Situation

In America, unmarried women are the largest group of citizens who do not vote. "On their own," unmarried women lead very different lives to other Americans - often fighting to stay above board financially, manage a career, and take care of their families by themselves. Although their numbers are equivalent to a quarter of the total voting population, their concerns on issues like health care, jobs, education, and retirement security have gone largely unaddressed.

In 2004, Women's Voices. Women Vote approached Greenberg Quinlan Rosner with a simple objective - to empower this overlooked segment of the electorate to start changing American politics the old fashioned way - with their votes.

Solution

WVWV wanted to increase the number of unmarried women voting in the American electorate by identifying, registering, motivating, and mobilizing them across the country. To do this, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner started with ground breaking research into this largely un-studied and quickly growing audience. The results created one of the biggest success stories of the 2004 election, and neutralized massive voter turnout among conservative voters.

First, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner developed a sophisticated research program to understand this large, diverse, and disengaged audience. Then, using advanced web-testing techniques, we developed messages that resonated with unmarried women and which were used in the telephone scripts and direct mail advertising that would prompt them to register to vote and cast ballots on election day. .

The results were dramatic. In the 2004 election, voter participation among unmarried women rose by more than 16 percent over 2000 and increased their share of the voting electorate from 19 to 22.4 percent. Thirty-nine percent of all new voters in the 2004 election were unmarried women - the largest increase in participation of any demographic group in the election.

Methodology

The Greenberg Quinlan Rosner team, led by senior vice president Anna Greenberg, used advanced strategic surveys and online web-testing to map out the audience of unmarried women and develop the messages that moved them to vote in record numbers.