MARKETING CASE STUDY SERIES Obama Campaign DRAFT Optional Footer 1 Introduction Background The 2008 presidential election offered a historic opportunity to elect a new kind of leader and America’s first black president. American voters were tired of status quo politics and were looking for a change. The public was dissatisfied with the incumbent party for the mismanagement of American hopes and dreams, with 76% of voters believing that the country was on the wrong track. A promising new candidate came onto the scene. Barack Obama’s charisma, public speaking skills, unruffled demeaner and unique biography captured the attention of voters. The 2008 campaign was an innovative and fresh approach to politics. Obama’s campaign strategists at AKPD Message and Media had particular expertise in campaign consulting. The team capitalized on Obama’s youth, his personal story, and his ‘clean record’ in the political arena to foster a sense of hope, change, and a new era for America. The campaign outpaced all other candidates in its use of media - in particular social media - to reach current and new voters. In order to win, the campaign targeted all citizens, including previous and likely voters, youth and first-time voters, and previously unregistered non-voters. His inclusive strategy resulted in record- level voting in the primaries and the general election. Why we chose the 2008 Obama campaign 1) Political campaigns are a unique example of marketing with a one-time indicator of success: whether the candidate was elected or not. Obama’s 2008 campaign is an iconic example of marketing success and one that stands out in the mind of many Americans with a memorable logo and overall message of Hope and Change. 2) There is a wealth of publicly available information on the 2008 Obama campaign including journal articles, marketing analysis, podcasts, books, academic dissertations, and publicly available election data which provide robust analysis of the campaign strategy and strengths. 3) The campaign won many marketing awards, including Advertising Age’s Marketer of the Year award, which had never before been awarded to a political campaign. Findings and Implications 1) It is possible to successfully target multiple audience segments. A presidential campaign must target multiple audience segments to be successful. The Obama campaign focused on all 50 states and multiple types of voters. The approach was successful because the overall idea, “A Change We Can Believe In,” unified all voter segments, and the campaign had the human, financial, and technological resources required to effectively reach all audience segments. 2) Single-minded, consistent messaging pays off. It can be tempting to use multiple messages, or to change messaging midway through a campaign, but the campaign resisted this approach and selected instead one message “Change We Can Believe In.” It stuck to this message throughout the campaign. As John Quelch wrote in How Better Marketing Elected Barak Obama, “… the discipline to be consistent in positioning and message strategy are core to all successful marketing campaigns. Ads that dealt with specific policy issues, even ads criticizing McCain, all continued to communicate the core themes.”1 3) A powerful brand vision can inspire passion and advocacy among all stakeholders. The Obama campaign exemplifies a heart & mind opening message: “A Change We Can Believe In” inspired a diverse range of audience segments to vote in unprecedented numbers. 4) Marketing is a strategic, leadership function. The marketing and media teams reported directly to Obama’s campaign manager and were integrated into other teams (technology, grassroots, research, etc.DRAFT), enabling marketing and media to influence decision-making and resulting in highly integrated, nimble teams. (1) Quelch, John, “How Better Marketing Elected Barak Obama, Harvard Business Review, November 5, 2008 Cover Image by Shepard Fairey Overall Assessment Excellent Good Poor Insufficient data Area Description Findings Assessment The Obama campaign relied on a “50-state strategy” that recognized the unique identities and needs of Americans across and within all geographies. Audience segments included previous and likely voters, energized youth, first-time voters, Audience Identification unregistered voters, etc. The campaign messaging was designed to create a shared identity across voters as Americans with a common dream of a better country – the American dream. Obama far outperformed his competition in cultivating a deep audience understanding through a variety of online and in- person channels. While Obama supporters were more likely to use the internet at baseline, his team capitalized on this opportunity to collect extensive data on his target audience and to tailor messaging that converted “maybe” voters into Audience Audience Understanding grassroots activists. A team of data analysts collected more than the typical demographic data to direct their efforts. For Focus example, they would analyze voter posts on Facebook to understand their values and lifestyle at a deeper level (e.g., whether someone owns a pet or plays sports) and would use that information to provide appropriate content from Obama (for example, photos of Obama with animals or playing basketball). The insight – that American voters may be disengaged from politics or frustrated with current political leaders, but they still believed in the potential of achieving American dream (and Barack Obama represented that potential) -- meets our criteria for Insight a best-in-class insight. It has tension, it is true but not obvious, it strikes an emotional chord, and it inspires the audience to think differently about politics and voting. The vision for Obama’s campaign was simple, clear, and – in the context of candidate Barak Obama’s historic campaign -- Brand Vision – inspiring: ”Change we can believe in.” By leaving the idea of “change” open-ended, the campaign invited all Americans to fil- Clarity & Relevance Brand in-the-blank with the type of change that they wanted to see in their own lives. Strategy Brand Identity – Distinctive, Everything about the brand look and feel communicated the brand vision of change in a way that also brought to life the Vision Reflects the Brand Vision, Has a personality of candidate Obama – youthful, optimistic, modern, and informality. The brand identity and overall campaign was Personality, and Executed remarkably consistent and was recognized in the advertising community for its strength in this area. Consistently DRAFT 3 Overall Assessment Area Description Findings Assessment The benefit – change we can believe in – is clear, as it was concise and repeated consistently. It was relevant because it Benefit Clarity, Relevance, and spoke to the hearts and minds of a frustrated, disengaged electorate. And it was believable, because candidate Obama Believability himself represented change: he brought youth, racial diversity, and an outsider’s perspective, and yet he also had many of the credentials often desired in a president (a prestigious education, a successful legal career, and experience in the Senate). Touches the Heart and / or The message of Hope and Change encouraged voters to think and feel differently about the future of America. Opens the Mind The marketing vehicles relied heavily on technology such as email, websites, and social media, which enabled candidate Continuity and Marketing Obama to reach an unprecedented number of younger voters. The campaign also used mass media and door-to-door Campaign Vehicle Selection marketing with grassroots volunteers to recapture voters who were not on social media. We did not evaluate continuity, as a Strategy presidential campaign is, by definition, limited to a specific time-frame. A young and fresh take on the campaign sought to delight voters by using technology to their advantage with YouTube Audience Delight videos, celebrity endorsements and other engaging means of communication. The Obama campaign drove significantly higher levels of social media engagement vs. McCain because it was highly relevant to the audience that was active on social media, it created a large amount of social media content, it outspent the McCain Audience Engagement team ($8M vs. $2.5M), and it engaged the audience not as the “audience” but as part of a movement. Historically, election winners have been those that understood and harnessed the latest media and technology to engage the electorate and raise funds. With social media, Obama did just that. DRAFT 4 Overall Assessment Area Description Findings Assessment While we did not have data on marketing quality assessments conducted by the team, we do note that the campaign Message Effectiveness was recognized for its use of digital – and particular its ability to test and refine messages. The campaign also won several well-known awards for marketing excellence. Political campaigns have a one-time indicator of success. Obama’s win in 2008 showed the overall success of his Program Results marketing campaign. Measurement According to the Times/CBS polls, Obama had the highest favorability of any first term presidential candidate in the Brand Performance prior 28 years. At 53%, Obama had the highest favorability of any first term presidential candidate in the prior 28 years.1 Data also suggested that he was associated with the ideals of his campaign – a fresh face with new ideas. There was an incredibly high level of employee engagement within the campaign staff as well as the army of Marketing Vehicle