When Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s re-election campaign came to LPS Campaigns, the challenge was clear: connect a young, energetic incumbent with an older electorate that had never actually voted for him. As the youngest mayor in recent history — first appointed, then running for his first full term — Brandon Scott needed branding that resonated with his base while reassuring longtime Baltimore voters that he was rooted in the city’s traditions.

Working hand-in-hand with the campaign team, we spent weeks digging into what makes Baltimore, Baltimore. Our objective was developing a brand that would make voters of all ages see Mayor Scott as part of their community’s fabric. We landed on a retro-inspired design anchored by the instantly recognizable ‘B’ and upwards slanted typeface, a subtle homage to the iconic Domino Sugars sign that has watched over Baltimore’s harbor for generations. It’s a wink to locals that says: this candidate knows this city.

The color palette drew from Mayor Scott’s high school colors and his previous campaign branding, our deliberate choice to root this look in his local story. By weaving in these familiar colors and symbols, we helped tell a visual story that connects past, present, and future.

The final logo became more than just a mark. It bridged generational divides and tapped into Baltimore’s deep well of civic pride. The vintage look played into current trends with younger voters while building trust with older, more traditional Democratic voters. The design garnered local media attention, earned a spot as a 2024 Reed Award Finalist for Best Logo and Branding for a Democratic Candidate, and ultimately gave Mayor Scott’s successful reelection campaign a brand that felt fresh, authentic, and unmistakably Baltimore.

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The session was a busy one. Weekly calendars were full and the legislative hours were long as legislators attempted to deal with over 1,800 bills that were filed that year. Surprisingly, toward the end of this lengthy session, a Friday legislative day was abruptly canceled by leadership in both chambers without explanation.

Our in-state allies soon learned that this decision had been made to allow legislators to attend a Taylor Swift concert in Tampa. This incident, occurring amidst significant political maneuvering and media buzz surrounding Swift, presented a unique opportunity for our efforts.

LPS Campaigns recognized the potential to leverage this moment, connecting the legislative actions with broader public discourse through innovative digital messaging. Understanding the power of meme culture and its influence on public discourse, we employed a trending meme format that incorporated the lyrics “It’s me, hi. I’m the problem, it’s me,” from Taylor Swift’s song “Anti-Hero.” This choice was strategic, aiming to cast DeSantis, a prominent supporter of the anti-worker legislation, in a critical light while using humor to better capture attention and convey our message.

To maximize impact, the campaign was geo-targeted to the area in and around the concert venue, aligning with the dates of Swift’s Tampa concerts. This approach ensured that the message would reach not only the legislators in attendance but also a younger, more digitally engaged audience likely to sympathize with the workers’ cause.

The video meme featured Governor DeSantis waving, juxtaposed with the pointed lyrics from Swift’s “Anti-Hero”, and ending with a call-to-action that pushed the audience to contact their legislators about the attack on young workers. The campaign’s nuanced approach—melding political critique with popular culture—enabled it to cut through the noise, capturing the attention of both the intended audience and the broader public.

While the anti-worker bills ultimately passed, the “Ron DeSantis: Anti-Hero” campaign succeeded in drawing significant media attention to the issue and the legislative session’s cancellation. It galvanized public action, resulting in thousands of calls and letters to legislators opposing the bill. The campaign also played a pivotal role in expanding our client’s supporter base, demonstrating the meme’s effectiveness in engaging and mobilizing a younger demographic and capturing them as potential advocates for future efforts.

This innovative use of digital media underscored LPS Campaign’s ability to leverage social media and memes as a powerful tool in political advocacy and messaging. By creatively integrating timely, relatable pop culture elements with a targeted messaging strategy, we succeeded in amplifying our client’s voice, influencing public discourse, and ultimately earning the 2024 Reed Award for “Best Campaign Meme.”

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To meet that challenge, LPS created a simple but effective tool delivered via email: a link that allowed voters to sync key voting dates directly to their personal calendars. Rather than sending out a string of reminders, this email gave voters everything up front—early voting start and end dates, vote-by-mail deadlines, and Election Day details—so they could make a plan that worked for them.

The message itself was short and to the point, echoing Fair Shot’s broader language about electing leaders who will stand up for working families in Texas. By combining clear information with a thoughtful design, the program struck a balance between being helpful and respectful of voters’ time.

In a crowded GOTV environment where emails often feel repetitive, this approach stood out by offering a genuinely useful tool that voters could carry with them for the rest of the election cycle. The campaign was recognized with a Reed Award for its creativity and impact, showing that sometimes, the most effective innovations are also the simplest.

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The Arizona Freedom Project website’s primary purpose was to provide Arizona residents with credible, reliable, and provoking information about right-wing extremists in the state government. To connect with a broader audience, we developed a Spanish-language version of the site. The website examined a number of extremist state legislators, highlighted their most anti-democratic attacks, and compiled far-right legislation proposed in the State House. The work of state legislatures is often difficult to find and understand, so it was critically important to share information in a public, easily accessible, and digestible manner ahead of Election Day. Ultimately, the goal of the site was to move Arizonans to action to protect democracy both inside and outside of the state.

As the first step in building the Arizona Freedom Project’s custom website, our team met with stakeholders and used a comprehensive design survey to fully capture the goals of the site and flesh out branding guidelines. The survey also highlighted client concerns, such as creating an engaging and trustworthy tone by avoiding dark, pessimistic language and imagery. Our team used these conversations as a starting point to create logos, branding, and website designs. 

We developed a brand aimed at connecting with our target audiences of base labor members, persuasion labor members, partner groups/consultants and media partners. The logo, palette and theme were built out around key descriptor concepts of credibility, galvanizing, professionalism and reliability. It was important that the final result be replicable, so the “Freedom Project” was born.

With a deep research catalog and brand in-hand, we built out website designs and developed the digital property. The ensuing site, https://azfreedomproject.com, is eye-catching and was built with a high-quality user experience in mind, ensuring visitors can easily navigate and find important details quickly. It was built for both in-state allies, consultants and media to tap for their own uses (via detailed and specific citing) and general public consumption (each block of information is uniquely shareable across multiple social media platforms). 

In the November 8th Midterm Election, progressive candidates for Governor, Secretary of State, and Senate won their races against election-denying, Trump-backed opponents. Mark Finchem served as a prime example — it was the goal of the site to inform Arizona voters on Finchem’s right-wing record, and ultimately those voters denied his bid for Secretary of State. We hope that the Arizona Freedom Project will continue to prepare Arizonans with the information needed to cast an informed ballot in future elections.

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