INTERNET CAMPAIGN MEMORANDUM The Internet Campaign to Stop Municipal Mergers in Montreal |
Strategic Campaign Needs Assessment – How the Internet Can Help
The focus of this memorandum is to advise the Citizen’s Committee Against Municipal Mergers, Montreal Quebec, on building an effective Internet campaign strategy. This memorandum considers the websites of the various coalition groups and proposes several initiatives, demonstrated within a mock up web site. Internet campaigning is needed in order to better wage the groups ongoing campaign to stop municipal mergers in Quebec. Specifically, on the Island of Montreal. The municipal mergers are province wide, and affect many cities in the province. Because of this, there are a plethora of opposition groups active in Quebec. Within the context of the municipalities which make up the Montreal Urban Community, each municipality has its own anti-merger group. There are several main coalitions which link Montreal area municipalities. The fragmentation of these anti merger coalitions is considerable. One reason is that each individual municipality which is affected has quickly established its own groups who oppose the restructuring of their communities.
[The leading “umbrella” coalition in Montreal are the Citizens’ Committee against Municipal Mergers. I will focus on advising their group. For the purposes of the project, I will take on the role of web communications consultant for this particular group. Recommendations will be tailored to their particular political needs and objectives.]
[The mock up site is an example of a form the official site could take. Should the group opt to use the “DémocraCité” name and adopt it formally, then my recommendations serve as modifications to that specific site.]
Three Main Needs for the Group
The most pressing strategic needs of the group, addressable on the Internet, are as follows:
(1) The group needs to do a better job of coordinating their site with the websites of other groups in the coalition, and other aligned parties fighting for the same issue.
(2) Site functionality, organization of information, and handling of external links needs work. External links to the various anti merger groups in each community on the island could be better organized and presented in a visually attractive manner. This will assist a great deal with keeping various members of the coalition united and on a similar message.
(3) Fund Raising – More aggressive use of fund raising, such as selling merchandise, or distributing free downloads would be an asset.
The mock up site contains these ides put into action.
[From my observations of the DémocraCité and No to Mergers.com site, these are the solutions I recommend.]
Solutions:
(1) Mock up for a new official site for the group.
(2) The Interactive Map of Montreal.
(3) Fund Raising Idea – the License Plates.
In consultation with the Montreal and Quebec wide coalitions, I was advised that the actual groups do not have formal web presence. There are two main sites sanctioned by the Montreal coalition. The first is http://www.notomergers.com , http://www.nonauxfusions.com, and http://www.democracite.org. According to Group leaders Ginette DuRochet and Doug McDougal, DémocraCité is the most representative site of the Montreal coalition. It is maintained by Mr. Kell Warshaw, an executive member of the Montreal group. It is important to note that these pages are up by coalition members, on their own, with their own expense and time. Various people registered domain names around the issue and put up pages. As of yet the Montreal Coalition does not have a formal “official” web site of its own. A good recommendation is that an official site be set up, where the coalition executive have full control.
A map of the Island of Montreal which is “clickable,” and links to the web sites of all the island municipalities. A map is a great visual tool on the web. A map that can be turned into a “clickable bitmap” where the user clicks on a location and is linked to another page with further content is a tool unique to the web. The concept of the map can be made into a special page. The user would click on the map and be transported to a section containing the particular argument of that constituency, against a merger. Quick summary information about each respective “no-merger” committee can be added, as well as links to that municipalities “no-merger” web page, if the group has one. As an entry to the Interactive Map, I created an animated "GIF" file with a political message. This looks good and grabs attention on the site [The mock up version is coded with (c) info, the real version will be free of tags.]
A prime source of funding for merger opponents is the front bumper plate and sticker campaigns. The stickers, banners, and plates are a play on the Quebec license plate and its slogan. The current promotion of this gimick amounts to a link to a simple display on a news release document. The slogan was invented by Ginette DuRochet, as part of the St. Bruno campaign against the amalgamation. I think the slogan is worthy of being adopted by the coalition as a whole. Should this be adopted, the slogan, and related graphics and logos must be displayed everywhere on the web site. Such a slogan can be translated into “viral” marketing gimmicks such as Emailed graphics, screen savers featuring the logo, or another type of computer novelty. For more information on fund raising, refer to ask.htm
In summation, these three elements; a centralized and updated web site, the virtual map of the Island municipalities of Montreal, and the “Je me souviendrai” concept, can be used effectively by the Citizens’ Committee against municipal Mergers in Montreal to further their campaign objectives.