22/04/2026
In his essay for The New York Times, David Plouffe, Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, writes about the shift in campaigning approaches. His argument is rooted in US electoral politics, but the lesson applies in the world of advocacy: you cannot change minds you never reach.
A full-time production studio
Plouffe argues that political campaigns must now operate at the pace of a full-time production studio. He points to Zohran Mamdani’s successful New York City mayoral run as a case in point: rather than relying solely on TV interviews, press appearances, and debates, Mamdani bypassed traditional media entirely to connect directly with voters through accessible, authentic, story-driven content on social media – and it worked.
The same logic applies to advocacy. Earning an audience’s trust and support requires staying attuned to their needs, priorities, and concerns, and crafting messages that genuinely speak to them.
Shifting trends
The Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report makes the case bluntly. Traditional media – TV, print, news websites – is losing relevance at an accelerating pace, while social media, video platforms and podcasts fill the gap. Among people aged 18 to 24, nearly half now say social media is their primary news source. In the United States, social media overtook television as the top news source for the first time ever. The trend is also visible in the EU.
While the report focuses on news consumption, the trends it identifies extend to how people engage with information more broadly. Audiences are not just changing where they get their news – they are changing how they encounter any idea, argument or cause. Advocacy that remains anchored exclusively to traditional outlets is therefore not just missing a channel; it is missing the people it most needs to reach.
The old advocacy toolkit is becoming increasingly insufficient. Coalition letters, op-eds, reports, press releases – it’s not that they don’t work anymore but they need to be accompanied by new formats.
Creating content is not enough
In advocacy campaigns, the central priority should be maintaining meaningful engagement with one’s audience. A social media presence has become the baseline standard – virtually every professional and organization has a LinkedIn profile today. Yet as Plouffe observes, presence alone is insufficient. To leverage these platforms effectively for the public good, there is a need for a deliberate and strategic approach .
According to Plouffe, impactful communication hinges on tailoring your message to both the platform and the audience. A post written for every platform works on none of them, just as a message aimed at everyone ultimately reaches no one.
The list of ways in which people are reachable is continuously growing. Their attention is the new currency. While this concept is often associated with profit-driven motives and commercial interests, attention is ultimately a neutral resource that can be used just as effectively in service of the public good. Non-profit organisations, advocacy groups, and civil society actors have every reason to adopt the same strategic communication tools, not in pursuit of profit, but in pursuit of impact.
During our recent webinar, journalist and strategic communications expert Julia Manresa highlighted this transformative potential of powerful storytelling in countering deregulation narratives. She argued that to meaningfully challenge dominant frames, such as simplification and competitiveness, civil society must adopt a bolder, more assertive approach to communicating the real dangers of deregulation.
Crafting compelling narratives tailored to specific sectors, and making the risks tangible and immediate for target audiences, going beyond traditional advocacy methods is exactly what can make campaigns break through in today’s shifting information landscape.
The lessons from Plouffe’s essay are clear: go beyond the traditional toolkit, tailor content to specific platforms and audiences, and prioritise authentic, local storytelling over corporate messaging.