Showcase
Harry & Louise
“Coverage”
Sue worked alongside Ben Goddard, “the godfather of television advocacy,” for seven years. During this time, she helped bring public policy icons Harry & Louise back to the airwaves in a campaign dubbed, “Harry & Louise Return.”
“get the job done”
During Sue’s time at Goddard Claussen, Sue and Ben delivered numerous presentations on the historic impact of Harry & Louise. One of the original commercials sits inside the Smithsonian Museum.
fun fact
Sue chased down the exact coffee mugs from the original series to create a sense of continuity decades later. They are the dark gray mugs you see on the table in “Coverage.”
Issue Advocacy
“last best chance”
NTI has one clear mission: help safely secure the world's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and tons of weapons-usable nuclear material. They wanted to take their cause to the level. The answer was an hour-long dramatic feature film. "Last Best Chance" was produced with support from the NTI, with additional funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Ben Goddard wrote and directed the HBO feature, "Last Best Chance," which the 9/11 commission hailed as "a wake-up call for America and the world."
“PENNIES”
In 2009, the weakened economy left federal, state, and local governments looking for ways to fill budget gaps. At the same time, the health community was drawing attention to the obesity epidemic. This "perfect storm" left the food and beverage industry as potential targets for "fat taxes." We combined traditional paid media, aggressive grassroots recruitment and online social media tactics into one cohesive campaign. Within six months, AAFT had recruited 500 coalition members, collected 82,000 individual petition signers and sent over 100,000 emails to Congress.
Sue managed local anti-soda tax campaigns in upwards of 26 states, cities, and localities, often dozens at a time.
“gridlock”
In 2006, the Air Transport Association approached us with the goal of lobbying Congress on the reauthorization of the FAA and the Air Transport Trust Fund. Goddard Claussen began by conducting research, narrowing down key messages, and creating a slogan. The central feature of our campaign was the creation and production of several videos that were shown in airports and as in-flight videos. "Gridlock" used computer animated anthropomorphic airplanes to capture people's attention decades before AI animation.
Ballot Measures
“Lights Out”
Have you ever had to flip a car? The television ad "Lights Out" for the Yes 2 Save Lives (Yes on Amendment 2) campaign, a 2010 ballot measure in Georgia, included just such a stunt.
“changing the lines”
The television ad "Changing the Lines" for the Voters First Act for Congress (Yes on Proposition 20/No on Proposition 27) campaign, a 2010 ballot measure in California.
"Alisa"
In April 2008, Maine passed legislation imposing a costly new tax on beverages to support the state's health plan with virtually no public debate or citizen input. Difficult ballot wording left voters confused and initial polling found the "Yes" vote trailing 44% to 48%. Through a multi-media campaign featuring real people, we delivered a message that successfully connected the tax to economic hardship and the fate of small businesses in Maine. We suceeded with a dramatic come from behind victory on election day when Question 1 passed with over 64% of the vote.
Digital Video
“Stella’s Donors”
A former Fairfax County Public Schools Board Member wants a promotion to the Virginia State House in 2023.
“Stop the Transportation Climate Initiative”
The Zoldak Agency helped several state think tanks fight the TCI via digital advocacy campaigns.
“ONE COUNTRY ONE MARKET”
The Zoldak Agency was brought in by generous grant underwriters to teach a trio of conservative Canadian think tanks how to run an issue advocacy campaign for the first time. The ground-breaking campaign collected 12,000 petition signers in just a few short months.
“ICBA”
The Zoldak Agency has worked with multiple trade associations on issue advocacy campaigns, sometimes even launching a website and advertising in under 48 hours.
The Zoldak Agency is also part of the team that defeated the Hall Tax in Tennessee in 2016, making Tennessee an income tax free state in a historical campaign that is now the subject of a PhD thesis.
“PARADIGM SHIFT”
The Zoldak Agency often convenes thought leaders in the conservative movement to focus on innovative solutions to unique movement-wide challenges.
Winning means more than electing politicians. The Zoldak Agency has worked on complex election integrity issues as well as highly targeted voter registration drives targeted to individual non-voters ranked by algorithm. We provide advanced data solutions in-house that often perform better than those made by Aristotle, L2, and i360.