Beginning in 2023, we have been working on the re-election campaign of the incumbent Head of State of a Southern African country, a leader who is challenged not only by the head of the opposition but also by his own predecessor.

The predecessor, who also served as the former President of our client’s party, has taken an extraordinary stance by supporting the opposition from exile. This two-front challenge requires addressing both the internal challenge within the party and the external electoral contest.

Our work is focused on managing the two-front challenge, identifying factors which will shift voters, advising the candidate on his communications and producing creative and advertising materials in the pre-campaign period, preparing the ground for the election campaign.

In 2015, in his capacity as the Prime Minister’s chief strategist, Aron Shaviv undertook a high-risk approach to steer the Prime Minister into victory at a time when he was trailing behind. Instead of disregarding the Prime Minister’s challenges, Shaviv made them the focal point, reminding voters of the possibility of eventual defeat.

Targeting disenchanted right-wing voters, Shaviv emphasized the consequences of not supporting the Prime Minister, noting that if right-wingers voted for minor candidates with the assumption that the incumbent would stay as part of the package, the Prime Minister would lose and the Left would win.

The unconventional strategy paid off – the Prime Minister defied expectations, securing a surprising lead over opponents despite polling to the contrary. With Shaviv’s assistance, he achieved a remarkable political resurrection.

Faced with a concession fee that was 20% higher than a newly privatized competitor port, our client - one of the world's largest port operators - was at a crossroads. The traditional avenue of arbitration meant exorbitant legal fees and the uncertainties of a protracted legal battle with uncertain outcomes. Moreover, even a victory in court offered no guarantees of enforceability against a sovereign entity.

In a move to renegotiate the concession agreement, we took a novel approach of shifting the framing of the issue from a commercial dispute to a domestic political issue – both in the city where our client operated their port and nationally. Our strategy involved an aggressive grassroots campaign presenting the higher concession fee as a form of special taxation on the residents of the city, rather than the operator. Drawing attention to the fact that the city's economy, heavily reliant on tourism from cruise ships, we leveraged this message against an imminent national election, placing significant pressure on the ruling party's candidates in the city. Faced with potential electoral repercussions, the party's leadership was compelled to reconsider the concession agreement. This innovative approach not only avoided the pitfalls of protracted arbitration and enforcement, but also resulted in a successful renegotiation of the concession fee.

In 2016, we were presented with a challenging and urgent mission: to find a safe haven for members of the ancient Christian community from the Mar Elia Chaldean Catholic Church in Qaraqosh, Iraq. This community faced an imminent threat from ISIS, which had already conquered the neighbouring city of Erbil, 50km away. While the logistical components of the airlift and the security vetting of the community members were managed by dedicated intelligence professionals and NGOs, our task was to secure a destination for these individuals—a nation willing to offer refuge.

We initiated discussions with several Central Eastern European countries, leveraging our extensive network of political contacts and expertise in negotiation. Recognizing the importance of aligning our humanitarian efforts with the cultural and religious contexts of the potential host countries, we sought the influential partnership of the Vatican. Our engagement with the Vatican proved to be pivotal; their moral authority and dedication to protecting persecuted Christians added significant weight to our case. After intense negotiations and shuttle diplomacy, we succeeded in our mission. We secured a commitment from an EU country with strong Christian traditions that was receptive to our message and granted immediate refuge for the 149 members of the Mar Elia community.

Applying our experience and expertise in shifting voters from side to side in election campaigns, we embarked on a strategic project for a global fintech company aiming to attract high-value clients from competitors. The project's cornerstone was a comprehensive public opinion research initiative, comprising qualitative in-depth interviews with target clients, enabling us to pinpoint two factors that would shift a client from competitors over to our client.

The execution phase saw the development and launch of a full-scale data-driven advertising campaign. Drawing parallels from political campaigning, the messaging was highly targeted and personalized, juxtaposing the weaknesses of competitors with our client’s strengths. By utilizing a mix of digital media, targeted social media advertising, and content marketing, the campaign created a compelling narrative around the client's platform. Through a combination of sophisticated targeting, compelling messaging, and a clear value proposition, the campaign successfully shifted a significant number of high-value clients to our client's platform, demonstrating the power of applying political campaign tactics and deep public opinion insights to the competitive world of fintech.

Vantage Influence has gained tremendous experience and expertise working with female candidates around the world. Our track record began to take shape in 2013 when we collaborated with two party leaders in Central Eastern Europe and the Baltics, resulting in both candidates securing their places in the European Parliament.

As we broadened our geographical scope, 2014 marked a significant victory in Southeast Asia, where we played a pivotal role in the re-election of a Prime Minister amidst a prolonged political crisis.

We were subsequently given the opportunity to work with a female Presidential candidate in 2017 in Central America. Most recently, in 2023, we worked with a Presidential candidate in one of Latin America’s largest countries, ran a successful Parliamentary campaign in Southeast Asia, and led the re-election of a Head of State in South Asia.