Interesting article in Salon about Barack Obama's marketing machine. With over 5 million people on Obama's e-mail list this is just the start of what political strategists say is one of the most sophisticated voter databases ever built. Using a combination of the information that supporters are volunteering, data the campaign is digging up on its own and powerful market research tools first developed for corporations, Obama's staff has combined new online organizing with old-school methods of voter outreach to assemble a central database for hitting people with messages tailored as closely as possible to what they're likely to want to hear. It's an ambitious melding of corporate marketing and grassroots organizing that the Obama campaign sees as a key to winning this fall. It's particularly funny when you consider how so called "Marketing Guru" Mark Penn really screwed up Hillary's campaign efforts. And this is the guy who heads up one of the world's largest PR outfits. But unlike most ad agencies, Burston Marsteller (Penn is the CEO) didn't work on spec, and Hillary still owes him several million. There's a lesson there, somewhere. Not that anyone takes notice!
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Faster than a speeding train!
There is a lesson here. The lesson is find out what people want to hear and tell it to them. Frank Luntz is a political consuntant, pollster,and research guru. He runs an endless amount of focus groups that revolve around language and what he calls "the word lab." The results of his focus groups tell him exactly what words to use in a campaign. Tell me if these sound familiar? "The Change We Need," and "Yes We Can." Barack won the presidency using these words. All I'm saying is McCain calling the citizens of the United States "My Friends," was a bad choice of words.
Posted by: Fabian | December 4, 2008 12:37 AM | Permalink to Comment