Julius van de Laar is an international campaign and strategy consultant with extensive experience in the field of political communication.

He worked full-time for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 US presidential election campaigns, in particular as Regional GOTV Director in the key electoral state of Ohio. After Obama’s election victories, he contributed his insights as a consultant to numerous German and European election campaigns and NGO campaigns.

With a background in political science and communication studies in the USA, van de Laar now supports political organizations, NGOs and companies in the development and implementation of campaign strategies.

In addition to his consulting work, he gives lectures and workshops on strategic communication and hosts his own podcast “Race to the White House” on The Pioneer. He also regularly analyzes and comments on current political events in leading media and talk shows.

Julius van de Laar speaking topics

• Inside the Campaign: Learning to Win from the Winners

The battle for attention and trust: What companies can learn from politics and campaigning. Which strategies and measures lead to success and can be transferred to business?

• The Race to the White House: From tactics to triumph

Those who have not yet found their story or cannot tell it lose the debate. How do you stand out in the public arena, define your own agenda, and position yourself correctly as the sender of the message? Which strategies – online as well as offline, lead to success? International campaign and strategy consultant Julius van de Laar provides a peek through the keyhole into the engine room of power, showing how campaign teams work, what messages mobilize and how they are developed. He also sheds light on what companies and startups can learn from political communications and why marketing and election campaigns have more in common than most think.

• Message Matters: The battle for interpretive sovereignty

Every campaign is a race for definition: through which lens does the public view the central sociopolitical issues of our time?

• Storytelling: Authentic messages that mobilize

How can complex content be communicated in an understandable, emotional and authentic way? How do you mobilize people? How do you gain interpretive authority and steer public debate?

Experience how international campaigns are orchestrated behind the scenes, which strategies lead to success and which measures make the tactical difference. Individual topics and content for your target group and event – Depending on which target group you want to reach, which topics are in focus for you and which type of event you are planning: Each presentation is individually coordinated with you and adapted to your needs.

STAND FOR SOMETHING: No mobilization without polarization!

Storytelling with Julius van de Laar: Why brands and companies should position themselves in the social debate.

Nike leads the way: With ex-football player Colin Kaepernik as testimonial, the sports giant takes a clear position, makes a strong statement and polarizes. The controversial quarterback had made a statement against police brutality and racial inequality by kneeling for the American national anthem and not only angered the NFL but also Donald Trump. But Nike recognizes the potential of positioning itself in social discourse and is gaining profile as a result.

The corporation and its marketing is just one example of how clear positioning linked with sophisticated storytelling can make a campaign successful. How do these strategies work, how do the mechanisms of public debate play out, and what lessons can entrepreneurs in all industries learn from them? What responsibility is associated with the willingness to show profile and stand out from the mainstream? Campaign strategist and TEDx speaker Julius van de Laar presents this with vivid examples and shows new ways of communication that make brands not only winners, but also shapers of the future.

Today, he advises political organizations, NGOs, and companies on the development of campaigns and their implementation. His work focuses on strategic, integrated communication, positioning, message development and storytelling, mobilization and campaign management.

Julius van de Laar regularly comments and analyzes current political events for leading media such as ARD, ZDF, NTV, WELT, Der Spiegel, FAZ or Deutschlandfunk.

He holds seminars, workshops and lectures on topics such as election campaign strategy, digital campaigning, storytelling and political communication and gives guest lectures at the Hertie School of Governance, Harvard University, University of Oxford and Quadriga University in Berlin.

The business magazine Capital ranks Julius van de Laar among the “Top 40 under 40” from the political sector.