My experience with Sean Mossman, Ryan McMullen and the entire staff at Persuasive Strategies was all I’d hoped it would be…
-William J. (Billy) McCoy
House Speaker, Mississippi House of Representatives
Ryan Kiesel
Ryan Kiesel, OK State Rep (D-28): Ryan Kiesel turned to Persuasive Strategies for guidance in his first campaign in 2004. Kiesel, who represents a conservative district in Central Oklahoma, was facing several challenges as a first-time candidate. At only 24, he was the youngest candidate filed for state office. His General Election prospects were complicated by having both a Presidential race and a gay marriage referendum on the ballot above him. He faced significant opposition in a three-way Primary, and would no-doubt face a Run-off for the nomination. Our benchmark survey identified both the personal traits and the issues that offered the strongest positioning. Kiesel’s record as a young leader in the State Senate as Chief of Staff for the local State Senator, combined with his support for several bold initiatives for senior citizens deflected attention away from his relative youth. At the same time, he was newly married and had a multi-generational family background in the largest community in the district. Shortly before his Primary, the town was struck with the devastating news of hundreds of lay-offs from the Wrangler Jean Plant. Fortunately, our polling identified fear of job losses and a lack of quality jobs with benefits as a major concern and Kiesel had taken the lead among Primary candidates in focusing on this message. Kiesel made one bolder move that caught his opponents off guard; we identified local cable advertising as an inexpensive means of communication that had not been utilized in previous local campaigns. The total cost for one week of full saturation only cost the campaign $2000. We found an inexpensive local production option and produced three ads that ran for four weeks for a total cost of $7500, about 15% of the total communications budget. Our only tracking poll showed that the strategy had worked better than expected. Kiesel had skyrocketed from third (11% of likely voters) in the benchmark, to first (42% of all Primary voters). Our next closest challenger could not compete and despite a very negative Run-off campaign, Kiesel held on for the nomination. He went on to win 56% of the total vote in November and took office as the youngest member of either legislative body.
Ryan Kiesel, OK State Rep (D-28): Ryan Kiesel turned to Persuasive Strategies for guidance in his first campaign in 2004. Kiesel, who represents a conservative district in Central Oklahoma, was facing several challenges as a first-time candidate. At only 24, he was the youngest candidate filed for state office. His General Election prospects were complicated by having both a Presidential race and a gay marriage referendum on the ballot above him. He faced significant opposition in a three-way Primary, and would no-doubt face a Run-off for the nomination. Our benchmark survey identified both the personal traits and the issues that offered the strongest positioning. Kiesel’s record as a young leader in the State Senate as Chief of Staff for the local State Senator, combined with his support for several bold initiatives for senior citizens deflected attention away from his relative youth. At the same time, he was newly married and had a multi-generational family background in the largest community in the district. Shortly before his Primary, the town was struck with the devastating news of hundreds of lay-offs from the Wrangler Jean Plant. Fortunately, our polling identified fear of job losses and a lack of quality jobs with benefits as a major concern and Kiesel had taken the lead among Primary candidates in focusing on this message. Kiesel made one bolder move that caught his opponents off guard; we identified local cable advertising as an inexpensive means of communication that had not been utilized in previous local campaigns. The total cost for one week of full saturation only cost the campaign $2000. We found an inexpensive local production option and produced three ads that ran for four weeks for a total cost of $7500, about 15% of the total communications budget. Our only tracking poll showed that the strategy had worked better than expected. Kiesel had skyrocketed from third (11% of likely voters) in the benchmark, to first (42% of all Primary voters). Our next closest challenger could not compete and despite a very negative Run-off campaign, Kiesel held on for the nomination. He went on to win 56% of the total vote in November and took office as the youngest member of either legislative body.