The Aesthetics of Advocacy
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Listen
Engine is the voice of America's startup community, fighting for policies in Washington, D.C. and throughout the world that help innovators thrive, including issues ranging from immigration and tech workforce diversity to data security, privacy and the foundational principles of the Open Internet. These are often the weediest and most complex of policy issues but carry vast and important consequences for investment-strapped startups. Engine helps policymakers understand the nuances of complex policy issues before making laws that could harm the ability of innovators to continue to create better, faster and cheaper tools and technologies that make our lives better.
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Mix
We use the power of creative to make Engine’s complex policy challenges simple and to bring these issues to life. By weaving it through all aspects of the organization’s messaging and social media, we ensure that Engine's research and advocacy work is consistently visually engaging and instantly recognizable. We grab readers’ attention with bold colors, clean lines and color gradients, then hold it through insightful research findings, compelling statistics and quick facts about startups’ significant contribution to the U.S. and global economies. Consumption of this easily digestible, valuable information serves as a hook—or a “gateway”—that compels Engine’s audience to dive deeper into and learn more about these intricate policy issues.
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Produce
By combining our substantive knowledge of technology policy with our creative expertise, we create assets like our series of e-books that break down, or translate, Engine’s nuanced messaging around these highly technical policy issues. The books incorporate visual metaphors that explain, for example, the underlying concepts of encryption, the current moderation models for user-generated content and why policies surrounding them matter to a startup’s success. We support these books though clever, promotional social media which has already resulted in thousands of ebook downloads. To ensure seamless branding throughout Engine’s widespread educational efforts, we crafted a comprehensive set of brand guidelines for the organization, which we incorporate through design work including events, social graphics, paid media and information design.
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Play
We got Engine’s messages heard. For encryption alone, the Nuts & Bolts of Encryption ebook campaign produced a total of 770, 815 Twitter impressions with users clicking on the report link a total of 22,782 times in just 14 days. The campaign averaged 55,058 impressions and 1,627 clicks daily.
Engine’s Twitter account received more than 587,000 impressions during the month the campaign ran, marking a yearly high for the active startup policy advocacy group.
