Lessons from a Lost Election

Well, I lost my recent University Student Council Presidential election - and let's just say it wasn't particularly close.

Not only did I lose the election, I came in dead last (of 4 candidates).

I also know there are folks out there who have never had the chance to meet me who will automatically think or assume things about me based on the campaign (a campaign that reached tens of thousands of students and potentially beyond).

Despite all those negatives I’m still thankful for the experience, and the lessons (that were somewhat painfully learnt) that will stick with me for a long time.

Lesson 1 - Brand and Reputation Can’t Be Built Overnight?

Knowing that we (my campaign) were competing against candidates with significantly more reach and wider brand recognition than us meant that we made the conscious decision to try and run on ideas, and a brand that were radically different from anyone else (my own version of a “Blue Ocean” political strategy).

My thought process was that by going so outside the norms, the shock and awe value would be able to shortcut the process of building a reputation or brand (since we didn’t have the time needed to do it traditionally).?

As my intro might have suggested this strategy had limited success. While I think given the circumstances it was still the best option it clearly wasn’t a substitute for the months or years-long process that it takes to build a reputation and brand. Even if folks liked many of my ideas my lack of a reputation meant that I wasn't able to earn the trust and credibility needed for their first rank vote on the ballot.

In defense of this strategy even long after the election I have had folks who recognize and approach me (who I did not previously know) who expressed their support for my platform and my ideas - so given enough time I think being the "odd one out" can be a winning brand strategy - it just isn't possible to do it overnight.

Reputation is rarely transferable to different areas. Having had very limited prior experience within student government I had to try and draw on my reputation from other areas to create my political brand.

Unfortunately for me, this went as well as if McDonald’s tried to leverage their brand to sell diapers (I don’t think it would work). If you want to build up your brand in a specific area you have to make sure you make the investment in that specific area. You can’t just build your reputation in one niche at one point in time and assume it will transfer everywhere, always.?

Lesson 2 - People can Love Your “Product” But They Have to Be Actual Buyers

Every business wants to find “product-market fit”. I think something that isn’t asked enough though is if the market you are trying to find “fit” with is actually the right market to sell to.

For all I know my platform, ideas, persona, etc were wildly popular with students who don’t vote (77% of eligible voters did not vote in my election) but unfortunately, if they don’t vote then it doesn’t make sense to try and create product-market fit for that particular market.?

I think you can often find the same problem in business. Someone will create an amazing product for a particular market, the product gets interest from users or is wildly popular if it’s free to use, but then when it comes time to try to generate revenue things fall flat. Why?

Because while the product has product-market fit the market it’s attempting to sell to isn’t a viable market.?

You can value innovative and find an unserved niche, but you have to always ask yourself why exactly that niche is underserved, because sometimes that answer explains why there is no competition in that area.

Lesson 3 - All Show and No Substance Doesn’t Work

A significant portion of my campaign was built on very big, very bold and very ambitious promises. On an emotional level they are things everyone wants. Everyone wants people to be able to be safe, everyone wants a community where your family’s socioeconomic or other demographic status doesn’t impact your ability to succeed, and everyone wants to feel that they are going to be treated justly and fairly.?

Only appealing to emotion without being able to back it up with enough logic will eventually cause your show to crumble. It’s nice to promise the moon - but if you can’t answer “how” with a convincing answer people will start to turn away. I believe I would’ve been able to deliver on my promises but I also understand that I did a poor job of communicating that with voters. I have to admit answers like “we’ll find the money” are not the most reassuring to an undecided voter.?

While humans might be emotional creatures who base a lot of our decisions on how we feel rather than pure "logic" we do need at least a bit of logic to be on our side - if for no other reason than to assure ourselves we aren’t making purely emotional decisions.?

Conclusion

To be clear - I have no regrets about the experience. While in hindsight I would’ve done things differently that doesn’t mean I regret having done what I did. Yes, I lost (badly), and in a very public way but I am also proud of what I was able to do. I was proud to be able to champion ideas I really believed would help people, and I was honoured that even though I lost so many people were there to support me.

I am also grateful for the opportunity to condense potentially years worth of learning into a few weeks (that I will remember forever). Whether it was learning how to leverage snapchat ads to build viral buzz about a campaign, or learning how to work the camera to generate TV attention, these are skills that are hard to learn from a book alone, not to mention the skills of keeping calm and sane under pressure and managing the schedule of being a political candidate and full time student.

I can confidently say that the lessons I learned will be applied to my future endeavours no matter what domain those may be in (and if you have any opportunities you think I may be a good fit for please feel free to connect and reach out).?

Sometimes in life when you try new things you fall flat on your face, but as long as you're able to get back up you haven't lost the long game.

If anyone reading this can take away one lesson it wouldn't even be the three I have articulated above.

It would be that if you want to try something but are worried about failing or doing poorly you should go for it. Chances are you will fail or do poorly - but even if you do, as long as you can learn from the experience it isn't really a failure - and every once and a while you do win - even when you don't think you will.

I’d like to dedicate this article to all those who helped me through the process. To all who have been there for me since the beginning, to those who signed my nomination, who rallied people behind me, who helped craft my strategy and to the nearly 700 voters who were there to support Team Ben even though the odds were very much against us, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s folks like you who are the reason I am so optimistic about the future, even when at times our world can look like a very bleak place - you are the lights that shine in the darkness.