Jennifer Dempsie: Independence begins with Scotland’s people

It all began in a street called Hope. Behind the blue doors of our office in Hope Street, in the centre of Scotland’s biggest city, an exciting new type of campaign is beginning to emerge.

From its beginning, the focus of Yes Scotland has been on people, not politicians. To win, you cannot have a political campaign bogged down in a debate which the majority of the public will switch off from.

There was a strong understanding from the start that to be a true movement you need to be of the people and for the people. So far in Scotland, there has been a strong political movement to campaign for an independent Scotland which hasn’t yet translated into majority support for independence, although most polls show minority support for the status quo.

This is in contrast to Catalonia, which hasn’t had a strong political or parliamentary support for independence but has popular support for it through a protest movement, as demonstrated by 1.5 million hitting the streets of Barcelona. The difference between the two movements is clear: Catalans have proved they can get people onto the streets, while the SNP has demonstrated it can get people to the ballot box.

Last weekend’s rally did demonstrate the emergence of a rapidly expanding grassroots campaign transcending party colours. If this people-powered movement translates into votes on polling day, then it might well prove to be the recipe for a majority.

The recent British Social Attitudes survey put support for the Scottish Parliament taking all decisions – also known as being independent – at a record 43 per cent. Something is changing in Scotland. Maybe it’s the Westminster government’s shameful slashing of our welfare state. Maybe people are tired of “more of the same” or are attracted to the idea that Scotland’s future should be in Scotland’s hands. Or maybe it’s the fact that Yes Scotland is demonstrating that principles, not politics, are what independence is about. What we do know is that now, more than ever before, people from across Scotland are rolling up their sleeves, getting interested and getting involved.

Yes Scotland’s purpose is to build the biggest grassroots campaign in Scotland’s history, with a majority saying Yes in 2014. To do that, the independence movement has to grow by the people taking charge. That’s what Yes Scotland is about really, an umbrella organisation led by real people to inspire real people. That’s pretty evident from the eclectic mix of the advisory board, the new team of directors and grassroots pro-Indy groups springing up, such as Labour for Independence, Women for Independence, and the National Collective and Trade Unions for Independence.

That’s not to say that politicians don’t have an important role to play in the campaign, whether it’s the SNP with its track record in getting people to vote, or the Greens and Socialists with their grassroots expertise. All of these skills are a vital part of the mix. But it’s the people who will have real resonance in this campaign.

It’s even more important because people identify with people like themselves, not with many politicians. Research shows that people get their information mostly from other people, with TV, online, newspapers and advertising all further down the communications food chain.

This is where Yes Scotland’s ambassador programme kicks in. Yes Scotland is focused on the power of the people with an ambassador-based campaign taking the positive case for an independent Scotland, one on one, person by person.

Yes Scotland is saying to the people of Scotland: “This is your campaign, your opportunity, your future and your ideas.” Already local Yes groups are springing up all over Scotland’s towns and cities. It’s dispersing responsibility downwards – sharing ideas and knowledge.

Futurist Bob Johansen sums up the approach: “Sharing and reciprocity is the new currency.”

By sharing ideas, values and opinions, the movement for an independent Scotland will grow and grow – largely because technology enables people to connect with one another as never before. Before the internet, you needed to bring like-minded people together in one place – not now. Real-time conversations with people is integral to the success of Yes Scotland.

Occupy Wall Street grew largely because of Facebook and Twitter, which generated momentum by sharing big ideas making it possible for people wherever they were to take action for the cause. People wanted to participate in person as well. This has clearly happened in Catalonia too. What Yes Scotland hopes to do is combine the proven campaigning skills of its political partners with its grassroots people power movement to win that majority support at the ballot box.

Mitch Matthews, Head of Marketing at Microsoft, puts it thus: “This is the era of customer participation. The old model was informing, persuading and reminding. The new model is demonstrating, involving and empowering.”

It’s not just Barack Obama who’s following this model. Organisations and companies all over the world are empowering “ambassadors” to share their ideas and values, switching their marketing budgets from advertising focused to the ambassador model.

And if every person who currently wants an independent Scotland persuades just one other person – then Scotland will vote Yes. Whether it’s offline or online, the bottom line is the people of Scotland never before have had so much say in their future.

• Jennifer Dempsie is deputy marketing director of Yes Scotland