Being both a politics and digital PR junkie I’ve been rather spoiled and completely fascinated by the US Presidential elections. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to record a video podcast for PR Week on both my favourite topics last week, which you can watch here. I think it’s fair to say that we are witnessing the first Social Media Election, where online platforms have become more than just channels for raising money but central to campaign strategy for both the McCain and Obama camps.
While the US elections have no doubt showcased the scale of what the web can achieve, there is still so much more that could be done in terms of sophistication. I touch on the issue of better campaign integration in my podcast – amplifying the power of political campaigns through intelligently linking traditional media relations, Search marketing and Social Media. This is one of the areas I highlight where political parties in the UK, particularly the Conservatives are taking a lead and have a thing or two to teach our American cousins. The Tories live-bidding on Google for keywords spoken by Alasdair Darling as he was delivering his last budget speech is just a sign of the things to come.
Another example of integration in action, which I never managed to blog about at the time was Obama’s visit to the UK in July and his private meeting with David Cameron. Though most of the actual meeting was conducted away from the cameras, the party released a video on YouTube of Cameron discussing the encounter within an hour of it ending and then pushed this out via its press office, an email marketing shot and a sustained Google PPC campaign. The video made it into the Top 10 most popular YouTube videos that weekend, with over 20,000 hits in 48 hours, helping to ensure that the Tories at least matched the coverage given to Obama’s meeting with Brown.
As with most things Social Media we have barely scratched the surface, particularly when it comes to using the two-way communication potential of online platforms to the full. Watching how the UK parties fight the next general election online is going to be compelling viewing!
5 Comments so far
Leave a comment
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
What needs to be remembered here though is that Obama’s campaign wasn’t just 2.0 for the sake of it. Every aspect of it was driven towards one goal – making a difference in the physical world. And I don’t mean making him president. It was all geared towards raising funds and having Obama parties.
That’s something a lot of companies trying to get 2.0 should try and work out – what their end desire is.
Comment by Craig McGill October 23, 2008 @ 11:53 pmDed right Craig
Obama has proved that by reaching out beyond the TV screen you can build a movement. Its not the technology its the ability to interact.
Comment by Mark Hanson October 24, 2008 @ 4:53 pmCheck back through some media reports and I think you will agree that Howard Dean in the 2004 primary was the first “social media election.” Dean was hugely popular and well-organized in online organizing and fundraising. The Dean volunteers were the pioneers and then much of that expertise went to Obama’s campaign in this cycle.
Comment by Rob Davis November 11, 2008 @ 11:28 amHi Rob, thanks for the comment and I agree with you that Dean did some pioneering work online, but would argue that the use of Social Media in all its forms (many of which were not around in 2004)really became central in 2008.
Comment by Daljit B November 11, 2008 @ 11:34 am[...] president, communicates with citizens. It’s a moot point that has been blogged, tweeted, and podcasted about for months. Yes, the Obama campaign (and now administration) used social media to energize [...]
Pingback by 4 Questions Obama Needs to Answer Before We Can Have a Wiki White House « PR Interactive January 14, 2009 @ 3:46 pm