Integrated Marketing

Communication
CASE STUDY

THE BARACK OBAMA CAMPAIGN

BATCH : PGDM 2009-2010

ROLL NO : 2009M06

BRAND : Barack Obama

NAME : Vaibhav Jain

PROFESSOR : Rajeev Chawala

 SYMBIOSIS CENTRE FOR MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCE
DEVELOPMENT (SCHMRD)

Contents

1. Introduction________________________________________________________________
_1
2. Biography__________________________________________________________________
_2
3. Logo____________________________________________________________________4
4. Branding_________________________________________________________________5
Introduction
Barack Obama, the 44th President of the US, and he used integrated
marketing communications (IMC) to win the 2008 US Presidential elections.
For the first time in the history of the US Presidential Elections, the Internet
was used widely and effectively for both campaigning and fund raising
purposes. Obama also used the traditional methods of marketing which
accounted for 50% of his fund raising. The case shows how Obama carefully
tailored his campaign by targeting people of different age groups,
communities, and professionals systematically to achieve success in the
elections. Obama tapped the growing community of people who preferred
the Internet and mobile phones to television. Other G7 countries had in the
past tried to use the Internet as a tool for campaigning but it was not used as
effectively and consistently in the past, according to experts.

Like any great brand, Obama has built up a bond of trust with the American
people… But like any brand, he has to deliver now on his promises, both
actual and perceived." 1

John Quelch, Marketing expert, in November 2008.

"We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in
touch soon about what comes next." 2
- Barack Obama, in an email to his supporters on election night
(November 4, 2008).

"I know several people on the campaign, and I can tell you hands down
Obama has the better technology strategy. There is an innate generational
understanding of technology in the guys' bones – most of them grew up with
it as an integral part of their daily life." 3
- Anthony Citrano, branding consultant, June 2008
Biography

B
arack Obama was born in
Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4,
1961 to a Kenyan father and
an American mother. BObama’s
parents, Barack Obama Sr. and Ann
Dunham met while studying at the
University of Hawaii.Obama spent his
early years in Honolulu before
moving to Indonesia at the age of
six. BObama’s parents separated
when he was two years old. His
mother later married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian. The family moved to
Jakarta in 1967.
After staying for four years in Indonesia, Obama returned to
Honolulu to study at the Punahou School. He studied at the Occidental
College in Los Angeles for two years before moving to the Columbia
University in New York City. Obama graduated from the Columbia
University in 1983 with a major in Political Science and a specialization in
International Relations. After his graduation, Obama worked at the
Business International Corporation and the New York Public Interest
Research Group. In 1985, he moved to Chicago to work as a community
organizer. Later, in 1988, Obama joined the Harvard Law School. He went
on to become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He
graduated from the law school in 1991. Barack Obama met Michelle
Robinson in 1989, whom he married in 1992. Michelle and Barack have
two daughters.
Obama played several roles professionally between 1993
and 2004. He worked as a lawyer for the law firm, David, Miner, Barnhill &
Galland. He also worked as a part-time lecturer at the University Of
Chicago Law School from 1993 to 2004; he taught constitutional law at the
law school. Obama also served as a board member at the Woods Fund of
Chicago, a philanthropic organization. In 1996, Obama was elected to the
Illinois senate. He was elected again in 1998 and 2002. In 2000, he lost a
primary for the United States House of Representatives.
 In 2003, Obama was appointed the chairman of the Illinois
Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee. Obama became a United
States Senator in late 2004 to become the fifth Afro-American Senator in
history. He secured 70% votes.
In 1991, while being in-charge of a voter registration drive in
Chicago, Obama began writing a book of memoirs that was later published
in 1995 as Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.
Obama wrote another book later that was published in 2006. The book,
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream went
on to become a part of the New York Times Best Seller list.
Once elected into the state Senate of Illinois, Obama took
deep interest in reforms and policies,
making and changing some consequently.
He initiated the requirement of mandatorily
videotaping interrogations in cases of
homicide. He enthusiastically participated
in creating the Earned Income Tax Credit
program for state, meant for helping people
in the low-income groups. He went on to
initiate reforms in the fields of healthcare
and childcare. An interesting law that came
into being because of him was the law to
monitor racial profiling. It became
mandatory to note the race of the drivers
that are detained by the state police.
Following his election into the
United States Senate, Obama showed
extreme interest in immigration reforms
and border security improvements. He became a co-sponsor of the Secure
America and Orderly Immigration Act; the act was introduced by John
McCain, his Republican rival who ran for the United States Presidential
post. A year later, Obama also favored another security bill that later
became the Secure Fence Act.
Obama, in association with Tom Coburn, brought the Coburn-
Obama Transparency Act into being; the act made the government
expenditure transparent via a website called the USAspending.gov. Also,
in association with the Republican, Richard Lugar, a Lugar- Obama
program went on to make additions to the existing Nunn-Lugar
cooperative threat reduction concept. In 2007, Obama, in association with
Senator Russ Feingold, brought into being the Honest Leadership and
Open Government Act. He later introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act
of 2007.
Last year in February, he declared that he will be running for the
post of the President of the United States. He has showed his dislike to
negative campaigning. Obama has been advocating an end to the war in
Iraq, a universal health care mechanism and increased energy
independence as his most important agendas in his manifesto. Obama has
surprised his critics by raising enormous amount of money through his
campaigns. In January this year, his campaign raised 36.8 million US
dollars, the highest amount raised ever in the
Democratic primaries. In the first six months
of his campaign last year, 58 million US
dollars were raised, breaking earlier records.
Following a series of hate mail sent to
Obama, the US Secret Service instated
special protection for Obama. “Fired up!
Ready to go!” is a cry doing the rounds at
Obama’s campaigns.
Barack Obama and his Democratic
rival, Hillary Clinton are now almost tied at
the total estimated super delegate votes.
Obama has been dubbed as the most liberal
Senator in his political life. In his personal
life, he plays basketball and claims to be a
good poker player.

Obama logo
The Obama logo is the flagship symbol of Barack Obama's presidential
campaign. The design became one of the most recognized
political brand logos during the election. The logo was designed by Chicago-
based Sender LLC (a brand development and design company) on
assignment from Chicago-based mo/de (a motion design studio). The latter
had been brought on board early on by David Axelrod, Obama’s chief
campaign strategist, although it had never done a political identity before.
Creative director Sol Sender led the design team of three which included
Amanda Gentry and Andy Keene. Project managers at mo/de were Colin
Carter and Steve Juras. "We were looking at the “o” of his name and had the
idea of a rising sun and a new day,” according to Sender. “The sun rising
over the horizon evoked a new sense of hope. "The design expression was so
constrained and so bland for so many years in politics," Sender says. "I think
we had a fresh approach because we’d never worked on a campaign before”
— and, of course, the power of the logo had a lot to do with “the power of
the candidate’s message. The final design was decided among seven or
eight options in the first round. "In terms of our internal process, though, I
believe the logo — as we now know it — came out of a second round of
design explorations. At any rate, it happened quite quickly, all things
considered. The entire undertaking took less than two weeks."The design
began late in 2006 and the finished logo made its debut when Obama
officially announced his candidacy for president February 10, 2007 in
Springfield, Illinois. John Slabyk and Scott Thomas, designers with the Obama
campaign oversaw the customization of the logo for 12 different identity
groups as well as for each state with 50 additional versions. There was also
identity for Republicans and Independents supporting Barack Obama.
The reception of Obama's logo was generally positive, and in
some circles, highly praised. The Boston Globe beamed that "the ever-
present rising sun logo has the feeling of a hot new Internet company. "It
begins to break with tradition while also rooting itself in tradition," said Peter
Krivkovich, CEO of Cramer-Krasselt advertising agency in
Chicago. "Patriotism is the foundation, but above that is hope, opportunity,
newness." David Morrison, president of Philadelphia-based market research
firm Twenty something Inc., said the logo has "a nice, contemporary,
dynamic, youthful vibe about it." Designer Michael Bierut called Obama's
branding "just as good or better" as the best commercial brand designs.
"Every time you look, all those signs are perfect," Beirut said. "Graphic
designers like me don't understand how it's happening. It's unprecedented
and inconceivable to us. The people in the know are flabbergasted." On the
other hand, cartoonist Ward Sutton asked, "Is it a zero and a sunset over a
deserted highway?" "Too many type styles and colors. The look is left
undefined. The designer may have been too inexperienced," he
added. Others have noted its similarity to the Taiwan Solidarity Union's logo.
It also shares a similarity with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization logo as
well.

Branding
“Whether it is viewed as an art form or simply a means of selling
a product, there is no doubt that advertising plays a huge role in the modern
world”

“Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th Century.” Marshall

 McLuhan may have had his tongue in his cheek when uttering
this much-quoted statement, but he started a debate which has continued
into the 21st century.But advertising has never started a movement. Most
brands shout through advertising. We are cool! We are the best. Buy us!!!
But modern consumers have so many options. So many choices. And
brand marketers try to seduce, by shouting ads, But modern consumers do
not believe all these shouting ads any longer. Consumers are not led by ads.
Consumers are influenced by their peers. They only buy a brands and their
products/services if their peers have written a positive review about in
online. So many brands have a big problem here. All their brands promises
are killed by social consumers, if the brand
promises do not live up to the delivered brand
experience.
Obama has understood modern
consumers like no other marketer on the
globe Obama’s approach revealed his true
DNA. He really wanted to become part of
consumers, in an authentic way. How can I
become one of them, that must have been
the key question that was on Obama’s mind
Most marketers shout at consumers. Via one
way mass communications. Marketers have
learned to do this since the industrial
revolution. It’s in their DNA.
But remember; Today is a New Day!! Due to interactive media,
consumers started to interact with brands. Consumers suddenly talked back!
Marketers we’re freaked out and scared. They did not know what to do. For
almost 100 years, marketers were the ones talking and shouting at
consumers. Consumers just listened. But, It’s a New Day!
And it even went further! Consumers started conversations
about brands within blogs, forums and social networks. At YouTube
consumers started to criticize brands, their ads, their products, their
services And the worst part of it all; brands were not even aware of these
conversations amongst peers. Marketers did not even know what was being
said about them… But Obama had seen the mistakes brands make..
He tapped into online conversations with an extended
conversational tracking program. Mapping where the conversations took
place, who were the social influencers per topic/theme By listening to peer
conversations within the social space, Obama gained great insights about
consumers behavior and emotions. And he tapped into these conversations
in a very smart way… Obama and his campaign team made another great
strategic choice. Most marketers used “the internet” for shouting banner
campaigns. But Obama and his team must have seen that the key
ingredients of the web were not shouting banner ads! The power of the web
was: peer communications, sharing, interaction, building relationships,
entertainment, sharing opinions and more. Obama gathered a smart
campaign team around him. Not only traditional communicators…
Obama had the vision and guts to put the crucial “brand
engagement architecture” in the hands of a 24 year old rookie.

Chris Hughes: There's huge

potential for people that
haven't been involved in
politics to discover. the
fundamental premise was to
help put the political process
into people's own hands.His
challenge was to get Obama
from unknown brand to very
trusted brand within 2 years.
Obama needed to
climb the stairway to heaven
from hell. In a period that would
takes 99% of all trusted brands
5-50 years. But how?
How to move Obama from an unknown brand into the ultimate
position: part of the badges of belonging or a so called: Core Identity Brand?
Obama latterly was an unknown, not trusted “guy” that nobody knew. How
do we get Obama past market leading brands like Coca Cola, Nokia, or
Vodafone. Not in 50 years, not in 10, not in 5… but just in 2 years!!
Let’s say it’s challenge indeed…All brands and marketers have
budgets. Not Obama. He needed to raise his own marketing budget himself
first, to fund his own campaign.
Obama knew he needed millions of micro donations to fund his
campaign budget. His team knew active engagement was the most
important step in the funnel to increase consumers’ purchase intent.
Purchase intent in this case; people willing to donate money to Obama.
Another model the Obama team must have embraced?
When the level of consumer creativity goes up, the involvement
increases significantly. Obama’s smart facilitating campaign evoked users to
become co-creators. Remember all the user generated content about
Obama? Obama built his brand faster than any other brand ever before.
Obama embraced new models that many marketers are still denying for
many reasons.
 Many marketers use broadcasted media to reach people. Many
marketers have not read the book: The Long Tail (Chris Anderson) yet!
Many marketers use viral videos for short campaigns. Mostly a
wrong approach! Obama embraced the long tail, and used content to build
his brand in the long term. He simply listened to people that are experts:
Barack, viral videos and social content are not suited for 6-8 week
campaigns. You should use hem to fuel your brand in the long run: 6-24
months. What most marketers deny,
was embraced by Obama. To become
a core identity and profitable brand,
Obama researched continuously:
brand tracking and conversational
tracking! But most marketers are only
measuring online campaigns by: hits,
views, clicks, and more web analytics.
Paying Matrix Lab some money for
proper brand tracking they deny as:
too expensive. Big brands can never
embed the learning into their
stakeholders.
Obama is different. He admitted research, loyalty and retention
were key ingredients to become a core identity brands. Most brands are still
at the level: the “click through rate” at my banners was too low.
Remember the slide- powered by the web, not advertised on it?
Who ever told you that the internet is
only suited for direct marketing
purposes? Can you do more than a
SEA campaign in Google? Yes You
Can! Who ever told you banners were
the best way to use interactive
media? Before you start, just look at
traditional and online media again.
Maybe, just maybe, the powers of the
web are brand interactions and
building trusted relationships?!! Use
the internet also to build opt-in
databases! Get know consumer
behavior! Create loyal consumers!
If all marketers are convinced their core business is: influencing
consumer behavior… why not start relationships through opt-in databases?
This is the only way to get to know consumers areas of interest by analyzing
their surf, clicking and buying behavior.
Opt-in databases are the best way to start personalized,
relevant, targeted, WANTED, measureable, cheap and effective follow-up
communications! Interactive media can be used beyond search and banners.
Obama knows. When will marketers learn and listen? Visual we got from our
 friend Michael Moon (CEO Gistics Inc. and author of the
bestselling book: Firebrands)
Obama knew online is the place to facilitate
consumers. To offer them entertainment, engagement,
relevant topics, grassroots participations. This an
example model that brands can use. Obama already
understood the model. Obama knew this was the fastest
way to create a huge opt-in database of engaged
consumers. Obama outsmarted his competitors by this
smart approach. Millions of people opted-in to become
part of the movement! Listening, facilitating and engaging
consumers online. Obama knew this model would help him
to: drive awareness, increase engagement and peer
advocacy. This is how Obama created the biggest brand
ambassador program in the world

Why Do We Feel Connected To Obama?

Because we feel we are running into that
same wall over and over again,If Obama is using social
networks. If the Pope is launching a YouTube channel whilst The Vatican has
understood that screenagers are no longer reached and engaged by
newspapers and TV channels! it’s so difficult to reach modern consumers???
It’s not so hard. Just look at Obama and the Pope! If they can do it, why
can’t you? Change your DNA and fire your media agency, if you have to.
Remember; It’s a New Day!

The gap between old skool marketers and new consumers is

getting bigger and bigger. Each day hundreds of brands prove by their poor
websites and lousy media-mixes that they really do not understand the
needs of modern digital consumers.If we look at the same world again, we
must understand that consumers simply think: So we feel we have a mission.
And our mission to break old patterns is supported the Obama’s approach.
I know some of you will say: yeah, but Obama is different than
my brand! Very true! But Obama proved it’s all about a
new DNA. Being open. Being authentic. Shout AND
listen! We Love Obama’s Brand Interaction campaign.
Why? Because our mission is to help brands launch
smart brand interaction programs.
We started with creative digital branding
agency LaComunidad in 2003. In 2004 we launched
ViralTracker and in 2007 we launched global social
media marketing agency SocialMedia8. This triple
play proposition was acquired by world leader in
marketing communications WPP.
 Since March 2008, the partnership with WPP has
enabled us to expand our services rapidly amongst global brands.
But mission work is never finished, so we spread the word through
the AdAge Power150 ranked blog: www.ViralBlog.com Here
you’ll find many viral and social media marketing campaigns,
programs and cases. If you want to join, tap in and let’s create a
movement… Brand Interaction Strategies, Interaction Platforms or Brand
Engagement Architectures or Platform Communications? Honestly, I don’t
know how you should label LaComunidad.
If we create and seed virals, we can reach a lot of people at very
low costs per contact. But should it stop there? No! That is only the
beginning of the relationship. Why not invite people form your viral
to your brand platform/community to create participation,
engagement and peer advocacy? Why not build a branded platform
that grows organically over time? Why do we always think in
product launches or campaigns? Why not understand like Obama:
build a long term platform/program that fuels many campaigns?
In 2003 we thought- internet will transform into a
platform for audio, video, music, gaming, commerce, entertainment
and more. From plain text and photos into full motion. With
ViralTracker we can prove the creative power of viral
commercials, videos, games/movie trailers and widgets. It
gains insights and knowledge about what content embrace
and what they do not like. Using it, brands can improve
their digital content strategies. Most viral videos have
response rates from 3-9%!
It can proof what targets audiences if what target
markets have seen the content or commercial. It offers the
insights what new target markets like the commercial,
product or brand. Since 2004 global brands, agencies and
resellers have been using this tool to become smarter
brands. It’s all about to learn and implement learnings….
The programs delivered by SocialMedia8. Not
only campaigns, also long lasting social media marketing
programs, like the program of Obama that we love so much.
Do you want to buy attention or earn attention?
Strong virals need no paid seeding. Just wait what
ViralTracker will tell you about the results. With a viral that is
really viral, smart social media planning, strong seeding skills
your viral will become a weapon of mass affection. But not
always in a period of 6 weeks. We understand you have
needs, and we understand your media agency wants
guarantuees.
 But no PR agency or WOMMA agency can
guarantee you a number of views. We can estimate them
due to the many campaigns we run with ViralTracker.
And with paid seeding we can give you guaranteed reach.
But why not wait 3 weeks and see if your viral is really
viral or not. We know it might feel as a strange advice: no
we do not need a massive media budget from you now.
Just wait what the viral incubation period (21 days) tells
you. If your viral is not really viral, than we can tell you
how much budget you need, but for now: keep the money
in your pockets.
Strange? Might be. But remember, It’s a New
Day! Strange and change can be good!
Candidate Web sites have fully embraced
politics as a two-way conversation with voters. Twelve
sites also offer the opportunity for visitors to turn that
dialogue into grassroots action (organizing their own
events, fundraisers, etc). Add dialogue and action
together and Democrats have the most interactive sites,
led by Barack Obama, followed by Hillary Clinton, John
Edwards and Bill Richardson.
Blogs, a novelty in 2004, are now mainstream. In
the road to nomination, Obama had fundraised $ 150
Million in September 2008 alone. His fundraising strategy
worked. But what would Obama have done if the
campaign had failed? He would not have gathered his own
marketing/media budget!
What would Obama have done if the strategy
had failed? Would he have asked a few corporations for
urges the the money? Authentic as Obama is, I don’t think
so. Most brands would act that way, but not Obama. He
would have lost credibility immediately, I feel..

Can you imagine how incredibly smart the

fundraising part was embedded in his engagement
strategy?! Micro donations were a strategic very smart
choice, but what if it had failed? He would have had no
buying power and would have lost the elections!
…….,,……No guts, no glory?
Obama knew he could win swing states. He
dared to target and to make difficult but strategic choices. in
the road to nomination Obama focused and swing states. He
needed quick wins and allocated 50% of his budget (at that
moment) to win the swing states.
Most brands focus at campaigns and spend their
money on media. But their websites are awful and scare away leads
immediately. Obama had noticed that the most important part of the
marketing campaign was his website!
Brands can learn from Obama: the website is marketing tool # 1.
The website will determine the ROI of all your efforts and budgets. Spend
less on campaigns and create a smart website.

My.BarackObama.com is the epic

center of the campaign.
Here supporters can join local
groups, create events, sign-up for
updates and set-up personal fund-
raising pages.Your website is your
greatest brand interaction asset, make
it part of the your brand team and
work with integrated teams. That’s
what we call: having an internet
strategy, so marketers should put
internet within the right place! Use
your website to create engagement.
Invite people to participate and create a movement of brand ambassadors.
Poeple are smart and willing to help. Facilitate consumers, share and help
them to help you! If you enable the community, the community will help you
reach your goals. Obama used the power of the web to mobilize people
towards offline events.
It matters that, how can online sampling ignite your new product
awareness and sales? How can e-vouchers be redeemed in your stores? How
can a member-gets-member program increase your valuable opt-in
database? How can the power of the web increase e-learning programs or e-
health programs?
How can Obama’s approach help you drive your branding,
marketing or sales goals?
How can disruptive and innovative strategies make you the new
company? Look at social trading network Zecco- onine trading Facebook
alike!
Will a smart social travel matching engine disrupt the travel sites
we know today? Will social search be the next thing- a smart search engine
that does not throw a bucket of links at you, but will show you sites that your
peers have rated as: very cool. With smart and very easy voter scripts callers
were guided.

Volunteers were facilitated to call people in swing states to

convince them to vote for Obama. Obama used widgets very smart within
social networks.
 How can Obama use widgets, while I hear at too many brands:
we are not ready for that yet! Strange, for a second I thought that marketing
was: scoping consumer trends and tap into these trends?!!
Is it relevant that if your brand or marketing team is not ready
for using social networks? If social networks are the new and trendy
restaurants were people spend 20-40 hours per month, can you afford to
neglect this trend? If Google is a great sales machine, why shouldn’t
Facebook be a great branding machine? Have you tried? Obama has…..
If your target audience spends hours per week on YouTube and
video is the online trend, why should you not open a YouTube channel? If
Obama and the Pope can change, you certainly can!

In-game advertising
With it Obama surprised Millions of Xbox users! And immediately these
gamers shouted online to other Xbox users (through Xbox Live, in game
communities, blogs and forums): wow have you seen how Obama tapped
into our Burnout Paradise game?? The guy must really understand my likes
and passion.
Obama has clearly shown that In-game advertising could create free
PR and Buzz. But also how brand innovation can drive brand preference and
likeability. The question is not: do you like
ames, do you believe in games. The right question would be: how would your
target audience perceive your brand within a game.
But if you look at Obama’s campaign, I do not know what to call
it… Is it 360 degrees of integrated? I feel it seems like surround sound
marketing. Everywhere you go you feel like you are in the epic center of his
movement.
Some brands start campaigns with a website as epic center that
really kills all purchase intent. Most consumers contact your brand online,
through your website. If you want it or not, it’s true. Do you scare away
consumers online or do you coin that contact moment by having the best
interactive website ever?
What Obama does, we can say that,the only thing Obama could
have done better was to offer podcasts and vodcasts. Why? Because most
influencer bloggers would have loved it. And they would have posted another
item about it.
If you want seeding, write consumer reviews (about your brand
yourself) or invite social influencers: be open and honest about it! Be aware
that cheeky tricks will always backfire and damage your brand. Ask your
agency for credentials, your brand is your biggest asset!

Your traditional PR or media agency mostly do not even know

what WOMMA or WOMMA complaint is. Check it out tomorrow, ask your
agency and find out.
 Obama launched a very strong online campaign, in full synergy
with his offline campaign. Obama knows video is the big online trend, and he
tapped into it.
YouTube has over 344 Million users! Video has the power of TV,
and it’s pull. People spend many hours on video portals. How can you afford
not to use it?
There are many more video sharing portals than YouTube.
Remember my slide about ViralTracker? Now you know why tracking,
measurement and insights are so crucial to brands.
Obama generated 513 Million clip views. The market price of a
clip view (paid seeding) across the globe is $ 0,20. Do 512 Million times $
0,20 and you know what your free exposure potential is. Free increase of
Share of Voice (SoV). How will this impact your Share of Market (SoM)?

Yes ladies and gents: free online GRP’s…. It’s a New Day ;-)
Global brands like Obama should embrace global social platforms like
MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and more.How is your current brand
presence within the social space? What’s your social media marketing
strategy for 2009?

Facebook peer interaction. Use a channel or a widget that facilitates, don’t

put interrupting and shouting banners in a social network! Do participate and
share! How can your brand become one of them?

LinkedIn
Look at Obama: he used his LinkedIn profile to reach out to professionals to
discuss his view points on business, income tax and
finance.

Flickr
Remember Stairway to brand heaven. Build a brand image faster than
ever….Barack Obama's campaign team posted a series of intimate pictures
from election night on his Flickr page. Here Obama and his family can be
seen, tensely watching television from a hotel room as the results gradually
come in.

MySpace

Twitter
What can brands do with Twitter? Why not use Twitter as communications
tool! With 109,892 followers, Obama is the #1 Twitterholic (November, 2008;
February 4, 2009 = 230,498)
Many brands ask my how I feel about mobile advertising. Why do
we want to push advertising in every channel? There’s more than advertising
people!
 Create a 360 degrees approach and facilitate users with things
they need to know: free text alerts, not text link and mobile banners!Think
beyond advertising if you want to create satisfied and loyal consumers.

LaComunidad The Brand Interaction Architectures develops for brands?

Create opt-in databases with e-mail, text and more. How many of the
marketers here have built a huge opt-in database yet? What do you do with
it? Why haven’t you started yet, what are you waiting for?

iPhone. The power of the mobile web used.

ADDRESS
Obama overwhelms McCain with his contribution of words to the debate.
Obama never says "nuclear", a word that McCain continues to repeat.
Obama switched his tone-of-voice during his program.
 As an unknown brand he
was personal and polite and created
an un-American political campaign.
Later he spoke more distinguished
and firm, but never threw mud at
opponents.
He’s really into doing it
with the people. Another buying
satisfaction for his voters: that guy is
for real!
Less than 48 hours after
winning the election, the Barack
Obama transition team launched
Change.Gov.
Users were asked to
submit ideas and rate or offer
comments on the ideas of others.
Over 125,000 users submitted over
44,000 ideas and cast over 1.4
million votes. any fundraisers like
WWF must find Obama’s strategic
fundraising program fantastic. But Wikipedia
also raised $6,2 Million from users.

One more time, really buy and read the book: The Wisdom of Crowds by
James Surowiecki: A few fundraising facts to give a sense of how successful
he was at creating this social movement:

1.7M contributors thru april 2008

2.9M total contributions thru april 2008
93% total contributions under 100 in April 2008 according to
Huffington Post
While the campaign doesn’t report on % of contributions
received online, anecdotally we know the smaller contributions
tend to come online

November 2008,
3.0M contributors
6.5M online donations
93% total contributions under 100
Average online donation $80
$500 million raised online

Obama raised $532 Million campaign budget!!! I keep asking

myself: what if the fundraising strategy would have failed?
 Obama was on time and on budget each and every time. He
spent $7.39 per vote!
Amber Lee Ettinger is an American actress, internet celebrity,
and model best known as Obama Girl. Ettinger appeared in "I Got a Crush...
on Obama," which was posted by Barely Political to YouTube in June 2007
and the video caught on.
Tina Fey is an American writer, comedian, actress, and producer,
considered to bear a resemblance to Governor of Alaska and former
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. On the 34th SNL season
premiere episode Fey appeared alongside Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton to
imitate Palin in a video. The video is a spoof of John McCain's 'celebrity'
advertisement in which the Republican candidate compared Barack Obama's
popularity with that of Ms Hilton and claimed the Democrat was no more
than a celebrity candidate who was not ready to lead the nation.
music video “Yes We Can Song” by Black Eyed Peas’ frontman
will.i.am and director Jesse Dylan became an instant viral sensation upon its
release in early February with over 50 million views on YouTube and Dipdive.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama even put the video on
his website BarackObama.com.
"Wassup 2008" is a comedic political video posted to YouTube
by 60Frames. The video is a parody of the Budweiser advertising campaign
which aired on television in the early 2000s. The video stars the same actors
as the original Budweiser commercial, except in the present time they are
dealing with house foreclosures, military service in Iraq, hurricanes, tumbling
stocks and expensive healthcare, compared to their past antics of "watching
the game" and "drinking a Bud."
 “It’s been eight long years since the boys said wassup to each
other. Even with the effects of a down economy and imminent change in the
White House, the boys are still able to come together and stay true to what
really matters.”
The final battle between Obama and McCain took off! The two
candidates fight their battle on the dance floor, because “The is only one
place where the election should be decided … it’s on!”. The video was
directed by David Morgasen and Yaroslav Kemnits (Director of Special
Effects), written by
David Morgasen
and produced by
Dmitry Lesnevsky
(Exec. Producer),
David Morgasen
(Exec. Producer)
and Elena
Muravina.

YouTube + Digg + Obama = YouBama

On November 5, 2008, The Guardian started a photographic
project, entitled A Message for Obama. The essence of the idea was to see if
it was possible to capture the reaction to Barack Obama's presidential
victory in a creative way.
Well you all heard about Obama’s personal approach. The
creator of this poster was contacted twice by Obama personally.

What can brands learn from Obama?

1) How can the power of the web drive store traffic for your brand?
2) Be authentic. Never, never bribe bloggers. Don’t cheat or lie. Be
transparent!
 3) Has your brand implemented Skype already so users can phone
your helpdesk
through Skype? Or are you not ready for that?
4) smart usage the power of the web to create satisfied and loyal
customers.
5) Offer features and tools. Your consumers will decide if they will use
it or not. Make content available as broad as you can,
facilitate niche groups as well.
6) Just Do It! don’t doubt, don’t point at your media agency, and don’t
point at others.
7) Eagerness and openness to learn.
8) how Obama integrated online donations (contribute) very smartly.
9) Obama not only invested in mass communications. He also
invested lots of time and money into segmentation.
10) Use the power of the web to facilitate ruthless executed PR.
11) strategic choices will help you to win

What can brands learn from McCain?

If you pick the wrong agency, You might get invited to court for spam as
well.
Many brands and advertising agencies focus at the last 30 seconds of the
marketing value chain. At Grupo LaComunidad we feel there is more to
explore. Our ideas are visualized in this demo: Advertising? The Lipstick on a
Pig…
Do all brands like this vision statement? We certainly hope not
Obama’s social media marketing architecture SMM program fuelled his brand
and campaigns. It was the foundational layer underneath all his campaigns
and “product launches”.