08-F-1338 Notes on 13 March IRI Focus Group on Ad Campaign Story Boards and Elections March-14-2004

040314-87 COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY BAGHDAD INFO MEMO March 14, 2004 THE ADMINISTRATOR FOR: Don Hamilton FROM: SUBJECT: Notes on 13 March IRI Focus Group on Ad Campaign, Story Boards and Elections The attached IRI report on the election campaign covers perceptions of Iraqiyah and Hoorah as vell as general political perceptions. This info memo covers only matters that relate to polling ind other information about Iraqi opinion. StratCom will report separately on story boards an ad campaign. • Polling supports the positive assessments of Al-Iraqiyah, which now enjoys considerable confidence. • We are going to field a poll to test the sense that Jazeera and Arabiyah are anti-Iraq. A number of polls show the UN is not particularly trusted here. Generally speaking, th IN enjoys a level of trust that is about at par with the GC and above that of the Coalitior We are fielding a poll with questions testing who is trusted to run elections. ATTACHMENTS: 13 March IRI Memo on story boards, elections focus groups Distribution List COORDINATION: StratCom - Rob Tappan esident Program Dire Sor, ir publican institute The Irternations IRI INTERNATIONAL REPUBLICAN INSTITUTE PUBLIC OPINION REPORT PERCEPTIONS OF AL-IRAQIYA AND AL-HOORAH PERCEPTIONS OF AD CAMPAIGN STORY BOARDS IDEAS ABOUT ELECTION COMMISSION BACKGROUND exists in these groups. OVERVIEW In general, the groups felt very positive about the commercials, particularly the commercial with the baby crying. The groups want to see a diverse group of Iraqis on the election commission, with the UN overseeing elections. The blue logo was favored over the other two logos. Use of religious imagery was not favored by either of the groups. FINDINGS Iraqiya/Al-Hoorah Iraqiya is seen as improving, particularly in news. In fact, many participants said the news is the only reason to watch Iraqiya. • Iraqiya was favored by the group as being more positive in its coverage of Iraq than Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. • However.. Heese, Tray was a ticized As asially are viding only taped news of previous • Al-Hoorah was not seen by many members of either the women's group or the men's group, but those who had seen it liked it. • All felt that Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya were both against Iraq. Some went so fai as to say they are controlled by elements of the previous regime Logos The women's group mentioned a fear of logos such as these in general, as they were used frequently by the former regime. • Based on these groups, if the logo is associated successfully with hope and democracy, then it will overcome the negative associations of such campaigns with the previous regime. • The blue logo tested by far the best. The groups felt that the blue represented the Tigris and Euphrates, the gold represents the promise of the future and the map represents a unified Iraq. • The first green logo was associated with international symbolism, rather than Iraqi symbols. The shield was reminiscent of European flags or US police. It was also seen as something that would be more appropriate on a chocolate bar package. • The second green logo was even more widely disliked. The men thought the logo looked cheap, like a logo in a car commercial. The women liked it slightly better, admiring its simplicity, but still felt it was not Iragi. Crying Child Ad Story Board • This ad was amazingly successful with the group. Hope was the clear message of the ad for the groups. • One of the men's group said that the absence of the father is similar to the absence of security and stability. The child is like the new Iraq, and shows hope, they said, and the d shows light at the end of the tunnel. • Detracting from the ad is the perception that it shows too much sadness, particularly among women. The candle shows the absence of electricity, which is depressing. They suggested changing the baby's blanket from black to a brighter color. • Also, the man in the picture had the wrong beard and hairstyle to be Iraqi. • Women wanted the woman to sing the words to the anthem, and to have an orchestra come up behind her as the baby's cries died down. • Men felt that using the words to the anthem would be cheapening and commercializing them, and that the woman should only hum the tune. • The groups felt that virtually all Iraqis would like these ads, and only named extremists and terrorists as groups that would not like the ads. • The groups felt that translating the ads into Kurdish would highlight the divisions among Iraqis, and that then they should be translated into Turkoman, Assyrian, etc. Map in the Sand Ad This ad was also very well received. • Most popular in the ad was the theme of the child persevering to draw the entire map, the whole of Iraq. • The truck was seen as a symbol of the occupation, and the groups admired the child's ability to complete the map in the face of the occupation. • Other perceptions were that the child represents hope, and that young people will be building the new Iraq. • Detracting from the ad was the length of time it took before anyone could figure out what was happening. The men's group in particular felt that 90% of the ad elapsed before they could understand the point of the ad. • Some of the men wanted the boy to be dressed in traditional Arab clothes, but others in the group pointed out this would alienate the Kurds and other ethnic groups. Women all felt that the boy should be wearing simple trousers and a shirt, so as to be common to all Iraqis. • The men also became fixated on white clothes for the boy, but soiled to depict suffering. • This ad was liked better by the women, while the men liked the baby crying ad better. Women would be more likely to appreciate the baby crying ad if it were less dark and sad Religious Imagery • The groups felt that religious imagery would highlight the divisions in Iraq, since it would alienate Christians. • However, when asked if the CPA should use religious imagery were it making the ads, the men's group said that such imagery would show respect for Iraqi culture. The women didn't like the idea of using religious imagery at all. Where to Air the Ads Initially, the groups felt that Iraqiya would be the most appropriate venue for the ads, since they are Iraqi in nature. After discussion, the men's group felt they should be aired on Arabic satellite channels to show the world hope for Iraq. Election Commission Women were more prone to want outside involvement in an election commission — specifically the United Nations. • Both the men's group and the women's group wanted an election commission comprised of religious leaders, sheikhs, academics, judges, lawyers and the like. • Both wanted the United Nations to oversee the commission, but only the women wanted the UN to have seats on the election commission. • The majority of both groups would like to see the commission independent from the interim government. • Both groups recognize the difference between these elections and Iraq's previous elections and as such, recognize the need for foreign experts to be involved. • Both groups felt that the UN would increase trust in the elections, while the men added that clerics would increase trust by the Iraqi people in the elections. OPINION REPORT DISTRIBUTION LIST Counselors- Don Hamilton Gene Bigler Governance- Scott Carpenter Roman Martinez Liz McKune (b)(6) Policy- Operations- Scott Redd Michael Kelly CJTF7- Mark Kimmitt Stephen May IMU- William Olson Susan Norwood IRI- Steven Moore OPO- Ronald Neumann Thomas Warrick Christopher Ross IMN- Dorrance Smith Kristi Whiting StratCom Dan Senor Rob Tappan Michael Pierson 040314-08 COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY BAGHDAD LPB HAS SEEN ACTION MEMO March 13, 2004 THE ADMINSTRATO FOR: Andrew Rathmell (C FROM: and David C. Gompert (ONSA) SUBJECT: Iraq: Counter-Terrorism Strategy Problem Available intelligence analysis suggests that radical Sunni Islamists pose a growing threat to Iraqi stability and public safety. violence that motivates "traditional" terrorists. who are also used to deploying extreme, mass-casualty, violence may exacerbate the threat. (b)(5) Requirement The requirement is to build Iraqi capacity -- under coalition guidance, with coalition expertise and backed by coalition assets -- to implement a proactive, end-to-end, inter-ministerial counter UNCLASSIFIED -Ф0ve