Today's Marching Orders from the California Campaign for $5.5 Billion for Stem Cell Research

 

A clip from an email pitch by the campaign for Proposition 14

Backers of the $5.5 billion ballot measure to save the California stem cell agency from its financial demise
are working hard to keep their troops on track to build support for Proposition 14.

Today the campaign sent out a pitch (see above) as part of its social media drive to win approval of Proposition 14 in the Nov. 3 election. And it couldn't be more timely. Twenty-million voters are already beginning to receive their mail-in ballots.

The directions are explicit and amount to a daily list of tasks for patient advocates and others who have signed up for information from the campaign. The sign-up request is on the home page of the campaign website and impossible to miss. 

"Join now. Be part of the movement," declares the website. 

Social media is a bit of a loose term, but it includes such things as Twitter, Facebook and blogging. Research shows that about two-thirds of U.S. adults get news from social media sites. "One-in-five get news there often," says the Pew Research Center. 

"Facebook is still far and away the site Americans most commonly use for news, with little change since 2017. About four-in-ten Americans (43%) get news on Facebook. The next most commonly used site for news is YouTube, with 21% getting news there, followed by Twitter at 12%. Smaller portions of Americans (8% or fewer) get news from other social networks like Instagram, LinkedIn or Snapchat," says Pew.

News consumption is only part of the picture for a campaign. What may be more important is the personal connection that supporters can bring via social media. It is a question of trust and who do you listen to. Someone that you are connected to via social media and know even slightly may appear more trustworthy than the professional purveyors of information. 

So far the mainstream media is covering Proposition 14 lightly, a trend that is likely to continue. The presidential campaign consumes most of the traditional news space. State issues are receiving only minor attention, and Proposition 14 even less. That could be good for its chances of passage, but it is hard to tell in this very unusual political year. Under any circumstance, it remains imperative for the campaign to turn out its supporters in large numbers, which is a key goal for the social media effort. 

California Stem Cell Backers Fire Up Major Social Media Effort for $5.5 Billion Proposition 14

Backers of the $5.5 billion measure to save California's stem cell research program launched a major social media effort this week, declaring that they could not afford to compete with "the big money campaigns for significant airtime."

The campaign organization behind Proposition 14, the stem cell ballot initiative, sent out an email pitch recruiting sympathizers to help out via Facebook, Twitter, email, and other Internet avenues. The campaign email went to those on the mailing list of the campaign organization, which likely contains thousands of names.  The numbers could be much, much larger if the campaign is purchasing email lists. 

The campaign email (see below) said, 

"There are only 35 days left before election day, and mail-in ballots are already out in many California counties. We need your help to get the word out about Prop 14 and the fight to save stem cell research, treatments and cures in California! With a crowded election we will need to work hard break through the noise and urge Californians to vote “YES” on Prop 14.

"Leading up to the election, we’ll be sending you sample social media posts, newsletter articles and email blasts – and all we need you to do is share what we send with your channels! We are a patient advocate driven movement, so we don’t have the resources to compete with the big money campaigns for significant airtime, and our path to victory relies on the help of other passionate patient advocates like you. Your efforts will make all the difference, and with mail-in ballots already out it is absolutely critical that this work starts today."

The pitch included canned texts for use in emails to general audiences and non-profit organizations. Canned messages to be used on Facebook and Twitter were provided along with appropriate hashtags for Twitter. A "sample email blast" emphasized that "the federal government  WILL NOT save most of the promising research and therapies in development that would be abandoned if Prop. 14 fails."

Social media campaigns are increasingly important in political and ballot measure campaigns, regardless of whether a campaign can afford traditional TV advertising. Such advertising is less useful in generating support for a number of reasons, including segmentation of media consumption. 

So far, no significant, major opposition has surfaced against Proposition 14.

The campaign for the measure is led by Robert Klein, who sponsored Proposition 14 and is responsible for the writing of the 17,000-word measure. Klein also wrote the 10,000-word, 2004 ballot measure that created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is officially known. Klein is a Palo Alto, Ca., real estate developer.

Klein hired FionaHutton &Associates of Studio City, Ca., to handle the bulk of the campaign work.  

2020-09-29 Proposition 14 California Social Media Email by California Stem Cell Report on Scribd

'Spontaneity' Live: A Powerful, Cyberspace PR Tool for California's Cash-Strapped Stem Cell Program?

Jeanne Loring, right, on a Scripps Research Institute
Facebook Live event last week.   Click here to go to the video. 

Stem cell researchers rarely have a chance to talk directly about their work to thousands of people at a time, including those in the farthest reaches of the globe.

But Jeanne Loring at the Scripps Research Institute did it last week. The California stem cell agency did it last month with Stanford researcher Gary Steinberg.  And it could well be that the technique that they used will emerge as a critical tool in the effort to stave off the death of the $3 billion, stem cell program. The end could come as early as 2020 if agency supporters fail that year to win voter approval of $5 billion more for the program.

The medium in use by Loring and the agency is something called "Facebook Live."  It is a live streaming service that allows viewers to ask questions and comment during a webcast conducted by researchers or stem cell research advocates.  It is considerably more compelling than pre-recorded videos, says Forbes magazine, which reports that presentations on Facebook Live are viewed for three times as long as a static video. The thinking is that the interactive connection and the initial live presentation -- with its informality, spontaneity and lack of predictability --  are more interesting than your usual, pre-recorded sessions.

Facebook Live has been around since 2016.  but has rolled out slowly. According to a Google search this past weekend, only a handful of stem cell-connected enterprises have taken advantage of it. (See a few below.)

Viral Boost for the California Stem Cell Message

In its presentation last month, the stem cell agency started off with about 80 viewers. By the time of this writing the number of views of the video had skyrocketed to more than 6,800. Loring's presentation now stands at 1,600. Her number grew by 100 as this article was being written. That viral strength likely surpasses many static offerings in print coverage or conventional electronic news, which are largely onetime shots.

(The agency, on the morning following this posting, filed an item on its blog, hailing the success of the program. The item said, "We had an amazing response from people during the event and in the days since then with some 6,750 people watching the video and almost 1,000 people reacting by posting a comment or sharing it with friends. It was one of the most successful things we have ever done on Facebook so it’s not surprising that we plan on doing many more Facebook Live ‘Ask the Expert’ events in the future.")

One might ask: Why is the impact of this single Facebook event important in terms of a stem cell ballot campaign?

In recent years, the stem cell agency has slipped out of the public eye and is hard-pressed to attract widespread media attention, a situation that is commonplace for most state government departments. The agency's "value proposition" is not well understood, say officials at the agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). 

To win approval of a proposed $5 billion bond measure in November 2020, however, CIRM will need strong support for its efforts, which have so far failed to deliver on the public's expectations that miraculous stem cell therapies are right around the corner. Those hopes were raised more than 13 years ago during the campaign that created the stem cell agency. Today its funds are running out. Cash for new awards is  expected to vanish by the end of next year.

Selling Hope to Half of California Families

Nonetheless, one of CIRM's notable products is hope -- not to mention 49 clinical trials that could lead to therapies for deadly diseases and widespread afflictions ranging from cancer to urinary incontinence.

In 2004, backers of the stem cell ballot measure declared that "medical problems that could benefit from stem cell research affect 128 million Americans including a child or adult in nearly half of all California families."

Reaching those California families is the key to unlocking their votes on behalf of the stem cell program. Facebook -- notably and coincidentally -- reaches nearly half of the Internet users  in California.

Using Facebook Live, or rival services, may well be the most effective way to connect with those important voters, especially with the help of the patient advocates who have been heavily involved with the agency. They bring the personal stories that resonate with voters and create an emotional appeal that is likely to trigger a favorable vote for more billions.

More services like Facebook Live will probably arise in the next 12 months. But Facebook has an advantage: the huge number of its users and an established Internet base that includes the patient advocate community and its organizations.

Writing on Forbes about business applications of Facebook Live, Steve Olenski said:

"Live video comes with a generous helping of transparency. Your influencer's voice will ring truer in a live conversation with fans than it does in a blog post. Viewers can engage with your product or service and the influencer in open conversation handled in real time.

"If you're looking for a compelling way to build trust with your audience, a live video is a great place to start."

Here are links to a few Facebook Live events involving stem cell-related matters: Difference between gene therapy and stem cell therapy, CAR T-Cell Therapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease.