In the July 2023 general elections in Spain, we managed to curb the reactionary wave overrunning Europe thanks to the women’s vote. We prevented ourselves from backpedaling on climate policies and saved advances on women’s rights. For the June 2024 European Parliament Elections, we were called upon to put together a non-partisan campaign to boost women’s participation for more ambitious climate policies, the defence of human rights and social justice. The campaign was driven by entities such as: Equipo Europa, Madres por el clima, Demos Lab, WeMove Europe, Marea Deliberativa, Talento para el Futuro, Impacto de Género, Teta & Teta y Molaría.

We needed to pull the emotional levers to bring out the vote by. We did this, bearing in mind the current political polarization, by appealing to common sense in a campaign presenting a common perception, espoused by the majority, of what defines Europe for our target audience. Europe’s undertaking could be placed in jeopardy depending on the results of the elections. So we followed an ultra-segmented strategy with various messages specific to each audience all stemming from a common message.

We proposed a concept clearly focusing on women’s vote in Europe using the colloquial name in Spanish for those elections, " las europeas”, as a play on words to refer to both the elections and European women at the same time. As it shortens the distance between European elections and voters who don’t go to the polls, “Votamos las europeas” proclaims the pride of the women’s vote while at the same time, thanks to the play on words, resoundingly states that European women vote.  It worked as a pop-up brand for a campaign that unified the message. We also seized the precious opportunity we had given that the domain name laseuropeas.org wasn’t in use!

People engage less with the European elections because they feel somewhat disconnected with Europe in their day-to-day lives. The creativity for the campaign was conceived with an objective in mind since we worked from the very concept of resolving a disconnect. The idea consisted of voting booths placed against different backdrops in nature and in the city:  a completely dry area, a hospital corridor, a wildfire, a street in front of an apartment building and the the shade of a tree. From there different women peek out as they draw the curtain saying “Una, que es…”, referring to both themselves and Europe at the same time, as we suggest with the closing: “Para una Europa así, votamos las europeas.” (For that kind of Europe, we European women are voting). The messages drove home the point with a fresh, positive tone, using specific women as protagonists who share their hopes and visions. We put forward an audiovisual format that allowed us a great deal of flexibility given the campaign’s ultra-segmentation. We sought to create powerful images, with meticulous photographs and a markedly stage-like aesthetic.

The campaign began with the installation of a scaffolding wrap in Madrid’s Plaza de Pedro Zerolo, which we devoted entirely to concern about the climate crisis and the drought. We showed a shower of ballot papers in a resounding call to bring out the vote as a gesture against abstentionism and climate change denial.

We used this visual idea to develop a secondary graphic line for the campaign, through a rainy format which again worked like a template with which to put out a call to women of different ages. We also created a filter for TikTok and IG so that anyone could feel the voting shower. And a host of materials located in a digital campaign on Smart TV and social media, targeted at places and audiences throughout Spain. Wildposting was also used in several cities.

We took elements of the campaign and used them for street action that could be replicated in different cities. We placed our own voting booths in strategic locations with the message “Aquí votamos las europeas” (A play on words meaning both ‘We’re voting in the European elections’ and ‘We European women are voting’). When the curtain is drawn, an installation with a shower of ballot papers is revealed. We took photographs and videos of the kind participants who were taking a look out of curiosity, which served as campaign content.

We also performed a guerilla action that consisted of placing stickers on benches and seats around the city with the message: “En esta vida no hay que dar nada por sentado”, (a play on words meaning ‘In this life you can’t take anything for granted’ and ‘you can’t take anything sitting down’) referring to fundamental rights and climate commitments to bring out the vote.

The campaign was run parallel to a host of collaborations with other initiatives, content creators and native digital media including Vota Por Favor, Marina Rivers, Henar Álvarez, Climabar, Freeda, Código Nuevo o Spanish Revolution among the many. This was key for us to feel united in the weeks before the elections and generate, all of us together, an exciting feeling of responsibility.