Call Center

Many of our efforts start with phone calls from our call center. Concentric Direct is experienced at running campaigns ranging from calls to 12 million potential Caller ID callers in a one month period, to calls to a few hundred voters in a city council race. The current team develops strategy and scripts, then monitors the calls as the campaign progresses to adjust scripts in order to identify and motivate people who agree with your public affairs needs.

CASE STUDY: We were called in after a State Senate voted 42-4 to approve a bill that would have cost a client millions.  We joined conference calls and analyzed pros and cons of the bill through the eyes of an average voter, and identified one aspect of the bill that would make voters turn against the bill.  The Result:  Our strategy was so effective, that within a week of starting to call voters more than 7,000 of them called their legislator and both parties agreed to hastily withdraw the bill to the dismay of 70 lobbyists hired on the other side of the issue.                  

Grassroots and grasstops  

While phone calls can be the beginning of a project, the heavy lifting is done during local meetings.  We personally go and meet with the people in a community who agree with your public policy position, helping provide support for community groups and get people to attend public hearings or take other actions that help you.  These people can sometimes be a part of an existing group, or can be identified through our call center, but regardless the end result is providing them materials and the “how to” of effecting public policy.

CASE STUDY: Concentric Direct has won dozens of zoning fights, both in favor of reasonable growth that created jobs and against unreasonable growth where there was no infrastructure in place.  In one case we created a multi-state campaign on an issue of critical importance to one of the nation’s top 50 largest privately held companies.  Concentric Direct organized local coalitions to speak out on behalf of community concerns and targeted grassroots and grasstops communications at local and state policy makers while Concentric Directs on-the-ground activities generated favorable media coverage.  The result: A host of high-level meetings throughout the US - ultimately federal officials to back off on attempts to break up the company.

Strategic communications

The right message at the right time when heard by the right people makes all the difference.  The strategic advantage we bring comes from over two decades as senior communications professionals in local, state, national and international arenas.  Message development and positioning, media training, public relations, paid advertising, and Internet technology campaigning are the services we can tailor to support your on-the-ground activities.  From a community newspaper editor or city hall reporter to a TV news anchor or nationally known blogger, Concentric Direct puts your strongest message in front of the targets that need to hear it.                                

CASE STUDY: Concentric Direct designed and produced a statewide radio advertising campaign to support the efforts of diverse coalition of business and community groups opposing a statewide referendum.  Outspent by a more than 2 to 1 margin, the Concentric Direct solution applied grasstops media outreach to drive awareness of the radio campaign.  The coalition prevailed when the referendum lost, and the radio campaign was awarded a Pollie, the nation’s top award for public affairs advertising.     

Winning elections from local to national

We still run campaigns for specific candidates as well – and can coordinate call center operations, direct mail, TV, radio and grassroots volunteer efforts for political candidates at any level working directly for the candidate or for associations or PACs. 

CASE STUDY: Concentric Direct continues to win in excess of 80% of all races, with recent wins as diverse as: Mitt Romney’s win in Wyoming, Brenda Pogge overcoming the Democratic tide in Virginia to win an open state legislative seat, 9 of 10 Cleveland City Council races, 18 of 19 local ballot box referenda including several that had been lost in the past, and a Georgia legislative race.  The same program was responsible in Concentric Founder John Pudner winning 68 of 77 races in Alabama, including several upsets of incumbents and 10 of 11 open seats, on behalf of the Alabama Farmers Federation (which has an exclusive in Alabama, that prevents the Concentric team from doing work in that state).