Change I believe in
Posted by Steffen Stäuber
Yes he can. Barack Obama is the new president of the United States of America. But what is even more fascinating than the fact that Obama moves into the White House is how he came there.
Politics, after all, is about marketing – projecting and selling an image, moving people to identify, evangelize and consume. Thats the reason why a political campaign is very similar to an advertising one. So let´s have a look at it from a brand perspective.
“Barack Obama is three things you want in a brand. He is new, different and attractive. Thats as good as it gets.”
Keith Reinhard chairman DDB Worldwide.
What I love the most is his openness to the way consumers communicate with one another and how he distributed his messages in this new way. Obama and his team transformed politics with its use of technology and turned them,selves into a media organization.
On BarackObama.com they featured constant updates, videos, photos, ringtones, widgets and events to give the supporters a reason to come back.
But they go even further. Together with Chris Hughes, one of three Harvard roommates who invented Facebook four years ago, Obama’s team created their own social networking site, my.barackobama.com with over 1.000.000 active users!
A short introduction video:
Here you can write your own blog, send policy recommendations directly to Obama, set up your own mini fund-raising site, organize an event or even use a phone-bank to get call lists and scripts to tele-canvass from home.
This movement is a conversation where everybody is invited. And those who join the conversation get constant feedback from the campaign and from each other. For marketers a cheap and effective way to get in touch with personal supporters around the globe and for the users a great experience to be connected to a huge community of soul mates.
Their social media activities do also reach people over the age of 30. It proves that there is a immense potential to involve elderly folks within this medium:
“I’m a political junkie who watches Chris Matthews and C-Span,” he said. “But instead of just sitting there . . . this allows me to become involved. It’s real grass roots.”
Mr. Goodburn a 56-year-old grandfather
or another interesting statement:
“With the organizational tools Barack’s campaign is giving us, we, the people, can change history.”
Valli Frausto, a 50-year-old mother of two from Columbus
Also a great example is the use of viral videos to spread the word online. This one here is my personal favorite:
And even after Obama has won the election he uses the web as a channel to communicate with his audience.
This here is the latest post on his own youtube channel:
Barack Obama: “We Have a Lot of Work to Do”
Obama was successful at converting online clicks into real-world currency. And I truly believe that many brands and their products out there could do the same. We simple need to rethink the way we work and make some changes.
Every forward-thinking business would be wise to examine his marketing strategies and leadership styles.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time…We are the hope of the future”
said Barack Obama on Super Thuesday
So let´s start today and change the industry! YES WE CAN!
Tags: Barack, Barack Obama & Social Media, BarackObama, campaign, Chris Hughes, Chris Matthews, community, conversation, creat change, DDB Worldwide, experience, Keith Reinhard, media organization, Mr. Goodburn, political campaign, president of the united states of america, social media, social networking site, states of america, Valli Frausto, video, viral videos, yes we can
08. November 2008 um 13:53
[...] Change I believe in [...]
26. November 2008 um 13:21
[...] a short update on the “Change I believe in post”. I found this great presentation about Obama and his Social Media Campaign. For me, this is one [...]