Participation in American democracy has historically been lackluster, and, in 2020, coronavirus threatened to make participation even harder. NBC News felt compelled to meet the moment by creating a solution people really needed: a tool to navigate the most challenging election of our lifetimes. This interactive, digital voting guide helped people get important answers to better navigate voting registration, rules, and deadlines. Because there was so much variation from state-to-state, the tool helped eligible voters unpack and understand important nuances, to ensure they were prepared and clear on the process.

The brief was clear: create a nonpartisan campaign that inspired people to get the information they needed to vote during a pandemic. Our objectives were to 1) drive usage of the digital tool, 2) drive awareness with zero paid media, and 3) spark advocacy beyond the reach of NBCUniversal so our tool would become known by the voting public.

We launched a voter advocacy campaign with a goal to not only push the digital tool, but fundamentally shift perceptions of how to cast your ballot in an American election. Starting with NBC News, and scaling across all of NBCU, we created a multibillion impression campaign to inspire people to take action and have their voices heard in the 2020 election.

With rampant misinformation and a global pandemic, how we voted was going to be forever changed, and people needed to rethink voting entirely. Our creative highlighted key questions the digital tool could answer, such as how to register and what to do to successfully submit your ballot depending on your voting method.

"Plan Your Vote" was born from the insight that in 2020, how you voted was just as important as who you voted for; and challenged American voters to radically rethink their approach to voting.

We needed an approach that could flex with the evolving messages of a very tumultuous election season, and thread the needle by being information-driven while rooted in an impassioned (yet apolitical) cause. To change the minds of voters, our strategic focus was clear: We needed to get people to rethink their voting habits by making “how” they vote just as important as 'who' they planned on voting for.

We addressed votership with the entire American people, meaning an incredibly diverse, wide-ranging audience. The connective tissue was in the low confidence the voting body had in America democracy amidst a global pandemic: 67% of Americans believed coronavirus would disrupt people’s ability to vote. NBCU was in a unique position to deliver a nonpartisan message to drive people to our tool for information, and ensure all Americans were awoken to take action to Plan Your Vote.

We launched during the DNC and RNC to reach their politically-minded audiences. NBC News talent delivered the initial message, alongside interstitial on-screen graphics. We dropped a series of animated spots that addressed big questions around voting, all ending with a clear message to “Plan Your Vote”.

Then, on National Voter Registration Day, the entire organization came together to spread the message “Don’t Wait, Plan Now”. PSA films featured faces like John Legend from NBC’s The Voice, Andy Cohen from Bravo, and Amber Ruffin from Peacock.

Finally, two weeks before Election Day, the campaign evolved to a message of urgency. NBCU celebrities like Elizabeth Banks from Universal, Chrissy Metz from NBC, and Mark Cuban from CNBC who already made a voting plan, encouraged Americans to vote ASAP. “Vote Planned” and “I Voted Already” hashtags and stickers became badges of honor, just like the traditional “I Voted” stickers given at polls.

Our message had the reach and resonance to inspire action, as early voter turnout and mail-in ballots both hit historic highs: Over 101M people voted early. That is twice as many pre-election day votes as were cast in 2016. While we can’t lay claim to the entirety of that turnout, of course, based on campaign performance we know that we drove incredible awareness and action that directly impacted "how" people voted.

The campaign generated over 15B total impressions with $0 spent in paid media. We drove >2M page views, a quarter of which came from users who went directly to the page, indicating recall of the URL from spots and graphics we created. Additionally, we drove 448,800 people to click through to their state registration pages. Seeing the data behind early voting and mail-in voting participation, we know that we made a significant impact on this historic election turnout.