Greeley Demands Better: Vote Yes on 1A

Challenge

Novitas Communications was tasked with helping Greeley Demands Better win a high-stakes special election in Greeley—while being outspent 10 to 1 by the opposition campaign.

The campaign faced:

• Ongoing legal challenges and lawsuits, including several attempts to block the vote
• A compressed timeline — the February 24 special election was confirmed by city council in December 2025, giving the campaign fewer than 10 weeks to educate voters and mobilize support
• A complex financial and zoning issue that was difficult to communicate to voters
• Opposition messaging focused on questionable economic promises and growth

Novitas needed to break through the noise, simplify the issue, and mobilize voters around a clear call to action.

About

Ballot Issue 1A was a referendum that repealed a zoning ordinance tied to a proposed $1.1 billion sports and entertainment development.

Supporters of 1A argued the deal lacked transparency and placed significant financial risk on Greeley taxpayers, while opponents framed the project as an economic opportunity for the region.

The election became a referendum on accountability, fiscal responsibility, and the role of voters in major development decisions.

Solution

Novitas Communications executed a fully integrated campaign strategy anchored by earned media and reinforced through digital outreach.

The campaign focused on three key pillars:

1. Earned Media as a Force Multiplier
   Novitas prioritized aggressive media outreach to explain the complexity of the issue through trusted third-party sources.

• Secured over 1,000 media placements across seven months
• Reached 2.3 billion screens  and achieved over $21 million in advertising-value equivalency (AVE)
• Leveraged coverage to add legitimacy and provide shareable content

2. Clear, Disciplined Digital Messaging
   With a social media budget roughly 10 times smaller than the opposition’s, every dollar had to work harder — which is why earned media served as the primary amplifier and paid digital was used surgically rather than broadly. Content remained simple and direct:

• Focused messaging framework: Define → Contrast → Humanize → Ask
• Consistent call to action: Vote YES on 1A
• Over 1 million paid impressions in a small-market campaign
• 176,000+ emails and 100,000+ texts sent to targeted voters

3. Integrated Grassroots + Digital Execution
   Novitas helped align field and digital efforts to maximize voter contact:

• Nearly 14,000 petition signatures collected
• 7,500 handwritten postcards sent
• 1,200 yard signs placed
• Targeted outreach to key voter segments including petition signers and high-propensity voters

This approach allowed the campaign to stay focused, credible, and highly efficient despite limited resources.

Results

The campaign delivered a decisive victory:

• 54.4% YES vote in the February 2026 special election
• More than 20,000 ballots cast, with strong turnout for a special election
• Successful repeal of the zoning ordinance tied to the project

Social & Digital Performance

Outspent 10 to 1 on social media, Greeley Demands Better still drove exceptional reach and engagement through disciplined content strategy and targeted paid campaigns.

• Facebook generated 489,043 views and 9,166 interactions — with follower count growing 367% over the course of the campaign
• Instagram, launched from scratch, drove 82,831 views and 657 interactions with no existing audience
• Programmatic campaigns delivered 166,879 impressions at a click-through rate 50% above the political benchmark
• The website attracted 8,280 unique visitors and 15,849 page views

Despite being significantly outspent, the campaign:

• Controlled the narrative through earned media
• Effectively educated voters on a complex issue
• Mobilized a winning coalition across party lines

Ballot Issue 1A passed—demonstrating that a disciplined, PR-driven campaign can overcome even the largest spending disadvantages.