What can you learn from the Obama campaign?
Written by Caleb Scoville on November 5, 2008 – 1:49 pm -
I’m not asking this question from a political perspective in any sense. I am a Barack Obama supporter, but by no means do I assume that all or even most of the readers of my blog, listeners of my podcast, my clients and colleagues are.
What I do expect from you, regardless of your political sensibilities, is to learn from the success of his political campaign from a marketing perspective.
Here is a few of things I noticed and admired about his campaign from a marketing perspective. If you have anything to add to the list, please add a comment with your thoughts. I may come back and add more as I think of them.
- The consistency of the message and the brand.
Everything from catch phrases to the typeface he used to the color schemes and imagery. Take a look at any of his YouTube videos of campaign events. They all start off with the same, simple black background and white text. - Everything funneled back to Obama.
Even though he had a team of people working for him, everything the campaign did came back to him. His campaign was uniquely unified. - He used many forms of media - both traditional and new:
This is the first major political campaign to really focus on online marketing. Their new media tactics included email marketing, online video, social networking, blogging and podcasting. Their campaign efforts became viral and many of these new forms of media are quite inexpensive. Of course, they also employed traditional tactics of canvassing, TV, radio and print ads and phone banking. - He got his supporters involved:
The Obama campaign’s biggest strength was in their humongous list of donors and volunteers. This can be partially attributed to his understanding of his target markets and how well his message resonated with them.
I’m sure I’ll think of dozens of things to add to this list, but feel free to help me out by posting comments on this post. You can also include what you learned from a marketing perspective from other political campaigns as well. Feel free to include things you learn to do as well as things you learned not to do.
Tags: 2008 election, Marketing, marketing in political campaigns, new media marketing, obama, online marketing, politics
Posted in Marketing, Product Creation |
November 5th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Good question to ask, and great answers, Caleb.
Some more:
Obama’s populism and accesibility - not just that of the campaign, but HE, as a brand or a person - made himself available to the population. He made himself common, not by dumbing down, but by expecting the best of his “client base” or “target demographic.”
We can use this technique too. Make yourself available to your population. Be someone to look up to, and within reach at the same time. Not infallible, but responsible. Not dumb, but accessible.
it a nice balance. Offer respect, and it comes back to you!
-LaSara
http://www.lasarafirefox.com
November 5th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Inclusive and felt high touch even the emails.
Almost every day I got an email with a message either updating me on an Obama rally, a message posted on YouTube I might have missed, a message from the campaign manager about what we were accomplishing.
It was personal, as far as I remember the word “we” as always used.
I felt involved if only from a distance.
Great question Caleb. I look forward to what you and others post for more insights.
November 5th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
There are so many marketing lessons here it boggles the mind, including the ones you listed. Here are the core bits as I see it:
- a really consistent, simple message that he believed in passionately. It wasn’t ‘crafted’ - it was real.
- a way of communicating where people felt seen, understood, witnessed. The level of empathy in his messages was astounding for anyone in the political realm.
- Tremendous systems that automated what needed to be automated, and freed up creativity for that high-touch quality that Gregory mentioned.
- A lack of ownership, but without giving up strength. Meaning, there was space for others to own the message. It didn’t all come back to Obama- it came back to you and it came back to me. And that’s a profound sense of inclusion.
There are others, but for me that’s the mix.
Thanks for asking the question!
November 5th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Mark,
I really appreciate the last bit about it “coming back to you and me”.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Caleb
November 5th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I was most impressed by his use of new media to stay in contact with young voters. The message to me is: if you want anyone under 30 (or even 35 or 40 by now) to get your message, send it via text message. As Marshall McLuhan, an early media theorist said, “The medium is the message.” The information remains the same but te delivery system spoke loud and clear. Kudos to PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA! — Libbe, Libbe@LibbeHaLevy.com
November 5th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Great article and study, Caleb, and I enjoyed the other comments made as well. One thing that jumps out for me is the “after effect” of the campaign. O’Bama now has a MASSIVE mailing list of supporters! We all know that your contact list is your #1 most valuable asset in marketing. His campaign created a movement and now he has the leverage of his list to rally support on all of his future reforms. He can and no doubt will continue to build a unified community and expand his list of followers via the Internet as he leads our country. Yes, this truly is an historical presidency!
November 6th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Hey Caleb,
What a great article! Obama’s massively successful campaign will be studied by politicos and business folks alike for decades to come. You’re exactly right - he stayed ON MESSAGE from the very beginning of the campaign, to the point of pretty much *owning* the word “change.”
I also wrote an article about the Obama campaign. Check it out: “What Bootstrap Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Barack Obama” http://is.gd/6qRU
Jamila White
“The E-Commerce Diva”
http://www.BootstrapBabes.com
http://www.EcommerceDiva.com