Striegel
- 2. About me • Millward Brown, Head of Global Digital Development • From Chicago, IL the home of Barack Obama • Former Managing Director of Dynamic Logic in US and Europe • Over a decade of experience working in new media • Worked on online effectiveness research for Kerry (2004) and Obama (2008) presidential campaigns
- 3. Challenge: a two‐year product launch • Low Obama brand awareness • Compared to Hilary Clinton not many Americans knew about him or what he stood for • His likelihood to win even the Democratic nomination was highly unlikely 3
- 4. Building the Obama brand Ideal = Brand Culture Consistent Message “Slogan” “Consumer” Base 4
- 5. Evolution of the message “Change We Can Believe In” “Change We Need” “Change” 5
- 6. The Obama campaign organization • Made new media a priority from the beginning • New media was not within Communication or Paid Media divisions and had equal voice • Not only a big staff within New Media, but also the best in the business Barack Obama Campaign Manager Corres Field New Media Paid Media Operations Finance Policy Communications 170 New Media Staff 6
- 7. Mobilizing the Obama brand • New media was used to create awareness, support and involvement among the voting community Outcomes: • Database of 13 million supporters and voters • Raised $650 million in funds contributed by 3.1 million supporters – Doing the math...majority of contributions were less than $200 • 5 million volunteers • 5 million friends on various social networks
- 8. Obama: Marketer of the Year in 2008 Marketer % of votes Obama 36.1% Apple 27.3% Zappos 14.1% Nike 9.4% Coors 8.7% McCain 4.5%
- 9. Successful marketing practices 1. Message was Focused and Consistent 2. Supporters were the Centerpiece of the campaign 3. Communications were Nimble and Timely 4. Compelling Content was the center of all new media activities 5. Testing, Measurement and Optimization were key parts of the communication process
- 10. Focus and consistency Obama’s Speech on • Adhered to consistent Health Care brand, look and feel and message • David Plouffe’s “A Offline Health Volunteers belief in alignment” Advertising about Care in Talking to Voters about Health Care Health Care • Only delivered Chicago, IL content that they knew their supporters Internet would value Advertising about Health Care 10
- 12. Nimble and timely communication • Able to react quickly to breaking news • Palin’s “community organizer comment” – Campaign was able to launch a fundraising email within a couple of hours or Palin’s speech • Content uploaded to the web vs. traditional media outlets reporting on the story 12
- 13. Compelling content “Tools are a frying pan. If the ingredients (the content) aren’t tasty, you’re going to have a horrible dinner” Scott Goodstein – External Online Director, OFA 13
- 14. Testing, measurement and optimization • The new media campaign was data‐driven operation with a six person analytics team • Always in touch with peoples’ opinions • Tested and measured different aspects of the new media program – Voter segmentation studies – Pre‐market testing – In‐market testing – Online conversions – sign ups, contributions – Website usability • For new media, the research tools and techniques needed to be fast and flexible 14
- 15. Pre‐testing • Pre testing was used for most new media creative before it was used in market • Testing timelines were very demanding with results delivered within 24 hours 100% Creative Norm 75% 80% 63% 69% 60% 40% 46% 40% 33% 20% 0% Tell Others About Believability Issue Importance 15
- 16. In‐market effectiveness • Study found that this campaign reached 60% of its intended target Females ages 35-65 years Females Metrics ages 35-65 Point Change Association: John McCain banning all +24.6* abortions in America Barack Obama Favorability (Top Box) +10.3* John McCain Favorability (Top Box) -10.6* John McCain Support Intent -18.9* Sample Size 16
- 17. Website usability and layouts “Sign Up” “Donate and Learn More” “Join Us” “Join Us and Learn More” 17
- 18. Conversion analysis 18
- 19. New media strategy and tactics 1. Used Internet for gathering supporter information 2. Used Internet for fundraising 3. Used Internet to attract and organize volunteers 4. Online video and targeted display was instrumental in the campaign 5. The use of email, mobile and social media for quick communication and high reach
- 20. Strategy: Gather voter information Email Mobile Flickr Search Facebook YouTube Mybarackobama.com Twitter and Barackobama.com Display Database of 13 million supporters 20
- 21. Strategy: Online Fundraising 21
- 22. Tactic: Mybarackobama.com • 2 million profiles • 200k events organized on the site • 35k volunteer groups were created • 70k people raised more than $30 million on their personal fundraising pages
- 23. Tactic: Social networking • Facebook: 3 million friends, more than 500 groups, 300+ applications • MySpace friends: 900k • Twitter followers: 128k 23
- 24. Tactic: Targeted display advertising • Targeted messages by location, interest and demography • Thousands of different creative versions 24
- 25. Tactic: YouTube and online video • Over 140k Obama related clips were uploaded; 2k were official • 15 million hours of Obama related clips were viewed prior to election
- 27. Tactic: Mobile and text messaging • Anytime, anywhere • 1 million signed up for text alerts • Vice President notification via text message and email 27
- 29. It was about PEOPLE “There’s nothing more valuable than a human being talking to a human being. Nothing” David Plouffe – Obama Campaign Manager 29
- 30. And a very special person... 2009 Nobel Peace Prize 30
- 31. What we can learn as marketing professionals 1. Be consistent 2. Be local, then go global – Start at the grass roots level and build from there 3. Empower and engage your consumers 4. Actively respond to negative/bad press 5. Brand relationships do not end with a “purchase” 31