With the launch of Community Architect, Majority Strategies has unveiled a new, strategic approach to advocacy that merges data and political insights to help businesses, trade associations and others achieve their public affairs goals.
The Majority Strategies Community Architect team is led by CEO Brett Buerck, who joins our #StrategySession today to answer a few questions and share key insights into the Community Architect difference.
What sets Community Architect apart?
Our approach. Quite simply, it’s unique. At an early age, marketers in the political and public policy arena are taught two things that I think inherently misunderstand the true realities of influencing behavior and motivating action by a date certain. First off, I’ve always taken issue with the mindset that people can be placed in one of three buckets: they are either for you, against you, or somewhere, undecided, in the middle. The reality is much more sophisticated. Secondly, there’s a process to successful advocacy and you cannot take shortcuts in time or tactics. Unless you properly cultivate and analyze data and then test those findings in real-time, you’re never going to accurately find and engage your audience. Winning advocacy issues is a three-step process of awareness, persuasion, and activation. It’s no different than electing a candidate or selling a product. The Majority Strategies approach to community building addresses those two shortcomings and it’s why we deliver better results for our clients.
You are passionate about Majority Strategies and Community Architect. Why?
Simply put, because it works. And we can prove it! I’ve been in this business for a quarter-century. I’ve sat on the other side of the table when hiring vendors, listening to “pie in the sky” pitches that promised everything and delivered nothing. We’re not snake oil salesman peddling rhetoric that can’t withstand scrutiny. We’re outcome-based strategists employing a proven, scientific method that will deliver results at scale.
What is something you know is true, but few agree with you on?
The “tried and true” advocacy model is broken. Generating a couple of letters to the editor a week before an important Congressional vote won’t accomplish the goal your issue demands. Too many firms in this space focus on vanity metrics instead of actual results. That’s what’s different about our approach. We’re not just pandering to the membership class. We’re focused on winning, just like you would in a political campaign or a sports contest. For companies and associations that spend millions annually advocating for their causes, it’s time to start demanding tangible, successful, repeatable outcomes.
Who is your role model, and why?
That’s like asking me my favorite movie or Pink Floyd song! There are simply too many people to single out just one. I’ve been really fortunate to learn from some exceptional people throughout my life, both via personal experience or far-flung admiration. My Dad introduced me to the value of work hard at an early age. My first mentor and company founder, Sam Van Voorhis, showed me how to be a creative entrepreneur and innovative problem solver. Our Board Chair, Albert Braunfisch, teaches me countless lessons about patience and persistence every day. I’m enamored with business visionaries like Steve Jobs, Joy Mangano, and Frederick Smith, who forced their will upon the world, resulting in something we absolutely have to have today, when a week before we didn’t even know we’d want it in the first place. I’m blown away by lyrical masters such as Alanis Morissette, Neil Peart, and Eminem, who can convey countless emotions in a few syllables, giving us a perspective that is frustratingly obvious, yet I’ve been embarrassingly oblivious to, it until the first moment I hear it. I think athletic GOATs like Tom Brady, Serena Williams, and Michael Jordan can show us a pathway to excellence and achievement that we can adapt and adjust to our own lives in order to reach our full potential. It’s not real flattering to admit, but, ultimately, I’d say my “role model” is an amalgamation of people who are way better at most things than I am, and I’m just this indefatigable and insatiable parasite feeding of their good works!
What question should we have asked you?
What’s next?! But since you didn’t ask, you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out!
Continue the conversation with Brett. Reach out today to get started.
