2012 Behind the Scenes - Use of Digital Tools in US Presidential Elections
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The document discusses the evolution of campaign strategies from 2008 to 2012 in response to changing social media and news consumption habits. It highlights how the Obama campaign integrated new tools like Twitter and used big data to improve microtargeting of voters. The Romney campaign took a less sophisticated approach to social media and data. The document also provides insights on how future campaigns can better utilize data, online activation of supporters, and personalized digital content.
2012 Behind the Scenes - Use of Digital Tools in US Presidential Elections
- 1. Campaign 2012 Behind the Scenes, What it Means FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 2. 2 T O D AY S F O C U S CAMPAIGN 2012 From Revolution to Evolution CAMPAIGN Strategy Behind the Scenes WHAT It Means AT&T Take-Aways FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 3. 3 2008: THE OBAMA SOCIAL REVOLUTION FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 4. 4 Changing News Habits New Social Platforms Content Glut R.I.P. 08 Movement FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 5. 52 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 2 : A DIFFERENT WORLD New Social Platforms FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 6. 6 FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 7. 7 TWITTER HAS GROWN UP 72.5% TODAY: of Twitter users joined since a tool for data Obama was sworn into office hungry campaigns FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 8. 8 If the 2008 presidential race embraced a 24/7 news cycle, four years later politicos are finding themselves in the middle of an election most starkly defined by Twitter, complete with 24-second news cycles and pithy bursts. FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 9. 9 I M P L I C AT I O N S SOCIAL MEDIA AT THE CORE NOW: other media struggling CLUTTER A SERIOUS ISSUE: must go beyond posting SPEED: faster, faster, faster DIFFERENT ELECTION = different message, different emotion(s) FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 10. 10 CAMPAIGN 2012 From Revolution to Evolution INSIDE CAMPAIGN Strategy OBAMA Behind the Scenes 2012 WHAT It Means FROM REVOLUTION TO EVOLUTION AT&T Take-Aways FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 11. 11 TWO THEORIES BECOME ONE All politics is local. -- Tip ONeil The medium is the message. -- Marshall McLuhan FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 12. 12 C A N D I D AT E O B A M A 2008 2012 Hope & change Stay the course: Forward About all of us About winning Poetry Prose Post partisan Partisan fighter Entrepreneurial Corporate Ambitious policy agenda Lock in accomplishments Relatively unknown Target rich environment FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 13. 13 T E C H N O L O G Y: C H A N G I N G R O L E 2008 2012 Inspire and motivate Find and mobilize Transformational Practical Visible and cool Invisible and mundane 24 hour news cycle 24 second news cycle Big crowds Big data The group The individual FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 14. 14 FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 15. 15 OBAMA DASHBOARD APP Sharing: Essential Activation + Geotargeting Huge Data Collection Effort on the Back End Multiple Engagement Options FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 16. ROMNEY DASHBOARD: LESS 16 S O P H I S T I C AT E D FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 17. 17 I N S I D E T H E O P E R AT I O N HUGE INCREASE FOCUS ON TWO PLATFORMS IN CONTENT CREATION FACEBOOK, TWITTER > Massive in-house content > Play in others (Pinterest, etc.); generation resources but devote greatest resources, > Butleave room to allow for integration to these two organic (voter) content creation USE OF CROSS-PLATFORM DATA IS THE KEY TO BREAKING TECHONOLOGIES THROUGH THE CLUTTER > Shazam links TV spot, online/social > Voter behavior, consumer data: activity all part of each voters digital file > Massive, real-time FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 18. 18 PROJECT NARWHAL FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 19. 19 D ATA , D ATA , D ATA . . DATA ALLOWS CAMPAIGNS TO: MOBILIZE GRASSROOTS SHARPEN AND BOOST PERSONALIZE FUNDRAISING MESSAGING TA R G E T POTENTIAL IMPROVE GOTV VOTERS MORE O P E R AT I O N S E F F E C T I V E LY FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 20. 20 U P D AT E F R O M S TA F F Campaign has combined separate silos Allows for personalization of information into one file with all of information going to that offline and online data about individuals individual; Creates efficiency in one location which can be accessed by in messaging, outreach and all arms of the campaign use of resources FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 21. 21 E V O L U T I O N I N TA R G E T I N G 2008 2012 > Target by Party Affiliation Target by party affiliation AND Specific political issue positions of importance (values drive votes) AND Target based on past voting behavior. > Target by Interest/ Target supporters and persuadables of specific Behavior Segmentation political issue positions of importance AND Target specific political engagement activities. > Target Registered Voters Target Registered Voters AND Target based on past voting behavior AND Target based on issue position of importance. > N/A Individual Targeting: Take an offline database or mailing list of donors/members/voters and match it online. > Congressional District Congressional District Targeting via zip code Targeting; Zip Code targeting targeting AND Target via offline name/address match AND Target via voters values, beliefs, political activities, and past voting behavior. FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 22. 22 WHY BOTHER? Among Americans who are likely to sit out the election (Suffolk University/USA Today Poll) FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 23. 23 WHY BOTHER? Among Americans Obama: 43% who are likely to sit out the election Romney: 14% (Suffolk University/USA Today Poll) FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 24. 24 S A M P L E I N D E P E N D E N T V OT E R TA R G E T A U D I E N C E Fiscal Liberals Who Vote Frequently and Oppose Cuts to Medicare/Medicaid Fiscal Ideology TARGET AUDIENCE Very liberal; somewhat liberal INSIGHTS A B Voting Behavior Voted in All/Most Presidential Elections A B Medicare/Medicaid Cuts 12.7MM Oppose 7.7% FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 25. 25 S A M P L E P R O G R E S S I V E V OT E R TA R G E T A U D I E N C E Fiscal Liberals Who Vote Frequently and Oppose Cuts to Medicare/Medicaid > Resonate Insights provide a deep understanding of selected audience profiles. Insights validate the selection, messaging, and offer an opportunity to expand the reach to other receptive audiences. TARGET DEMOGRAPHICS DEMOGRAPHICS ONLINE ACTIVITY AUDIENCE Have a masters degree Aged 65 Spend 40 hours per week or higher and older or more online 59% more 29% more 40% more INSIGHTS likely likely likely POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT ISSUE A B ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITES POSITION Influential Voter Contributed money to Strongly Oppose Limiting (level 4 of 4) a political candidate or Restricting Collective Bargaining 12.7MM 7.7% 108% more likely 76% more likely 46% more likely FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 26. 26 Soren ---- Real quick ---- someone you know in Nevada can vote early for President Obama, starting today. A few votes in their state could decide this election. I've dropped you a line before to ask you to give folks a gentle nudge to get registered or go vote. This gets more and more important every day. That's why, if you reach out today, we'll send you a free bumper sticker to say "thank you. So let Elizabeth know that they should go vote as soon as they can: Elizabeth Crum Once you've shared, just tell us where to send that sticker and we'll get it in the mail right away. We can win this ---- but it's going to take all of us mobilizing the people we know: http://my.barackobama.com/Friends--in--Nevada Thanks again, Yohannes FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 27. 27 B E T T E R D ATA Y I E L D S B E T T E R M E S S A G I N G Microfailure Approach FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 28. M A S S I V E G R O W T H I N TA R G E T E D 28 D I G I TA L D I S P L AY / V I D E O A D V E R T I S I N G FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 29. 29 S O C I A L I N T E G R AT I O N OBAMAS TWEET FOR JOBS Connects supporters with their local congressmen to support Obamas policy initiatives Romney offered Twitter followers the opportunity to download a free Kindle eBook version of his jobs plan BUT ONLY IF THEY RETWEETED HIS MESSAGE Everything is now PAID, SHARED, EARNED FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 30. 30 TWITTER THE NEW SPIN ROOM FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 31. 31 INCREASED VIDEO PRODUCTION > In 1960, John F. Kennedy created 200 commercials > In 2012, as of July, Barack Obama already had 2,355 YouTube videos > Mitt Romney currently has 179 YouTube videos FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 32. 32 V I D E O S H A R I N G A C T I V AT I O N FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 33. 33 CONTENT AS STORYTELLING > Obamas content is consumer-focused > They share the facts through stories > Emails are short > Conversational FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 34. 34 S E N I O R S TA F F E N G A G E D W I T H S O C I A L FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 35. 35 CAMPAIGN 2012 From Revolution to Evolution BEHIND CAMPAIGN Strategy THE SCENES. Behind the Scenes WHAT IT MEANS AT & T TA K E - A W AY S WHAT It Means AT&T Take-Aways FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 36. 36 T H R E E TA K E - A W AY S DATA There for the taking FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 37. 37 D ATA U S E T O D AY S T R AT E G Y, EXECUTION MEASUREMENT PLANNING FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 38. 38 D ATA U S E T O M O R R O W S T R AT E G Y, EXECUTION MEASUREMENT PLANNING FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 39. 39 P O T E N T I A L S TA R T I N G P O I N T S USE DATA TO CREATE RICHER PROFILES OF PROMOTERS, DETRACTORS MOVE DEEPER INTO REAL-TIME, DATA DRIVEN EXECUTION EMBED CNOC INTO 2013 COMMUNICATIONS PLANS -- PROACTIVE FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 40. 40 T H R E E TA K E - A W AY S DATA There for the taking ACTIVATION Take the Next Step FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 41. 41 A C T I V AT I O N : AT T H E C E N T E R FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 42. 42 H O W C A N W E B E T T E R A C T I V AT E ? SMARTPHONE COMMUNITY VERSION 2.0: Dashboard concept? Stronger sharing/gamification VIDEO CONTENT: Embedded sharing CROSS MARKETING, BETTER INTEGRATION FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 43. 43 T H R E E TA K E - A W AY S DATA There for the Taking ACTIVATION Take the Next Step CONTENT More Conversational, More Personal FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 44. 44 A NEVER-ENDING JOURNEY > First person: constant use of I, my, me > (Relevant) personal details > Visual imagery: casual, intimate, positive > Simply put: this content connects FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 45. 45 C O N T E N T T H AT ( B E T T E R ) C O N N E C T S CONTINUED EVOLUTION OF TONE TRAINING, GUIDELINES Embedded sharing OPPORTUNITIES FOR CROWD-SOURCED CONTENT FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
- 46. Campaign 2012 Behind the Scenes, What it Means FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
Editor's Notes
- #17: Lack of gamification
- #20: Talking point: In all of our conversations with campaign staff and social/advertising partners, its clear that the 2012 cycle is all about taking in, segmenting, and maximizing the use of data
- #27: supporters on its email list to contact specific individuals in states with early voting to remind them to vote.The algorithm for identifying potential Obama voters in swing states is far from perfect.In an email shared with POLITICO, for example, the Obama campaign asked Soren Dayton, a former John McCain campaign staffer (who had signed up to the campaign's email list and authorized it to access his Facebook account), to contact a self-described conservative-libertarian blogger based in Nevada.But it's the logical culmination of campaign email programs and social networking. The New York Times reported last week that campaigns have been testing whether personal contact from an acquaintance is more effective than from a unknown campaign volunteer.The tool works in conjunction with Facebook and suggestions of what voter to contact are only generated only after supporters give the campaign permission to access a list of their Facebook friends.Mitt Romney's campaign has rolled out a similar tool called Commit to Mitt, which connects supporters to voters in swing states via Facebook. The Romney campaign did not immediately respond to a question about whether they have or are planning any similar Facebook/email integration.Encouraging such peer-to-peer contacts is on the rise among campaigns and will likely be standard practice in future cycles for good reason.A recent study showed that a Facebook message informing users which of their friends had voted resulted in 340,000 additional votes during the 2010 election. The researchers concluded that voters who saw their friends had voted were much more likely to turn out to vote.