Direct Mail – S.C. Senate Republican Caucus

05 . 13 . 21

Note: This piece won a 2021 Campaigns and Elections Reed Award for Direct Mail > Best Mail Piece for Independent Expenditure Campaign – State Legislative (Republican). The Campaigns & Elections Reed Awards are the most exacting awards in political campaigns, grassroots and advocacy.

Independent expenditure mail is often difficult to create at all, due to a lack of quality photography. Making IE mail effective AND beautiful is an even rarer feat. In this case, we made mail that we believe is even BETTER than the campaign’s mail, due to its strategy execution and design.

Our third-party PAC campaign, on behalf of the S.C. Senate Republican Caucus, supported Republican incumbent Chip Campsen. Senator Campsen’s district stretches along the affluent coast of Beaufort, Colleton, and Charleston counties, and is largely comprised of beach towns.

Democrats viewed Campsen as a top target due to the rapidly changing makeup of his district. Moderate voters, especially during COVID, have flooded South Carolina’s traditionally red coastal towns.

Our team designed a 12×15 inch super-size postcard mailer that voters could NOT miss due to its enormous size and exceptional design. Our strategy behind this mailer was to remind voters throughout his district that Senator Campsen is a proven leader who has produced real results.

Such a strategy was especially important in targeting swing voters, as generic Republicans were being seen as “do nothing” or radical by some educated moderates.

Polling indicated that this would be a tight race (within 2 points), but thanks to direct mail pieces like this one, that set a strong tone early in the race, Senator Campsen bested his well-funded Democratic opponent by 12 percentage points.