the space. Now, the standout brands take a more nuanced approach to
authenticity that identifies the intersection of audience needs and stakeholder values.
Bridging the voter/consumer divide
28

29. Summary: Add honesty to your arsenal
29
Tell it straight
Give them clean information that
comes directly from your team or
pulls from fact-based
news companies.
Don’t be an actor
Reject party talking points and be
open with the public about your
hobbies and interact with other
politicians like colleagues, not
enemies.
Celebrate your mistakes
Give them your story of
perseverance and development.
Behaviors
How this could come to life
Host Facebook Live Q&As
Give people the opportunity to
connect with you and your family
through Facebook Live. Showing that
you and your family are real people
makes you feel extremely relatable and
builds a bridge of trust.
Hold “Independent” events
Allow voters with moderate views to
be in the same room with you,
understand you on a human level
and foster natural conversations.
Create data rich infographics
Connect you and your campaign
to the facts with digestible,
bite-size content.

30. 30
THEME TWO
Flex humility &
reject the pedestal
Independent voters aren’t looking for a candidate to blindly follow, they want a
candidate they can trust that has the ambition to create a positive impact on the world
rather than their own pockets.
They themselves aspire to be successful and conscious, to rebel against self-interest and
blind faith. They believe politicians should start acting like leaders rather than demigods.

31. 31
Voters want to see prospective
politicians making a grassroots
difference. Being down-to-earth, and
proving it through local initiatives, goes a
long way. About 50% of voters pay more
attention to local politics than national.
A candidate’s community-based
volunteering experience has as large an
impact on a voter’s decision as a
candidate’s stance on foreign policy.

32. Behaviors
You can reject the pedestal of politics by keeping voters close and having a clear voice
online and off that keeps you on their level. Being humble, celebrating your mistakes and
fighting against elitism is key in showing that you are campaigning for all the right reasons
in the eyes of Independent voters.
32
| Flex humility & reject the pedestal |
Independent voters have thought
long and hard about the value of
term limits as a means to curb the
long-term mindset of career
politicians. They want their politicians
striving to make short-term impacts
with the same amount of enthusiasm
as long-term gains.
Stay present
“Talk to the people, don’t talk through
your people. I don’t want to hear your
press secretary. I don’t want to hear
your people talk about what you
believe. I want to hear you, whether
that’s on TV or Facebook.”
Rena
Instead of ranting or raving
about past progress or
upsets, talk about here and
now and what you will do to
make America better.

33. Behaviors
33
| Flex humility & reject the pedestal
|
You’re a public servant of the
American people and so your
campaign finances and donations
should be public knowledge. You
may think voters care little about
the intricacies of your work, but
Independent voters sure do, and
telling them brings them closer to
you and your campaign.
Show the money
“Everybody has a price. And in
government it’s worse. You know,
they’re so dependent on funding.
Anyone can make believe they’re not
influenced. But you know that person
who gives you the $100,000 will still
be more on your mind than the
person who gives you a thousand
dollars [...] you have to stop it.”
Robert Be transparent with
campaign financing and
build trust with voters.

34. Behaviors
34
| Flex humility & reject the pedestal |
The DNC and RNC are like elite
fortresses in the minds of
Independent voters, where
"compromise" and "newness" take a
backseat to willpower and tradition.
They're waiting for someone like you
to come along and turn process on it's
head, making politics great again so
that the majority of America can start
benefitting from its public servants.
Oppose elitism
“[The DNC and GOP] have a message
that they’re trying to get across, a
narrative that they’re trying to
portray… [Media companies] just run
with them...you can’t really just watch
them and take what they say.
Because then you’re just right on that
bandwagon.”
Erik
Fight against strong-arming
tactics from either party.

35. 35
Social posts celebrating failures
Instantly take yourself off the pedestal
and garner trust with others who
know the importance of falling on
your face and picking yourself back
up. This should also influence
campaign advertisement scripts.
Publish “Lessons Learned”
In the private sector, a “Failure CV”
lists a person or brand’s failures to
show how they’ve persevered and
learned over time. Here, a blog of
“Lessons Learned” can communicate
that same human vulnerability.
Monthly workday
Spend a day each month working
alongside a voter in his or her job.
Independent voters trust candidates
who take action and get their hands
dirty as it makes candidates more real.
| Flex humility & reject the pedestal |
How this could come to life

36. | Flex humility & reject the pedestal |
How do start-up brands compete with goliath brands? They approach their audience as an
equal rather than parade themselves atop a pedestal. Big brands have history and that sets
them apart, but having history alone does not make a brand superior in their market.
Smaller brands are making an impact with their consumers by becoming aspirational to
their audiences purposefully rather than becoming a brand for people to follow. Consumers
aspire to become a better version of themselves through their engagement with brands.
How it works in the branding world
36

37. Summary: Flexing humility & rejecting the pedestal
37
Stay present
Instead of ranting or raving about
past progress or upsets, talk about
here and now and what you will do
to make America better.
Show the money
Be transparent with campaign
financing and build trust with voters.
Oppose elitism
Fight against strong-arming
tactics from either party.
Behaviors
How this could come to life
Post about your failures
Instantly take yourself off the pedestal
and garner trust with others who know
the importance of falling on your face
and picking yourself back up. This
should also influence campaign
advertisement scripts.
Publish “Lessons Learned”
In the private sector, a “Failure CV”
lists a person or brand’s failures to
show how they’ve persevered and
learned over time. Here, a blog of
“Lessons Learned” can communicate
that same human vulnerability.
Monthly workday
Spend a day each month working
alongside a voter in his or her job.
Independent voters trust candidates
who take action and get their hands
dirty as it makes candidates more real.

38. 38
THEME THREE
Take the middle
road less travelled
With brands, taking the middle road is usually a weak approach since it implies there’s a
lack of POV, making a brand irrelevent to cultural shifts. In politics, taking the middle
road means the opposite. Since there are blue and red shades to any political
argument, taking the middle road takes courage.

39. 39
When it comes to issues surrounding
the economy, immigration, healthcare,
gun rights, foreign policy, the
environment and terrorism, moderate
positions resonate best with voters
across the board – especially
Independent voters. Even more
partisan voters prefer moderate
policy positions half the time.

40. Behaviors
While the war rages on between both parties, Independent voters look for candidates
who listen to the concerns of each party and find compromise. To break through the
noise, don’t make more noise. Listen first, empathize and speak from the middle
ground. Don’t take extreme stances on issues and always speak from the perspective of
someone who has considered both sides of the argument.
40
| Take the middle road less traveled |
Voters have a difficult time trusting
candidates that constantly criticize the
opposing party without considering the
shortcomings of their own party. To
appeal to Independent voters, don’t
take extreme stances, not only because
they are deal breakers to some
Independent voters but because they
go against your ability to compromise.
Don’t be extreme
“[A perfect politician] would have to
be a decent person, be open
minded...they would probably get
along with other politicians, have a
good relationship with them.”
Phil
Wrestle with extreme views,
don’t dismiss them.

41. Behaviors
41
| Take the middle road less traveled |
Polarization in politics grows while
people’s faith in the Democratic and
Republican parties declines. More and
more people are calling themselves
Independent voters and they aren’t
getting the same attention by politicians
for straying away from both bases. They
listen to both parties but think for
themselves and they look for candidates
who do the same.
Listen first
“There’s so much drama just
because people can’t talk to one
another and really listen to each
other and see the value each can
give one another.”
Theresa
Take a listen first approach
when engaging with voters
and other candidates.

42. Behaviors
42
Democrats and Republicans have their
solutions. Independent voters aren’t fully
on board with either. To resonate with
these voters you have to show that
you’re an independent thinker rather
than an echo chamber of established
ideologies. Establish yourself with new
solutions — they might lean left or right
but the most important thing is that
they are new solutions to old problems.
Commit to collaborate
“It’s up to that person to do
everything they can, to be as
independent as possible…
constructive both on the part of
the government and the people
that it’s serving.”
Joe Commit to digging into the
problem collaboratively with
all parties to find new
solutions to old problems.
| Take the middle road less traveled |

43. 43
Mediate partisan debates
Flex your ability to work with and
push back against partisan thinking.
Independent voters are looking for
cool-headed thinkers to calm down
the chaos.
Leverage tech to listen better
Use Twitter to set up “Office Hours”
where anyone can tweet in questions
to be answered in real time.
Speak directly to people
Inform voters through concise and
relevant newsletters, community
bulletins or podcasts. Understand
how voters receive information and
speak to them directly through the
appropriate channels.
| Take the middle road less traveled |
How this could come to life

44. | Take the middle road less traveled |
While branding was once as simple as telling consumers the value of a company’s products, it
has since evolved. Brands today tell emotional stories that resonate with audiences beyond
what a product can physically do for them. Since companies now use emotion to sell their
products, it’s no wonder brands have since been involved in political debates.
Being a brand with a POV is becoming the norm. People want human brands and there’s
nothing more human than having an opinion. In the branding world, taking the middle road
means not having a POV, being a pleaser of the masses and becoming nothing by being
everything. In politics, taking the middle road is zigging while everyone else is zagging —
differentiating your candidacy to connect more powerfully with people.
How this works in the branding world
44

45. Summary: Take the middle road less travelled
45
Don’t be extreme
Wrestle with extreme views, don’t
dismiss them.
Listen first
Take a listen first approach
when engaging with voters
and other candidates.
Commit to collaborate
Commit to digging into the problem
collaboratively with all parties to find
new solutions to old problems.
Behaviors
How this could come to life
Mediate partisan debates
Flex your ability to work with and push
back against partisan thinking.
Leverage tech to listen better
Use Twitter to set up “Office Hours”
where anyone can tweet in questions
to be answered in real time.
Speak directly to people
Inform voters through concise and
relevant newsletters, community
bulletins or podcasts. Understand
how voters receive information and
speak to them directly through the
appropriate channels.

46. Independent Voter Report summary
46
Add honesty
to your arsenal
Tell it straight
Flex humility &
reject the pedestal
Stay present Don’t be extreme
Take the middle
road less travelled
Listen first
Give a fresh take
Show the money
Oppose elitismCelebrate your mistakes
Don’t be an actor
Behaviors
Themes
Manifestations
- Online forums
- “Independent” events
- Infographics
- Social posts
- “Lessons Learned”
- Volunteering
- Partisan debates
- “Mail Drop”
- Newsletters

47. We went deep in Virginia to test and approve
our research approach.
While our insights can be used right now to
improve a candidate's brand, we’re able to
conduct the same deep dive anywhere in the
country with any kind of voter.
Get in touch at
hello@wolfwilhelmine.com
47
Let’s hit the road

48. Thank you!