Obama’s Web Strategist: What PR People Can Learn From The Campaign
January 27th, 2009 by Thomas GensemerThis is a guest post from Thomas Gensemer, Managing Partner of Blue State Digital, the strategy and software company that spearheaded the Obama campaign’s web operation.
He has chosen PRMediaBlog to exclusively reveal his thoughts on how the PR industry can learn the lessons of Barack’s online success.
What can communication professionals learn from the Obama campaign?
The network is better than you are.
Obama for America changed the economics of campaigns. Instead of seeing supporters as passive recipients of message, they were seen as an integral part of the team that would propel Obama to the Whitehouse.
And it had a simple strategy behind it all - find your support, recruit them, give them something to do and then say thank you. And by repeating these steps, changing the calls to action, and monitoring how each user responds, the campaign quickly built an organization of unpredicted scale and commitment to Barack Obama.
While much of Obama’s success came from his capacity to promote a message that authentically resonated with the American people, this connection was dramatically amplified by supporters willing to adopt his messages and then share this endorsement within their own peer groups.
By focusing the campaign on this process, Obama’s message was strengthened through independent third party support - and then shared with an audience that Obama could never have reached without his networks support.
They embraced the idea that in a world of communication divergence you can’t afford to be a single message campaign in a multi-message world - and accordingly provided groups and networks for traditional and non-traditional support alike. So what happens when other groups - firms, charities, unions – start talking directly to communities?
Imagine neighbours, friends, and family members, colleagues uniting for a shared love or cause. And then imagine what’d happen if you asked for their help.
The key concept of Obama’s campaign still applies; whose advocacy are you most likely to respond to - your best friend or a monolithic organisation’s centralized message? Digital strategists often become blinded by technology. But the Obama campaign wasn’t about cheap gimmicks, short term tactical wins.
It was about people - and the awe-inspiring capacity of a huge number of individuals to take small actions which in turn generate a huge communal effect. $500 million dollars, 1.2 billion emails, 10 million phone calls, and 300,000 grassroots events later, Barack Obama won the Presidency. And it all started with a “do this now” call to action.
The Internet did not win the election - it simply provided the capacity to release and develop the communities potential, and in a far more efficient and analytical manner then ever before.
Tags: obama web campaign, online organising, thomas gensemer
January 27th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Really interesting piece -I think that this sort of thing is the future of marketing.
January 28th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Saw in The Independent today that John McCain has just joined Twitter. Err, a little to late..
http://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:16 pm
It is clear, Blue state digital’s “Obama grass roots online organizing ” success is based on the fundamental truth about new media strategy success; new media is about e-mpowering a constituent who are already motivated, dedicated and commited to a cause or ideal they believe in. This is why i believe even in africa we can e-mpower grass roots to achieve changes, though at smaller scale. Do you think we can?
February 6th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Very interesting piece…and I’m pleased to see that the medium used in this campaign is not ‘totally’ glorified as it is equally down to the message which inspired most americans and others worldwide. The web really just was and is a far more efficient way of reaching a very large audiance. Our UK politicians and public affairs personnel should pay heed to this…and not see the ‘internet’ as a threat but more of an opportunity.
February 25th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Nice piece, but I’ve also read where you said that tihings like Twitter and blogs are “shiny objects.” I think the key component for success was having a person that was compelling and different and letting the momentum for Obama drive the conversation through multiple communities. Even Obama is learning that communicating ideas over the long haul and turning them in to sustained action is more difficult than creating a campaign to get people to give and vote. Congratulations on a great campaign. While we can adopt techniques and ideas from the campaign without a compelling candidate like President Obama even the best strategy is more difficult.
October 2nd, 2009 at 1:49 pm
[…] Twitter is the fashionable tool of choice at the moment, but as Thomas Gensemer of Blue State Digital said: “Services like Twitter are scattershot and dizzying. They burn political capital. Besides, […]