Welcome to the Power Shifts newsletter. I’m Joseph Lavoie, a partner at Crestview, a global public affairs agency. Each week I share frameworks, playbooks, and case studies on designing effective public affairs strategies. I also explore my longstanding theory that every business is in the business of politics.
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I’m continuing to explore what it takes to launch regulatory/public affairs campaigns quickly. Over the last few weeks, I’ve explored new frameworks and concepts I’m stitching together that would let me launch a campaign within 72 hours, not 72 days. If you have skipped over my recent posts on the topic, let me get you caught up in four bullets. To launch a minimum viable campaign, you need:
The Win Theory (Define the win and how you’ll get there)
The Arena Map (Assess which game you’re playing, how to get in, and how to win)
The Yes Math. (A person-by-person accounting of who you need to win over)
A Message House (A clear message, ideally with a call-to-action)
What comes next? Your coalition. This is where the rubber starts to meet the road, and as a result, where many teams start to stall out. You don’t need a big tent, you need a spine.
Build Your Coalition Spine
By now you should be feeling confident. You have clarity on the message. You've got the proof to back it up. And you're ready for the inevitable attacks. But you've got no reason to feel confident unless you put all of this thinking and work to use. You need to package up the Message House and pre-buttals so your team, allies, and validators can pick it up in a minute.
But let's be real. No one is going to spread your message until you enlist captains to do this heavy lifting. Most teams will get to this stage, circulate the messaging, and feel like they're work is done. Truth is, the work hasn't even begun. If you're going to spread your message, you need the help of a coalition, and a structured approach to building it. That’s because decision-makers rarely move on the count of a single company or stakeholder asking them to. They move when unlikely allies line up behind a sensible, specific request.
Your Coalition Spine is the minimum set of partners who make a yes feel credible and safe: people decision-makers would otherwise expect to disagree, now agreeing on this one narrow fix.
You’ll want to think in three tiers:
Anchor Allies — they put names on paper and each delivers one concrete action this week.
Active Supporters — they’ll do one time-boxed thing on a date you set (sign a letter, join a brief, send staff to a site visit).
Prospects — warm leads you won’t chase this morning, but you’ll tag for later asks.
For a quick minimal viable campaign, aim to identify 5-10 anchor allies, 30 active supporters and 50+prospects. These are not huge numbers, but that’s the point. You need to build the spine, and you’ll have a higher chance of building momentum with these numbers. Movements always start small.
Step One: Map Lanes and Name Captains
Time: 60 minutes
Start by mapping lanes rather than logos: health, retail, small business, workers, science/standards, parents/schools, and community. Name real people in each lane and write a one-line summary under each name:
Why they matter, what they can do next week, and what they need from us to say yes.
If you can’t name people, you don’t have a lane—keep going until you do.
What’s a captain? A credible person who can move a small circle—typically 10 people—from support to action. Think of them as your campaign's relationship engines. They can look ten colleagues, friends, or acquaintances in the eye and say, "do this one thing by Tuesday," and they'll do it.
What makes them different? They don't need to carry a big title. What they have is trust. They could be the shift supervisor everyone listens to, the buyer who knows how resets really work, the grocer who can text three other shop owners and get replies, or the pediatric dietician whose opinion carries weight on a parent WhatsApp thread. When a captain asks, people act.
Why do you need captains? Because all forms of broadcast messaging convert poorly. Peer follow-ups convert 4-6x better because the ask arrives from someone known and trusted. In campaign after campaign, a gentle nudge from someone known to you multiplies completion rates several fold.
How do you find captains? To find your captains, scan the Arena Map you made yesterday for people who have two qualities:
Enough credibility to influence others on this issue
Enough of a relationship with you to be willing to help.
Aim to identify at least 10 captains who can each reach different circles of influence. This is more art than org chart. Pick for credibility and reach, not seniority. In the food and beverage example we have used throughout this series, these could be plant leads who can translate process into plain English. Or regional sales and category managers who understand retailer timelines. Or independent grocers who live the consequences of rushed changeovers:
Health Lane: Dr. Melissa Chen, Nutrition Policy Director at Public Health Institute
She can validate our science with regulators, can submit expert testimony next Wednesday, and needs our implementation timeline study.
Small Business Lane: Carlos Rodriguez, Independent Grocers Alliance
He represents 200+ small retailers who would face compliance challenges, can organize a meeting with 5 store owners, and needs our cost impact analysis for small retailers.
Manufacturing Lane: Sarah Johnson, VP of Operations at Regional Bottling Association
She can speak to production line realities, can host a plant tour for regulators, and needs our phased implementation proposal.
Standards Lane: Professor Robert Kim, Food Labeling Expert
His academic credibility adds weight to our position, can submit a technical comment by Friday, and needs our international standards comparison.
Consumer Lane: Maria Gonzalez, Parent Advocacy Network
She brings the practical consumer perspective, can organize a focus group of parents next week, and needs our consumer comprehension study results.
Step Two: Refine your offer before you recruit
Time: 15 minutes per lane
Before you start recruiting your captains, pause to clarify exactly what you're offering them. Remember, useful coalition partners are busy and skeptical—they've joined too many coalitions that produced pretty PDFs with no results. They're wondering: "What's in it for me, and will this be worth my time?"
Lead with what you will do for them, not what you want them to do for you:
Share clean data and insights: "We'll provide you with verified data on implementation costs that your members can use in their own planning."
Handle all logistics: "We'll manage the meeting scheduling, prepare all materials, and send you only the final products ready for your signature."
Draft everything: "We'll write the letter draft, the talking points, and the follow-up notes—you'll just need to review and approve."
Keep the commitment light and time-boxed: "This will require exactly two 20-minute calls and one email review over the next 10 days."
Then make a single, narrow request that's tied to the decision clock: “Would you co-sign a 200-word letter by Thursday and send one representative to a 20-minute briefing next Monday?”
Be specific about the commitment (a letter with word count), the deadline (Thursday), and the exact follow-up (one person, 20 minutes, Monday). This clarity makes it easy for busy people to say yes because they can immediately assess if they can fulfill the request.
How this would look if you're in the hypothetical hot seat of the food and beverage company:
"We've prepared a one-page analysis showing how the rushed implementation timeline will impact small retailers in your association.
We'll handle drafting the letter to the committee, coordinating all signatures, and delivering it to the right people.
All we need is your review of our draft by Wednesday and permission to include your logo. This entire process will take less than 30 minutes of your time, but will significantly strengthen our case for a phased implementation that protects your members' operations."
Step Three: Recruit, confirm, and slot actions
Time: 60 minutes
If your goal is to have 12 anchor allies confirmed, 30 active supporters, and 100+ prospects in the funnel by the end of day, here's how to get there:
12 anchor allies: These are your core captains and key validators who will publicly stand behind your message. Identify and personally reach out to these individuals today. Confirm their commitment with your specific ask.
30 active supporters: These are people who will take meaningful action beyond just agreeing with you. Each of your captains should commit to bringing in at least three active supporters (3 × 10 captains = 30 supporters). Track these commitments in your spreadsheet.
100+ prospects: Your captains will each identify 10 people in their network (10 × 10 captains = 100 prospects), plus any additional prospects you and your team identify directly.
What do you need your captains to do this week? Their job is simple: make sure the 10 people they can influence in their network complete this week's action, and surface one validator or story if they can.
Set expectations up front. Participation is voluntary and job-safe; all asks are nonpartisan and issue-focused; data is minimal and consented. What you measure is straightforward:
Does each captain have ten consented names?
Do at least 70% of those complete the action on time?
Do captains respond to their ten within twenty-four hours?
Did they surface at least one good validator lead or useful story?
If those numbers hold, your ground game is working.
Keep them in the loop. Give captains a five-minute brief they can remember without notes: the one-sentence roof, three short reasons that make the ask sensible, a pointer to the proof, the date of the action, and the promise that someone on your team will help if a contact gets stuck.
You'll need a simple way to track and mobilize these captains. Create a spreadsheet with each captain's name, their circle of influence, what you're asking them to do, and a column to track their progress. The key is to make their job as simple as possible – provide them with clear talking points and specific asks they can share with their network. Track your progress toward the 12-30-100+ coalition goal in this same spreadsheet.
How this would look if you're in the hypothetical hot seat of the food and beverage company:
Your captains' primary task next week is to guide their network of ten people through completing a six-minute standards comment. This comment will ask the committee to implement two specific changes: phase the "High in Sugar" warning from 12→10 g/100 ml over a twelve-month period, and permit a 10 mm icon on bottles ≤350 ml. With your conservative 50% completion rate target, your captains will generate approximately 50 substantive comments (10 people × 10 captains × 50% completion), providing a strong foundation before broader outreach efforts begin.
What comes next? The Evidence Pack. I’ll be back next week with more details. If you want it in your inbox, subscribe below.