Why Storefront

Storefront Political Media (SPM) was founded and is organized to provide exactly the kinds of multi-layered, integrated communications tools that persuade swing voters, drive turnout and registration, and win elections.

The Ultimate Product Is Victory

Launched in 2001, the goal was to create a firm that could integrate many aspects of campaign design and services and offer more than just products to democratic campaigns and causes. Different races call for different strategies and tactics. Too often, however, the type of product consultants sell determines the type of campaign they run. That's why SPM is organized on the key principle that the ultimate product is victory — and that direct mail, radio and television are components that must be harmonized to create victory.

We work with campaigns to design simple, yet powerful themes and demand the discipline to repeat these themes relentlessly. We believe that successful campaigning requires both an attention to detail and a team approach that brings fellow consultants, candidates and campaign staff together to hone sharp messages and deliver them in a fashion that commands attention.

An Ongoing Discussion with Voters

Unfortunately, most campaigns being run today in Democratic politics follow the same model. Step one — raise money. Step two — spend the money on as much broadcast media as you can afford, backing up from Election Day. So if you can afford 10 days — the campaign literally starts 10 days out.

The problem with this model is that it doesn't work very well anymore, particularly for campaigns that might be outspent. The model relies almost solely on last-minute media that is increasing discounted by most viewers.

At a recent focus group, one particularly glib participant referred to campaign ads as "bathroom breaks." The mail sent out by most campaigns is almost universally referred to as "junk mail." The components of the campaign themselves almost never work in unison, because they are created separately, without coordination.

This traditional campaign model is weak because it doesn't ring true when the only thing the voters know about a campaign is what they see and hear in uncoordinated paid communications that they are trying to avoid.

That's why we think modern campaigns must be based on an ongoing discussion with the voters that introduce and drive home our key messages in a coordinated fashion well before the frenzy of the last few weeks.

Using Every Communication Tool

While paid media is still a dominant tool in our office, we strongly believe that campaigns should also orchestrate an ongoing barrage of communication through a series of low-cost and no-cost mechanisms that are largely overlooked in most campaigns. We believe the most credible messages are those delivered person-to-person, or within organizations, by trusted messengers. That's just one reason SPM is one of the few firms in America that takes the kind of fresh approach to politics, organizing and political communication that can help drive a big message on a small budget.

An Individual Approach

Storefront has extensive experience designing and managing complex operations that produce efficiency of scale without losing an individual approach in each piece and each district.

In a consulting world in which many in our profession mock the notion that "my district is different," SPM embraces the concept that every state, every race, every district has its own unique political culture, message and organizational imperatives.