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AD AGE MAIN 04-14-08 A 36 ADAGE 4/11/2008 1:16 PM Page 1 36 | April 14, 2008 | Advertising Age Your daily dose of political marketing Get news, opinion and more—including video of the best and worst ads of Campaign ‘08. You’ll also find up-to-date spending figures and analysis from Evan Tracey of TNS CAMPAIGN TRAIL Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group. AdAge.com/campaigntrail BARACK OBAMA HILLARY CLINTON JOHN MCCAIN DENISE SHIFFMAN Obama’s far-reaching tack holds lessons for his rivals JONATHAN ALCORN JONATHAN SHARKPIX GAMMA today’s web and the new media paper and cellphone ringtones. 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 that underpin it are known for the When you look at the details, SOCIAL- ability to create instant sensations. Obama has a far-reaching strategy. NETWORK 900,000 900,000 900,000 From Digg’s social news to Clinton is increasing her pres- ‘FRIENDS’ Careerbuilder’s Monk-e-mail cam- ence on the web with information AND 800,000 800,000 800,000 paign, companies can advance from hubs and microsites dedicated to ‘FOLLOWERS’ zero to 20 million viewers practi- specific voter groups. McCain’s 700,000 700,000 700,000 cally overnight. The viral nature of campaign has employed a minimal- this highly social, user-driven envi- ist, new-media approach. Although 600,000 600,000 600,000 ronment enables complete McCain has added a branded social strangers to connect over common site called McCainSpace, it is 500,000 500,000 500,000 beliefs, desires or interests and unclear how many people it has together create winners and losers. attracted. Both of these campaigns 400,000 400,000 400,000 It empowers both the individual fall short of drawing large, passion- and collective voice. And isn’t that ate audiences. The fact is that their 300,000 300,000 300,000 what a presidential election is all messaging has changed over time, about? leaving Americans confused about 200,000 200,000 200,000 Rallies, debates and broadcast what the candidate stands for. advertising—traditional campaign- Although they both are imple- 100,000 100,000 100,000 push marketing vehicles—are menting basic new-media features, N/A N/A becoming less effective at engaging without a clear, differentiating mes- 0 0 0 the masses. A provocative and sage, the results are lacking. Twitter Twitter Twitter poignant new-media strategy can Obama’s message of change has Facebook MySpace Facebook MySpace Facebook MySpace elevate a candidate’s position. taken hold in voters’ minds. And Combine that with packaging simi- owning a word in your audience’s lar to an iPod or Nike Plus running minds is marketing’s holy grail. shoe and you have the opportunity His focused message speaks to vot- WEBSITE 65% 19% 9% for a candidate’s message to go viral. ers’ hearts, helping his followers to VISITORS Political commentators believe become passionate advocates. MARKET Barack Obama is more popular with IPhone owners choose Apple SHARE1 web surfers because his followers are because style is important to them younger, and young people are more and they want to look good to their likely to use blogs, social networks friends. Consumers buy Nike Plus and other new media. That may be running shoes because they want true, but it’s far from the only rea- to be part of a bigger running com- son he’s faring well. Obama’s cam- munity. Apple and Nike are selling YOUTUBE paign is immersed in his audience’s emotion and life experience. 2 1-4 MILLION 400,000 - 900,000 200,000 - 300,000 experience. He meets his audience Barackobama.com asks visitors to VIEWS where they already go on the web, “believe” and “make a difference,” and his message of “change” is pack- which has the same objective. And aged in a clear and consistent man- it’s certainly changing campaign YOUTUBE 2 4 STARS 1-3 STARS 2-3 STARS ner, much like the best consumer results. RATINGS products. What word does Hillary Candidates must put create inter- Clinton own in voters’ minds? Her ObamaBlog, BlogHillary, Hillblazers (Youth Blog, McCainSpace active, personal and engaging Web website hollers “Clinton for presi- CAMPAIGN- My.barackobama.com, for Hillary), Women for Hillary marketing if they want to affect the dent.” What about John McCain? FUNDED conversations on the web. These His simply states “The story of SOCIAL SITES BarackTV conversations can affect voting deci- John McCain.” These candidates sions much as they can alter con- are marketing their entire personal, sumer purchasing behavior. So far, professional and political history. THIRD-PARTY LinkedIn, Flickr, Eons, Glee, LinkedIn, Flickr, Eons Flickr only Obama has shown real skill at Just imagine the Apple iPod box SOCIAL SITES MiGente, MyBatanga, building community.And it’s having with every possible feature, func- AsianAve, Faithbase, an effect. tion and technology listed. It would BlackPlanet, Eventful, Digg But the numbers alone don’t tell lose its cool. us everything. Obama has made Hillary Clinton and John substantial efforts toward reaching McCain, take note. More than MICROSITES Asian-Americans, Hillary Hub, Fact Hub, Veterans for McCain, Women the broadest audience on the web 73% of American adults are African-Americans, Delegate Hub for McCain, Lawyers for with campaign pages on numerous online. More than half of Facebook Americans abroad, McCain, basketball brackets third-party social sites and branded users are over 35 years old. Your environmentalists, first microsites dedicated to different followers are on the web—if only americans, “Generation ethnic and age groups. He has an e- you knew how to reach them. Obama,” kids, labor book and YouTube videos that aren’t just repurposed content and Denise Shiffman is principal of commercials. One Obama video is a Venture Essentials, a marketing- personal talk with listeners that innovation consultancy. She is makes it seem as if he’s sitting in author of “The Age of Engage: OTHER NEW Free ebook, widgets, logo their living rooms. He offers down- Reinventing Marketing for Today’s MEDIA buttons for blogs, videos, loadable widgets, logo buttons, Connected, Collaborative, and posters, wallpaper and videos and posters, as well as wall- Hyperinteractive Culture.” ringtones 1. Hitwise: share of political candidate sites 2. Views and ratings of each candidate’s top 4 videos on YouTube.