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Green Party places app at center of election campaign strategy

Leading up to the elections in Britain, the Green Party launched an application that assesses whether voters agree with its policies, forming an integral part of the party?s broader election campaign.

The Green Party tapped Grapple to help it along the verification and submission process. The application, which took two weeks to build, is now accessible internationally on all major mobile handsets, including the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and Samsung, from major application stores or via text message.

Mobile Marketer?s Dan Butcher interviewed Allistair Crane, CEO of Grapple Mobile, London, about the Green Party application. Here is what he had to say:

What was the Green Party?s strategy behind the launch of the application for multiple handsets?
An Aegis Media digital agency, glue, came to us to help the Green Party put its policies in the pockets of the electorate, not just those with high-end phones.

Inevitably any political party is going to want to engage with the largest audience possible and Grapple's unique, patented technology enabled it to do this.

Having learned from Obama's groundbreaking use of digital, mainstream British political parties have used this British general election as the first to really embrace social media of all types.

The Green Party was keen to take advantage of the opportunity to deliver its crucial key messages and other vital voting information to the general public in a way that engaged and interested them.

What is the target demographic of the application?
As with any election campaign, each party wants to garner as many votes as possible.

Through the creation of a truly cross-platform mobile application, the Green Party has made its key messages available to the widest possible audience.

Though iPhone users are some of the most active in the application market, they represent just a small percentage of the population.

It was particularly important for the Green Party to develop an application that was accessible to a mainstream audience, whatever type of phone they are using, to ensure it was reaching as much of the voting demographic as possible.

Many pundits are saying that this election will be won or lost on the ability to capture first-time voters, and it has been shown that this predominantly younger audience is the most diverse in terms of the types of devices they use.

As such, the Green Party was keen to ensure they were catering for the largest possible portion of devices being used across Britain.

What is the price point of the application?
Given the application?s key objective is to drive awareness, engagement and interaction in the run-up to the general election and to ensure the application is accessible to all. There was no cost linked to the download.

This encouraged the viral spread of downloads from user to user.

What challenges does Grapple address for the Green Party?
The unique way Grapple works, using one code base for all handsets, meant we were able to deliver a cost-effective cross-platform mobile application in a matter of weeks rather than months, without compromising on quality or user experience.

This quick turnaround and low cost suited the Green Party's limited time frame and tight budget.

What is the content and functionality of the Green Party application? How does it further its goals?
The application is designed to assess how closely aligned the views of the user are with the Green Party's policies.

Using a percentage-based calculation, the application assesses the users views and attributes a score as to how "Green" they are, at which point the user can then access more policy information and share their score with friends via Facebook, text message or email.

How have the Green Party and Grapple gotten the word out about this application (i.e. marketing tactics?)
As part of Grapple's full-service offering, we fast-tracked the verification, signing and submission process.

In addition, Grapple hosts the application?this means that users can download a relevant version of the application for their specific phone by simply typing the link into their mobile browser or texting GREEN to 83040.

Both the link and the text number formed an integral part of the broader advertising campaign.