How AOC Could Help Promote the Planned Parenthood Action Fund
By Kassandra Lopez, Global Strategic Communications graduate student at the University of Florida
Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. They have been championing reproductive health for over 100 years. Planned Parenthood is an advocate for educating people to make conscious decisions. Additionally, they are losing funding, and educating people to vote would increase support of them, and could prevent their funding from disappearing. PP seeks to communicate to potential voters how impactful their votes are and make them feel empowered, all the while alerting them of how needed these votes toward defending their cause.
Currently, PP is using social media to share information and inspiration to potential voters, this will be done by sharing information in a readily accessible format. Many of the people who choose not to vote, do not understand the impact their one vote has- this is an angle they explore through statistics. By using influencers and other persons of interest to share their voting stories and their own education processes, they seek to influence their audience. Strong and impactful visuals also play a role in the process of getting people excited to go out and vote.
At this time, I believe that Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez would make an excellent influencer for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and their goal of influencing voting. By taking her office at the young age of 29, “Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress.” Watkins, Eli) This is a great inspiration of PP’s target audience of young women. In regard to social media, “She has been noted for her substantial social media presence relative to her fellow members of Congress.”(McCammond, Alexi) Additonally, adding to her ability to communicate and advocate for PP is that “Ocasio-Cortez majored in international relations at Boston University, graduating cum laude in 2011.” (Snopes) And, Ocasio-Cortez is “…among the first female members of the Democratic Socialists of America elected to serve in Congress.” (Neufeld, Jennie)
Ocasio-Cortez advocates for a progressive platform that aligns with Planned Parenthood’s goals in terms of politics and freedoms. This meshes well with the pro-voting focus. I feel her style of posting would be received well by both her and PP’s audience. A collaboration with her would strengthen both audience bases, she could easily participate by hosting an IG live Q&A, and a photo post announcing the upcoming Q&A.
Planned Parenthood should ultimately leave the setting up/visual guidelines to AOC as she typically does these kinds of videos from home. It would wise of PP to advise AOC to incorporate pink into the imagery of the video (pink top, lipstick, background etc..) as this aligns with their brand and style, and for her to keep the mood energetic. Overall, this partnership would be an excellent show of influencer marketing and the alignment of target audiences.
Works Cited
Watkins, Eli (November 6, 2018). “Ocasio-Cortez to be youngest woman ever elected to Congress”. CNN. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
McCammond, Alexi (November 28, 2018). “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has as much social media clout as her fellow freshman Democrats, combined”. Axios. Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
“Did U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Graduate Cum Laude from Boston University?”. Snopes.com. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
Neufeld, Jennie (June 27, 2018). “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic Socialists of America member. Here’s what that means”. Vox. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
