It’s a fact: 18 to 25 year olds don’t vote. This fact has inspired numerous attempts across North America to inspire this critical demographic with targeted events like Rock the Vote and by celebrities like Drew Barrymore making appeals about exercising your rights. Response is typically luke warm.

So why then are there “Vote Mobs” cropping up in colleges and universities all across Canada? Who is responsible for mobilizing the nation’s youth and what was the secret?

For those you don’t know, a “Vote Mob” is a gang of young people who suddenly meet up in rally-like formation, cheering and shaking signs with messages like, “Surprise! We’re voting!” to show Canada’s leaders that they are not a demographic that should be ignored. Vote Mobs are filmed and shared on YouTube via Facebook and Twitter.
So what young star inspired Canada’s students? What rock band finally uttered the magic words to make our youth care who runs this country? Who devised this viral sensation that swept the nation with such force the Conservatives are trying to invalidate special ballots at Canada’s universities? In the end, it was a 40-something politically inclined comedian from St. John’s and he did it by doing what he always does: by dissecting the hearts and minds of Canada’s political leaders.

On Sunday, March 30, Rick Mercer published a post on his blog titled “Vote”. In this short blog post he writes, “It is the conventional wisdom of all political parties that young people will not vote. And the parties, they like it that way. It’s why your tuition keeps going up.” He went on to urge the nation’s youth to “scare the hell out of the people who run this country” by voting this election. That’s it.

Authenticity

Rick Mercer is a political satirist. He loves Canada and he loves everything to do with the politics that run it. He also loves pointing out what’s wrong with our system and the leaders who work within it. Yet, he is impartial. If Rick wants you to vote, it’s because he believes in democracy, not because he wants “his guy” to win.

Autonomy

Rick didn’t tell the kids to hold Vote Mobs. He inspired them because he’s smart and funny and because it’s important to vote. Then he let the idea take on its own life. This is critically important with viral campaigns. Too often I hear clients tell me what their audience is going to do to make their idea go viral. Oh, really? Free will can be a pesky problem. If you put your campaign in a box, it stays in the box.

Aim

Ultimately, the reason why Rick Mercer’s plea worked was because of who was listening. Asking a bunch of politically ambivalent young people to vote is like asking Lindsay Lohan to stop drinking. But the young people who watch the Rick Mercer Report are doing so because they care about politics, at least enough to want to hear jokes about it. And they are the ones who can find others just like them.

What this points out is how important it is to match your audience with your message. You must ask yourself, who is my audience and what do they want? You can’t make an idea fly if the people you are pitching to don’t have wings.

Social networks are a funny place. See Angie’s top ten favourite things about Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And while you’re there, get some valuable insights into viral marketing and using networks for social responsibility.