Tobacco Documents Online

THE TOBACCO INSTITUTE I il;'.~ 1 S'FltI,:I.;'I: NOIITI IVCE,%'q" 'IA'ASI IINiTI'ON. I)C "-'0ililll 211" 457-.II1110 * t11111 424-t111711 %VAI.TER N, %VOODSO.N ( ]lllll rll III1 ll,'ll | ill 11.~- ~lltll: AUG 2 9 1986 MEMORANDUM August 27, 1986 To: From: SubJ: ~nPresldents/Direct°rs , ~r~a~s-_Roo4Ys Seminar at Field Staff Meeting On Tuesday, September 16 (i p.m.), two grass roots experts will be available to discuss communications ideas. Jack Bonnet and Mike Graham are both engaging and effective; and while they don't have any "magic" answers, I hope they can help all of us focus more clearly on our grass roots capabilities and needs. Enclosed is some information on both of these communications operations. WNW:sc Enclosures CC: Bill Buckley Hurst Marshall Roger Mozingo T121790874

TARGETED COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION nn (~ilv>,,~'.eMatl~:r l)ircx't co~ma~, * Retail Industry Trade Action Coalitlo~ o Federated Department Stores o The ~ay Company o Carter Hawley Hale ~oSpiegel raf~ic SafetvM0torsNOW, Inc. o General o Ford Motor Company o Chrysler Corporation o American Motors * Royal Bank of Canada , Investment Partnership Association o Kidder Peabody o E.F. Hutton o Bear Sterns o The Related Companies * American Council of Life Insurance * Motion Picture Association of America * Gulf Oil Corporation * American Trucking Associations * Committee for Fair Insurance Rates o The AEtna o Clgna Corp o Hartford o Berkshire Life o Fireman's Fund o Connecticut Mutual o Allstate ,o Maryland Casualty * Committee For Fair Insurance Taxes o Cigna o USF&G o The AEtna o Nationwide o Hartford o AIA * Coalltlon of Telecommunication Users o Tandy Corporation o Rolm o U.S. Telephone o G.T.E. * National Cable Television Association * MCI Corporation * Passport International Card * Florida Medical Association o Associated Merchandising Corporation o Volkswagen of America, Inc. o Nationwide o Phoenix Mutual o Safeco o TransAmerica/ Occidental 8201 C.,O.EI~NSSOt~O DRIYE SUITE 7C~ /qcLEP~bL VIRGIblI.O 22102 703 ~,47-CX555 T121790875

* National Football League * American Lawyer Magazine * Toyota Motors (Southeast Distributors) * American Insurance Association * Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania * Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan * Bank 2000 * Computer Dynamics Products * Tosco Corporation * Democratic National Committee * Ferraro Exploratory Committee (New York Senate) * The Mondale for President Campaign * Accion Democratica Party (Venezuela) * Liberal Party of Canada * Packwood for Senate Campaign (Oregon) * Moynihan for Senate Campaign (New York) * Bentsen for Senate Campaign (Texas) * Rockefeller for Senate Campaign (West Virginia) INSTITUTIONAL * Committee of Concerned American Jews * New Playwrights' Theatre * Parks Centennial Celebration (Canada) * Ministry of Health and Welfare (Canada) * Special Olympics * Robert Redford - The Sundance Institute * American civil Liberties Union * National Federation of Homeowners * Americans United for Separation of Church and State * The Travel Marketing Group for Pan American World Airways and The Mandarin Hotel - Hong Kong * The Eagle Syndicate - America's Cup 12-Meter Yacht T121790876

TARGETED COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION Influencing the direction of pttblic policy is becoming an increasingly complex challenge as a growing number of interests are becoming involved in legislative acti6n. Now, more than ever, participatory politics means that these groups demand to have impact on the leglslative process. As a result, more and more entities are becoming aware of the weight that broad-based g/A~roots 9amp~lqns can carry and how those efforts can be directed to affect the outcome of political decisions. Mobilizing massive grass roots support for long-term corporate interests is not only advisable, it is now becoming a critical element in business and trade associa- tions' efforts to influence public policy. In full coordina- tion with the essential traditional ~obbying efforts, grass roots lobbying can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Targeted Communications Corporation Targeted Communications Corporation has developed the targeting and response techniques necessary to identify, educate and mobilize large numbers of citizens by mail and telephone on a wide range of legislative issues. Additionally, since most corporations do not have sufficiently slzable employee or stockholder bases, TCC has developed the technology to mobilize tens of thousands of unaffiliated citizens in support of corporate goals. Both in the Congresslonal and state legislative grass roots campaigns conducted by TCC, public officials have felt and responded to the impact of thousands of personalized constituent letters from these new "ad hoc" constituencies. The principals and staff of TCC have helped develop the plans and execute the programs for five presidential campaigns, dozens of Congressional and U.S. Senate campaigns, political parties in Canada and Venezuela, many of the nation's largest nonprofit membership organizations and a number of Fortune 500 corporations. citizen Mobilization Effort- TCC has developed a new technique for identifying and mobillzing massive grass roots constituencies in support of or in opposition to legislatlon that, tradltlonally, has been viewed as "too esoteric" to activate large numbers of citizens. 8201C__~REEFISI~),t~O DRIVE SUIiE 708 Mc.LEI~N. VIRGINI~ 2_2102 708 847-0885 T!21790877

In each of these casess the responses generated were not the conventional mass-produced postcards~ rather, they were computer generated, laser-printed letters from individual con- stituents, returned in the constituentBs own envelope and on their own personalized stationery. Theee were not postcards thrown into a pile and weighed -- the letters were opened and carefully read. For example, for one client we generated 70.000 personal- ized ~etters from individual citizens to key Congressional offic&s on legislation to promote greater competition in the telephone industry -- Dearl7 ~ 15 percent response. Additionally, in each of these ..citizen mobilizatlon efforts, every targeted Congressional and state legislative district was unlquely analyzed for maximum response. The targeting included such variables as voting patterns, demo- graphics, psychographics and mail responsiveness. The areas selected within each district were the "swing voting" areas of highest polltical sensitivity to the targeted legislator. One of the advantages that direct response tools can bring to any effort to mobilize support for a complex legislative initiative is the ability to tarqet .specific groups. Too often, public issue awareness campaigns spend a great deal of time, money and effort to either generate llttle grass roots response or use tools that are obviously mass-produced and that require little involvement by the constituent. For example, even though newspaper advertising hits a large audience, it cannot be targeted precisely -- nor is it a good direct response medium. Therefore, the money spent could be more effective if it is used for a message targeted to a group that will definitely respond to a selected issue with a response device that encouraqes participation. It is important to involve the recipients of direct mail in a cause in which they believe -- without leavinq home. Extensive surveys show that.people enjoy receiving mail if the contents deal with a subject in which they are interested. Most importantly, one must reach the right recipient, with the right message, at the right time. That is where targeting plays a key role. Targeting is the process of analyzing demographic and political characteristics for the purpose of identifying potential supporters. It is now reaching such a state of the art level that sophisticated direct response programs can include many "screens" that identify only the potential recipi- ents who fit a narrowly-defined set of characteristics. Through the analysis of polling and survey research data and private demographic and government census data, a sophisti- cated computer program that pinpoints only those individuals T121790878

who share an intense interest in the issue and are likely t_~o resDond to a call for action can be put into place. TCC has pioneered the use of new technologies to improve the effectiveness of mail and telephones as persuasive, grass roots mobilization tools. If a client must convey their message to a middle-lncome male, of Eastern European ancestry, who rents his home, is over 55 years old, owns a video cassette recorder and is a registered Republlcan active in civic affairs, TCC can find him. During the past year, TCC has plan~ed and executed a number of comprehensive constituency mobil~zation programs for major corporate/legislative initiatives.. The followlng is a short case history of one of those programs, which dealt with the proposed Unisex Insurance legislation during the 1983-1984 session of congress. Case History- Unisex Insurance This campaign was initiated as a part of the insurance industry's efforts to stop Unisex Insurance Legislation, which would have cost the industry over ~2 bi11Ion in increased unfunded liabilities. The industry approached Targeted Commun- ications Corporation in early April with the expectation that the Unisex Legislation would pass overwhelmingly out of both the Senate and House Commerce Committees. Their assessment was substantiated in many quarters, including an April 23rd report in Congressional Ouarterl7 which said: "Despite intense opposition from insurers, the measures (Unisex Legislation) are expected to be approved at least by House and Senate Committees this year because of strong support on the panels." Fortune magazine described the bills as "roaring through Congress." We explained to the insurance industry that at this late date it would take an enormous outpouring o__f ~rass roots response to convince Members of Congress that this issue was not simply an "equal rights" issue, but was, in fact, a compli- cated economic and consumer issue. Within a few weeks TCC had targeted the key legislators on each committee, identified those individuals within the qeneral public most likely to be concerned about this issue and mailed over 500,000 pieces to those targeted constituents. After only a few days, the industry coalition received a greater than i0 percent response, generating more than 50,000 letters into the key House and Senate offices -- an average of 1,500 to 3,000 letters per targeted legislator. TI21790879

These initial respondents were then asked to contact their legislators again by mail, telephone or in person. Almost 40 percent of these activists responded to the second request. Many also ~ their friends, ~ and ~ to lobby against the bill. The impact was almost instantaneous. Prior to the grass roots outpouring, the lobbyists who had worked on behalf of the insurance industry felt that a very weak compromise was the best the industry could expect from this Congress. But the grass roots constituent response chanqed the entire dynamics. The Senate sponsor for the Unisex Insurance Legislation, Senator Bob Packwood, virtually conceded defeat on May 20th when he said that the Congress would likely "buckle under" to the insurance lobby as a result of the massive grass roots citizen mobilization program. Fortune magazine summed up the success best: "This grass roots strategy has worked. More than 50,000 letters, many from women, have rained down on Capitol Hill, persuad- ing Congressmen that what looked like a simple matter of women's rights is in fact a controversial, complex, and costly proposal that at least requires further study and may demand significant changes. When Packwood tried in June to bring a slightly modified version of his bill for his Committee's approval, he found himself barely able to defeat a motion to kill the whole thing." The media had framed this issue as a women's rights struggle prior to Targeted Communications' direct mail and advertising blitz. The Washlnqton Post captured the shift in the issue, which resulted from the grass roots campaign, in a June lOth article: "The line up on the eve of the markup session indicates there has been a ma~or shift on the issue of Unisex Insurance. Last December, it was perceived primarily as an equity issue and enjoyed general support among Committee Members as well as civil rights and feminist organizations. Today, as the American Council on Life Insurance turned against the Unisex Bill and a group of giant insurance companies launched an intense lobbylng campaign, more legislators are viewing Unisex Insurance as an economic issue." T!21790880

- 5 - Finally, in a story in congressional Q~ on new lobbying techniques, an observer wrote: "Insurance lobbyists believe they have the upper hand now that their direct mail and advertising campaign is bringing thousands of letters into the Congressional offices." The Unisex Insurance Legislation never surfaced in commit- tee for a vote during the 1983 session. This was due in great part, according to those individuals involved with the lobbying effort, to the strenqth of th__e actlve urass, roots CDDosition t_~o the legislatlon. Two additional waves of mail, used in combination with automated telephone follow-up to previous respondents, were directed to the constituents of targeted House Members in the first few months of 1984. In all the maillnm waves combined, Tarqeted Communications mailed over Io000,000 pSeces of mail, with an overall response rate of 12.5 pe;cent. On March 28, 1984, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 24-18 in favor of the insurance coalition's position. Thus, the fight over Unisex Legislation in that session of Congress came to an end, with the result being just the oppo- site of what had been expected before the inception of Targeted Communications' direct response, grass roots citizen mobillza- tion campaign. Throughout the year-long battle over this legislatlon, TCC was instrumental not only in developing a grass roots program but also in helping the client enlist new members of their ad hoc coalition. When the members of the Committee for Fair Insurance Rates wanted to increase the number of participating companies and raise addltional funds for further lobbying efforts, they turned to TCC's expertise in recruitment and fundraising. CFIR grew from 14 to more than 80 participating members and raised over $200,000 using this specially-developed direct mail and telemarketing program. Targeted Communications was presented with a Direct Mar- eting Leadership Award by the industry's trade organization, DMA, for its "extraordinary accomplishment in all aspects of this effort." Ti21790881

JACK BONNER Jack Bonnet has extensive experience in grassroots lobbying, public relations and political campaigns. . He created and carried out successful'grassroots programs for the Chemical Manufacturers Association, Sony Corporation, National Bicycle Dealers Association, Dow Chemical, Aetna Insurance Corporation, textile importers, shoe importers and many others. Bonnet served as public relations director for the city of Tucson, Arizona, in the press office of the Republican National Committee, and as press secretary and then senior political aide to Senator John Heinz (R-PA). During his three years working for Senator Heinz, Bonnet was responsible for forming coalitions of senators to pass legislation, and generally advising the Senator on legislative and political matters. He was responsible for Senator Heinz being the only statewide Republican officeholder nationally to receive an AFL-CIO endorsement. At the Republican National Committee, Bonnet worked with the national and regional news media and special interest groups. He also provided press counsel to a number of Republican congressional campaigns and state parties, and worked with the press secretaries of key Republicans on Capitol Hill. As public relations director f'or Tucson, Bonnet served as liaison with national and local media, created and hosted two weekly television shows (in prime time) and a radio program, and directed advertising with both in-house and outside agencies. As an expert on corporate grassroots campaigns, Bonnet has spoken to groups ranging from the American Bar Association to the Public Affairs Council. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona. TI21790882

TRACK RECORD: Results Oriented Bonner & Associates T!21790883