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In the 1980s, Dallas was one of the largest convention destinations in the United States. However by the 2000s, its rank had slipped – due much in part to its lack of a large hotel connected to its convention center.
In 2008, the Dallas City Council approved funds for the construction of a new hotel. However, in 2009, a rival hotelier successfully garnered enough signatures from citizens to force a referendum on the hotel.
Elettore was retained to create a Web-based communication program that would result in the hotel being approved by voters.
The organization formed to defeat the hotel was heavily financed by a multimillionaire who owned a well-known rival hotel a few miles from downtown. He subsidized expensive television ads, bloggers and a spokeswoman throughout the campaign. In addition, the nation's real estate industry plummeted as the campaign progressed, dredging up voters' fears of a fiscal fiasco if the hotel was not successful.
Elettore recognized a one-size-fits-all campaign would not work. Those living near downtown were passionate that the hotel be built, to help revitalize the area. But residents living in the far northern and southern edges of the city were more apathetic.
Also, younger voters were more apathetic about the hotel than middle-aged-and-older voters. Meanwhile, blue-collar voters viewed the hotel as a great source of needed construction jobs while some white-collar voters worried about the financial risk it entailed.
Therefore, we created TWO Web-based campaigns. One was a highly energetic, highly social-media based site with youthful jargon, rock music and a spokesperson named Grim (as in the Grim Reaper).
Grim sent out blog posts lamenting what would happen to the core city of Dallas if the hotel did not approve, invited 20-something professionals to happy hours (featuring such drinks as Bloody Marys) and showed other trendy projects across the city financed in exactly the same way the hotel was being funded.
In addition, we created a more mainstream website and e-newsletter program geared to people over 35. This campaign provided more profound details about the hotel, its financing, its impact on the city as a whole, etc. Volunteer bloggers conducted a blistering defense against the all-out assault of those hired by the opposition.
Three months before the vote, the hotel was losing in polls by a 2-1 margin. On election night, however, the hotel was approved by a 2.5% margin. More important, the mayor of Dallas cited the Web campaign geared to 20-something professionals in particular as having significantly contributed to the victory.
Read about the success our efforts generated for:
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