Morocco

By 2018, after eight years in power, the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) coalition dominated a Moroccan political landscape in a state of institutional crisis. With a stagnant economy, rampant corruption, widening social inequality and systemic challenges afflicting health, employment and education, the country was in the throes of increasingly violent street protests, challenging the King’s authority with calls for reform. Leading industrialist and government minister, Aziz Akhannouch, set his sights on disrupting the political order, unseating the PJD and creating a modern secular economy in its place. Taking the helm of a small, elitist opposition party (National Rally for Independents, RNI) with less than 10% approval rating, Akhannouch approached members of our team with a single challenge: to win the next parliamentary elections in 2021. We embarked on an extensive behavioural research programme to map the Moroccan electorate and its underlying narratives and motivational drivers, developed a new brand positioning, message architecture and manifesto for the candidate and party, and took it to the Moroccan people and diaspora through multiple channels – speeches and interviews, media and social media engagement, rallies and neighbourhood events. A key initiative was the “100 Cities, 100 Days” initiative in which RNI officials and supporters travelled to 100 medium and small-sized cities across the country in 100 days, to ask the people what they wanted for their own communities. In September 2021, the RNI party won a crushing election victory, taking 102 seats in the National Parliament and scoring 1st place in both Municipal and District Council elections. Akhannouch was then designated Prime Minister by King Mohammed VI.