Despite nearly 8% unemployment, a tepid economy and millions of dollars in negative advertising, President Obama managed to pull off a sizable Electoral College win on Tuesday. While Obama’s 2008 campaign is now seen as a real-world demonstration of the power of social media, his operation four years later was much more complex. The ’08 campaign is the stuff of textbooks, but the lessons of ’12 are brand new. Marketers of all types studied Obama’s ’08 campaign and they would do well to take a look at his subsequent mobilization effort. Here are some of the obvious lesson of Obama’s triumph this time around: 1. It’s the Big Data, Stupid Big Data may have its flaws, but this election shows that it’s indispensable. New York Times columnist Nate Silver showed how crunching numbers can render most pundits’ gut instincts irrelevant. The Obama campaign proved the same for the marketer’s gut. As Time chronicled, the O campaign relied on a team of dozens of number crunchers who made predictive calls on exactly the right type of pitch to right the right type of voter. After consolidating its database into one megafile, the team relentlessly tested pitches based on the targeting and learned from its testing. As the article states: A large portion of the cash raised online came through an intricate, metric-driven e-mail campaign in which dozens of fundraising appeals went out each day. Here again, data collection and analysis were paramount. Many of the e-mails sent to supporters were just tests, with different subject lines, senders and messages. Inside the campaign, there were office pools on which combination would raise the most money, and often the pools got it wrong. 2. Facebook Advertising Works There are lots of reasons to doubt Facebook’s assertion that ad units like Sponsored Stories are effective. For instance, the recommendation you see may be from a Facebook “friend” you actually barely know. You may find it creepy to see advertising intrude upon friendships as well. But in Obama’s ’12 campaign, Facebook worked. As Time detailed, the O campaign used Facebook to “replicate the door-knocking efforts of field organizers” on a mass scale. During the final weeks of the campaign, Obama’s supporters received pictures of their friends in swing states. They were then urged to click a button asking the swing state voters to register to vote, vote early or get to the polls. The campaign found that the tactic worked 20% of the time “in large part because the message came from someone they knew.” 3. All the Money in the World Can’t Overcome Bad Advertising Super PACs supporting Mitt Romney poured millions into swing states to convince voters that voting for Obama and other Democrats would be against their self interest. However, as Slate points out, many of these ads were crude and insulted the intelligence of targeted voters. For instance, a Super PAC attack ad against Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown “portrayed Brown as a demented cartoon, sitting at a desk with an […]
Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson apologizes to Mike Brown’s family in a video statement. Image: Vimeo / Devin James Group Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson apologized to the family of Mike Brown in a video on Friday, about six weeks after a white officer under his command shot and killed the unarmed black teenager in the middle of a street in Ferguson, Missouri. “I want to say this to the Brown family: no one who has not experienced the loss of a child can understand what you’re feeling,” Jackson said in the video, in which he reads from a prepared statement. “I am truly sorry for the loss of your son.” Jackson also said he was sorry that it took officers a number of hours to remove Brown’s body from the street, but that “the time that it took involved very important work on the part of investigators who are trying to collect evidence and gain a true picture of what happened that day.” You can watch the full video, below. The killing of Brown, 18, on Aug. 9 incited a firestorm of protests in Ferguson and a national conversation about how black people are treated by police officers. Though demonstrations are not as common now as they were in August, another protest started on Sept. 23 after a memorial to Brown was destroyed. Police in Ferguson after the incident, which included officers from the St. Louis County department, were heavily criticized for responding to protesters with riot gear and military-style vehicles, something Jackson also addressed in his video. “I do want to say to any peaceful protester who did not feel that I did enough to protect their constitutional right to protest, I am sorry for that. The right of the people to peacefully assemble is what the police are here to protect.” The FBI is investigating the killing of Brown, who was shot six times after what police say was an altercation between the teenager and the police officer. Officer Darren Wilson, who killed Brown, has not spoken publicly about the incident, and is currently on paid administrative leave. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/09/25/ferguson-police-chief-apologizes/
Don’t look for any help on net neutrality here.Image: Khue Bui/Associated Press Alternate headline: powerless bill doomed to fail. Two Democratic members of Congress — Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Rep. Doris Matsui of California — will propose legislation that will push the Federal Communications Commission to do whatever it can to ensure net neutrality, according to The Washington Post. The proposal comes amid the growing realization that the laws Congress has enacted may be too narrow to provide for net neutrality, forcing the FCC to plod forward in hopes that it can write regulation that keeps the Internet a level playing field while staying within the legal bounds it has already twice exceeded. The bill gives no new power to the FCC, instead adding only political support. It will likely die in the Republican-led House of Representatives. Net neutrality and the FCC are both already highly politicized. The two Republican FCC commissioners voted against opening comment on the commission’s recently proposed net neutrality rules, and GOP politicians have warned they will try to thwart new regulation seen as overly intrusive. Keep in mind, the FCC enforces rules written by Congress. Congress theoretically could pass a bill giving new, legitimate power to the FCC to enforce net neutrality. Instead, Democrats are writing a bill that would essentially cheerlead the commission, and it will likely never see a vote. As President Barack Obama recently noted, the current slate of legislators is on track to be the least productive Congress in modern history with 23 public laws adopted in its second session. The idea that politicians, whose job it is to propose new laws to be enforced by regulators like the FCC, would pen such a toothless bill, coupled with the reality that it almost certainly won’t pass, highlights just how broken the system is. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/06/17/democrats-net-neutrality-congress/
This new political ad from Priorities USA Action, an Obama-affiliated Super PAC, may be the most brutal ad yet from the 2012 presidential election. Called “Understands,” the ad features the story of Joe Soptic, who claims he lost his job after Bain Capital, the financial services company for which Mitt Romney once served as CEO, shut down a plant where he worked. Soptic lost his health insurance along with his job, meaning he couldn’t pay for his wife’s treatment when she was diagnosed with cancer. Soptic’s wife died as he stood by, helpless. The seemingly implied message of the ad: Mitt Romney indirectly killed Soptic’s wife. Yikes. That implication aside, the factual foundation of the ad is built on tenuous ground. As the Washington Post pointed out on Tuesday, Mitt Romney had left Bain Capital before Soptic’s plant closed. A representative of Priorities USA Action also told the Washington Post that “this is another in a series of ads that demonstrates how long it took for communities and individuals to recover from the closing of these businesses.” Is this ad on target, or does it go too far? Share your thoughts in the comments. YouTube’s 10 Most-Shared Ads in July 1. DC Shoes: Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five: Ultimate Urban Playground, San Francisco The most-shared ad of July is a riveting, white-knuckle adrenaline ride through the streets of San Francisco. Watching Ken Block rip and shred through turns is a pure delight for speed junkies and gearheads. Anyone who winces at car crashes in movies – this is not for you. But good luck looking away. 2. Sesame Street: Share It Maybe We all knew this was coming right? It makes perfect sense that the Cookie Monster would spoof Carly Rae Jepsen’s song “Call Me Maybe” and turn it into a plea for you to share your cookies with him. We just have one suggestion. In the words of the immortal Randy Jackson, “I’m not sure about your tone dawg. It seems just a little bit off to me. Otherwise, I’m totally diggin’ it!” 3. Abercrombie Models Sing “Call Me Maybe” While Shirtless Supposedly this is a video created by the controversial store’s models and employees themselves. From the description: “To celebrate the song’s Summer popularity, A&F asked its hottest guys from its Flagship stores all around the world to have fun with the song — film it on their phones and to do whatever came naturally… This is what the guys sent back!” Regardless of who created it, it’s being shared like crazy. It’s got virtually the same recipe as the number two video so it makes complete sense to us. 4. Som Sabadell Flash Mob Flash Mobs still light up the charts on share counts. Banco Sabadell chose to celebrate its 130-year anniversary by arranging one of their own with some truly talented musicians and singers. The little girl conducting from the lightpost is one of the best visual moments, but it seems like a lot of the people […]
The BBC reported a Jordanian politician threatened an opponent with a gun on live TV. No shots were fired and no one was hurt. Before pulling out the gun, the man threw a shoe at the other candidate. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/07/jordanian-politicial-brandishes-gun/
Tuesday’s town hall-style presidential debate at Hofstra University was a slug fest. President Obama and Governor Romney escaped the podiums of the previous round and danced all over the stage, trading jabs and interrupting each other and the moderator, CNN political correspondent Candy Crowley. If you were watching your social medias simultaneously, there was plenty of fun to be had. As they’ve done with the previous two debates, our friends at Hark.com have collected the night’s best audio moments into the graphic below. Click your favorite quotes and share them with your friends on the web. This time, we’ve got some fun surprises in the audience, as well. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/17/hofstra-debate-sound-bites/
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons stars in a new digital short for “Battle For Your Ballot,” a non-partisan grassroots movement raising awareness about voter suppression. The video is the first in a series of PSA-style YouTube clips from The BRPR Group. The movement’s website, BattleForYourBallot.com, will house the videos, inform viewers about their voting rights and let people report voter irregularities by submitting audio, videos or photos. “We want to utilize the followings of celebrities and high-profile individuals with fans who are most effected by voter suppression tactics — younger voters and minority voters,” BRPR Group’s agency director Christopher Renz tells Mashable. He says the next figures in the movement will be a politician and Hispanic celebrity. The website also details state-by-state information for voters, including rights as an employee on Election Day and a list of necessary documents to bring to the polls. “This is not about a red or a blue state, Republican or Democrat,” says Gerard Bush, co-founder and chief creative director of The BRPR Group, who also has a prominent role in the video. “It’s actually not partisan at all; it is about the most valued right of every American citizen to have our voices heard at the ballot box.” Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/01/battle-for-your-ballot/
America is down to the final hours before hitting the polls to decide the winner of the 2012 presidential election. By now, you likely know who you’re voting for, but this little guy is hoping to sway the electoral college vote with cuteness. “Little Mitt,” filmed by Portal A, features a sassy, pint-sized version of GOP candidate Mitt Romney. When told how great he looks, Little Mitt says, “Of course I do, I’m Mitt frickin’ Romney.” Watch Little Mitt shake hands with trick-or-treaters and neighborhood residents in the video above. The small politician even outdoes the real Romney in flag pins. BONUS: Elect to Laugh With 10 Mitt Romney Tumblr Pages 10 Mitt Romney Tumblrs 1. Mitt Romney Wearing Jeans Politicians always look a little awkward out of suits. Mitt Romney Wearing Jeans collects photos of the GOP candidate in denim instead of Dockers. 2. Little Face Mitt Big head, little face. Photoshop magic creates hilarity one teeny-tiny Mitt mug at a time. 3. Mitt Venn and Now The folks at Upworthy think the Romney campaign could use a little help putting together Venn diagrams. 4. Cats on Mitt Romney Self-explanatory. 5. Mitt Romney Ruining Perfectly Good Gifs Mitt’s giggling face ruins the Internet’s best GIFs. 6. Mitt and Rob Comedian Rob Delaney sends funny tweets to Mitt Romney, and Delaney’s buddy @pants illustrates the one-sided tweet-versations. 7. Amercia Is With Mitt In May, a typo in Mitt’s app — “Amercia” instead of America — sparked plenty of jokes at the former governor’s expense. Amercia Is With Mitt lasted less than a week, but it’s now a piece of blooper history. 8. Mitt and Lucille Photos of Mitt Romney + Quotes from Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development = Mitt and Lucille 9. Mitt Does Shakespeare More Tumblr math: Photos of Mitt Romney + Quotes from William Shakespeare = Mitt Does Shakespeare 10. Mitt Romney Confusing Children All that politician baby-kissing is sure to produce a funny photo or two. Or an entire Tumblr’s worth. BONUS: Mitt Romey’s Official Tumblr Page That’s right; Mitt Romney has an official Tumblr page. The page includes campaign updates, videos and supporter stories. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/11/05/little-mitt-romney/
The final debate of the 2012 presidential election season has been auto-tuned. The Gregory Brothers, the duo behind “Songify the News” and “Bed Intruder Song,” has been setting every debate of the presidential capaign season to song. The “songified” videos put notable moments from the debates to song. The first three debates have amassed over 7 million views together. Which one was your favorite? We’ve embedded the prior three below. Auto-Tune The Debates First Presidential Debate Date: October 3, 2012Topic: Domestic policy Location: University of Denver in Denver, ColoradoParticipants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt RomneyModerator: Jim Lehrer (Host of NewsHour on PBS) VP Debate Date: October 16, 2012Topic: Foreign and domestic policy Location: Centre College in Danville, KentuckyParticipants: Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul RyanModerator: Martha Raddatz (ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent) 2nd Presidential Debate Date: October 22, 2012Topic: Town meeting format including foreign and domestic policyLocation: Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt RomneyModerator: Candy Crowley (CNN Chief Political Correspondent) 3rd Presidential Debate Date: October 22, 2012Topic: Foreign policyLocation: Lynn University in Boca Raton, FloridaParticipants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt RomneyModerator: Bob Schieffer (Host of Face the Nation on CBS) Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/23/final-presidential-debate-auto-tune/
During a talk before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton let it all out – a jab at Russian President Vladimir Putin, her shock at the on-going situation in Iraq and a reaction to Eric Cantor’s primary loss. While reflecting on her time as Secretary of State, she discussed the difficulty in forging diplomacy with certain foreign leaders, particularly Russian President Vladimir Putin. “There are obvious exceptions — very difficult to build relationships with some people,” Clinton said. “And I’m talking about you, Vladimir,” she said — somewhat — jokingly. Clinton also hinted during the promotion of her new memoir ‘Hard Choices’ that some world leaders, like Putin, “may not be happy” with some of the book’s content. This series of digs come just days after Putin called Clinton “weak” during a sexist rant on French Television. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Vladivostok, Russia, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. Image: Mikhail Metzel/Associated Press It wasn’t just her honesty about Putin that caught attention, but also her reaction to the ISIS in Iraq. “This is not just a Syrian problem anymore. I never thought it was a Syrian problem, I thought it was a regional problem,” she said. “I could not have predicted the extent to which ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) could be effective in seizing cities in Iraq and trying to erase boundaries and create an Islamic state.” On a roll, she also commented on the primary loss of Republican majority leader, Eric Cantor. “I think it shows the continuing conflict within the Republican party over its direction and that will be a challenge. It may not effect necessarily the election in November, we’ll see, but it will certainly have long-term implications for 2016 and maybe beyond,” she said. Needless to say, the former secretary isn’t holding anything back. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/06/12/hillary-clinton-putin-iraq-cantor/
