Introduction
The European Green Party represents an extensive alliance of green parties from across Europe. Dedicated to ecological, economic, and social sustainability, the European Greens play a vital role in shaping policies and actions around environmental protection and climate change. With a diverse membership spanning numerous European countries, it embodies a wide range of cultures and languages, united by a common vision for a green and just future.
The European Greens' successes in the political arena, particularly in influencing environmental policies and promoting green initiatives, highlight its critical role in European politics. Notably, the Party made significant gains in the past European parliamentary election, opening new possibilities for future impact. However, as climate change accelerates, even with impressive policy gains, prioritising the environment becomes increasingly urgent. The Greens, especially within Europe, find themselves urgently racing against time to gain the necessary political power to save our planet for future generations.
Facing this need for increased political influence amidst the climate crisis and other progressive social issues, the European Greens found their impact limited by their historical digital infrastructure. This challenge led them to seek a partnership with Tectonica, known for their strategic expertise in political and advocacy campaigns.
The Challenge and Opportunity
As the European Greens faced these pressing challenges and the need for heightened political influence, their existing digital infrastructure was proving to be a significant hindrance. They were self-hosting open-source software that, although valuable, proved difficult to maintain, threatening their effectiveness and reliability in supporting their important and ambitious aims. The software had become overly complex and confusing due to new, inconsistent data storage methods added over time. The European Greens' technological setup lacked shared utility and efficiency. Their party’s data system was not ideal for list building, and their current infrastructure was impeding their strategic ability to maximise the capacitation of key contacts. This situation presented a major roadblock in tapping into the potential of digital technologies for maximum political impact.
However, within these challenges lay a significant opportunity. The European Greens had recently established a new digital team, bringing fresh talent and perspectives to the table. This development opened the door for new innovative approaches. The presence of this team, combined with the urgency of the challenges at hand, created a unique moment for the European Greens to revitalise its digital strategy and operations.
Strategic Approach and Value
Tectonica conducted a year-long discovery process, engaging extensively with the European Greens' full team, heads of departments, and individual units. This in-depth exploration was crucial in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the European Greens' needs, aspirations, and the specific challenges they faced. Through these consultations, Tectonica was able to craft a tailor-made digital strategy plan that aligned deeply with the European Greens’ vision and objectives.
This deep dive into the European Greens’ organisational structure and its multifaceted needs allowed Tectonica to present a strategic plan that was not just about implementing new technologies but about fundamentally transforming how the European Greens engaged digitally with its stakeholders and supporters. The plan was comprehensive, addressing everything from the core technology stack to stakeholder engagement strategies and capacity building.
In developing a strategy for the European Greens' project, our approach was to maximise their expanded digital capacity, directing it towards a stronger organisational influence and power. We began by identifying the organisation's primary direction, leveraging strategic assets, and confronting unique challenges and operational paradoxes within their specific context. Our analysis included a detailed audience assessment, where we strategically weighted key audiences based on their importance to the Greens' objectives. This was complemented by mapping core strategic stakeholder groups, defining their roles in the overall strategy. This strategy wasn't just about alignment; it was about a deep, practical understanding of the European Greens' unique challenges, needs, strategic assets to leverage and objectives, turning these insights into a concrete, actionable roadmap. This approach provided a clear, adaptable framework for the Greens, emphasising digital advancement and political impact that directly corresponded with their strategic ambitions and situational demands.
In essence, Tectonica's strategy was not only about building a more effective digital infrastructure but also about empowering the European Greens' team to maximise the full potential of digital tools for building strategic capacity.
Core Tech Stack
In selecting the core technology stack for the European Greens, Tectonica focused on a CRM system to meet the party's evolving needs. This decision followed an extensive analysis and a comprehensive discovery phase, leading to the choice of HubSpot. Praised for its robust CRM, marketing automation, and analytics features, HubSpot's adaptability was key for engaging with the European Greens' diverse audience.
HubSpot might not be the first CRM that comes to mind for political parties, however it holds significant power for political entities. Originally designed as marketing software, Hubspot offers a significant opportunity for enhancing the strategic capacity of key stakeholders. Its foundational flywheel model of marketing is based on the concept that the most effective marketing deepens relationships with current contacts. This core design presents numerous advantages for organisations aiming to build power through their constituents.
HubSpot also allowed for smooth integration with professional patented gateways for donations, and systems for event management and list serves. This robust tech stack, tailored to the European Greens' specific requirements, was crucial for effective stakeholder management and preparing for the 2024 elections, boosting both user experience and the European Greens' digital efficacy.
Additionally, Tectonica employed Jamstack, a web development architecture, to build the European Greens' website. Jamstack's approach enabled a modular and maintainable structure, facilitating user-friendly site configurations and streamlined content updates. This choice significantly enhanced the synergy between the website and CRM, offering a cohesive and improved user experience.
Beyond merely selecting and implementing HubSpot, a significant part of Tectonica's value lay in customising the tech stack to meet the European Greens' unique needs. As noted by Alonso Hernández, Tectonica’s Chief Innovation Officer:
“Our innovative approach and technology profoundly transformed the European Greens' stakeholder network management, significantly boosting efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation. By intricately mapping relationships and customizing the CRM, we created a streamlined, flexible system, enabling targeted management of diverse groups and enhanced communication. This strategic overhaul, featuring advanced data management and automation, empowered each team member with better tools for tracking, action, and engagement, marking a significant leap in organizational capability.”
Website Focus and Design
Tectonica’s approach to the European Greens' website was also strategic and purpose-driven. Recognizing that the primary audience consisted of base supporters and stakeholders engaged in Green politics, the website was designed to appeal to these groups while also being inviting to the general public. The tone was set to encourage meaningful action rather than just belief in the Greens, projecting hope and a clear path forward.
The website's redesign prioritised accessibility, aligning with international standards, and introduced a new aesthetic that resonated with the European Greens’ branding guidelines. A significant focus was on the events section, rebuilding it from scratch for efficient creation and management of complex events, improving user interaction and engagement.
“Our project for the European Greens employed a distinct methodology, focusing on strategically evaluating and weighting target audiences to enhance engagement. We crafted a website that embodied EGP's stature in European politics through a clear brand hierarchy and core visual cues. This approach, combined with tailored engagement opportunities and easy access to key information like political positions, was deeply integrated with an advanced CRM system for a dynamic experience. The design and functionality were aimed not just at providing information but at significantly boosting conversion efficiency and user interaction.”
- Mariana Spada, Tectonica’s Chief Creative Officer
Brand Expansion
In line with the strategic focus, Tectonica worked on expanding the European Greens' brand guidelines to better serve the evolving needs of the party. This included developing a Brand Application Package to adapt the existing brand for a variety of uses, ensuring its effective application in digital environments and across various programs and occasions like Pride and Europe Day.
Impact and Results
Tectonica’s efforts led to a more intuitive website structure, better integration of user flows into the CRM, and enhanced campaign sections with CRM-integrated forms for specific user engagement. This approach not only revamped the European Greens’ digital presence but also streamlined processes like donation flows and event calendar management, making them more user-friendly and efficient. The collaborative and modular approach adopted in this project set the foundation for the European Greens' future expansion.
A key strategic value provided by the technology stack was the unprecedented level of transparency it offered to the European Greens. The ability to view a dashboard with all integrations and data flows greatly enhanced troubleshooting and shifted the organisation from siloed operations to a shared infrastructure for managing relationships and stakeholders collaboratively. With the new system in place, the European Greens now find it easy to implement new integrations as and when needed, allowing for greater flexibility and responsiveness to changing requirements.
Additionally, strategically placing and properly designing forms on the website has shown a positive impact on the European Greens's newsletter sign-ups, which have more than tripled since the launch of the new website.
Through this strategic digital transformation, Tectonica not only addressed the European Greens' immediate technical challenges but also laid the foundation for a more engaged, dynamic, and efficient political operation. The implementation of innovative digital strategies and tools has significantly empowered the European Greens, enhancing its capacity to influence policy and engage effectively with its diverse stakeholders.
Conclusion
Tectonica's work with the European Green Party exemplifies the transformative power of strategic digital innovation in the political sphere. By comprehensively understanding and addressing the European Greens' unique challenges and potential, Tectonica has not only revamped the party's digital infrastructure but also significantly bolstered its capacity to drive impactful political change in the critical area of climate policy.
"Tectonica's methodologies enabled them to acquire such a deep understanding of our organisation that, by the time we were implementing our new tech stack, their team was reading our minds. The value in their work lies not just in their unrivalled expertise, but also in their commitment, passion and kindness. Their digital strategy plan and our new tech stack has tremendously professionalised our organisation and opens up so many opportunities for engaging potential voters in the 2024 European election campaign and beyond."
- Wim Vandonck, Digital Technology Strategist, European Green Party
