Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions 3.3. IDENTIFYING TARGET AUDIENCES An effective advocacy campaign is about getting someone to move and do something that they otherwise wouldn’t do.22 Accordingly, your campaign must have a clear focus on what you want to happen – your goals and objectives – and the people who you need to convince in order to make that change happen. You should also identify those individuals or organizations that are opposed to your goals, as they may actively work against your campaign. A stakeholder analysis is a useful tool to help you map the different groups you need to reach and the reason you need to reach them: • Target: the primary decision-maker or decision-making group that can bring about the change you want to see happen, such as a government minister or a parliamentary committee • Influencers: those people that can help shape the views and attitudes of the target, such as the minister’s advisor, opinion leaders, media commentators, business leaders or a politician’s electoral constituents • Allies: individuals and groups with whom you can share resources and work in partnership to achieve shared outcomes, such as civil society organizations, community leaders, faith groups, unions and professional associations • Constituents: other individuals or groups you want to support your position, especially those who have a degree of influence over the target • Opponents: those individuals or groups who will actively seek to discredit your position and prevent you from achieving your goals. NHRIs should understand that certain journalists, commentators and media outlets can be key influencers. Some may be allies and some may be opponents. They should be included in any stakeholder analysis. Once you have identified the various stakeholders, you can then begin to chart: • The attitude of each stakeholder towards your goal and objectives • The influence of the stakeholder over your goals and objectives • The importance of the goal and objectives for the stakeholder. As the IFEX Network notes, this form of stakeholder analysis helps you “prioritize who you should target to maximize your resources; plan suitable strategies for each audience; and identify possible risks and ways to manage them”.23 Different stakeholders can shift their attitudes during the course of a campaign and their level of influence may also change. New stakeholders may also surface that you need to reach. NHRIs need to be able to monitor and respond to changing stakeholder dynamics throughout the campaign. 22 Jim Schultz; The Democracy Owners’ Manual: A Practical Guide to Changing the World; 2002; available at http://democracyctr. org/citizenadvocacy/thinking-strategically/. 23 IFEX Network; “Developing a Campaign Strategy: How to Design a Campaign Strategy”; available at www.ifex.org/campaigns/ developing_campaign_strategy/index3.php. 44 | Chapter 3: Media advocacy