NEWS - National billboard campaign points out that independence is normal
Press Release: Embargoed till 25/04/21
Our NEW national billboard campaign is sending the message to Scotland that independence is normal and that independence is inevitable, because it’s backed by 72% of voters aged 16-34.
This is the third Believe in Scotland billboard campaign which combined with our matching Facebook advertising campaign is estimated to have generated nearly 2m views. Previous messages focussed on the fact that the UK pays the lowest state pension in the developed world. And that Scotland has the democratic right to chose to have a second independence referendum.
The two new billboards will rotate on 48 electronic screens throughout the country carrying two very simple messages.
The slogan Independence is normal is emblazoned on the first across a scenic view of Scotland intended to both soften the message and inspire positive feelings about Scotlands scenic beauty.
The second carries a humorous image of a group of young people looking at their phones, with the words “Independence is inevitable” in large white text on a blue background reminding onlookers of the Saltire without actually having a flag in the image. The strapline states that 72% of 16-34 year olds support Scottish independence.
“These two contrasting images work well together and both give a clear and positive message about independence without being nationalistic or flag-waving,” explained Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp of Believe in Scotland. “We thought it was important to communicate that young people wholeheartedly support independence which should send a message to older folks to consider their position - it's also intended to be a little disheartening for unionist campaigners.”
He added: “Independence is of course only inevitable if the Yes community gets behind positive and high profile campaigns such as Believe in Scotland. We steer clear of all the negativity and politicking, we just keep reaching out engaging, educating and converting the undecided and the persuadable”.
Progress
Believe in Scotland is the largest most active independence campaign and since winning The National’s award for independence campaign of the year for 2020, it has significantly increased campaigning activities.
Spinning out of the pro-Yes Business for Scotland campaign as a grassroots led organisation to supporting local Yes groups with campaign materials, books leaflets posters and the like, the first step was to raise funds, not through a crowdfunder, but from sales of the book Scotland the Brief, the definitive study of Scotland’s economy and its finances.
The book has sold 21,000 copies and sales are still going strong which will help fund more innovative campaigning initiatives in the coming months.
We also partnered with The National sign up 5,550 people to the Yes Challenge looking to convert undecided voters.
Believe in Scotland’s Facebook group now has 20,000 members - so it has grown by 2,300 members a month since its launch late year. Recently, Believe in Scotland has been merging and renaming/rebranding several of its dozen or so Facebook pages and groups to make Believe in Scotland the major independence campaigning brand. Already our Facebook pages combined have more that 200,000 likes. Scotland’s biggest indy page called We are the 45% is rebranding to We Believe in Scotland and several other pages and groups have already been merged and renamed. The 45% name is now out of date as it clearly refers to the result of the 2014 referendum and we are focused on getting more than 55% in indy ref2.
We have also launched an Indy Image Gallery for memes, posters and sharable images . Several images have individually generated more than 1,000 Facebook shares individually and hundreds of thousands of views.
MacIntyre-Kemp said the next step was to launch a major initiative supplying a free campaign pack to more than 120 partnering local Yes groups.
“Combining real-world campaign reach with by far the largest social media reach of any independence group means Believe in Scotland is well placed to keep pushing our positive independence message and help get Yes over the line in indyref2, most likely in Autumn 2022” he said.