This presentation outlines the four step communication strategy followed by Barack Obama in Presidential elections, 2012. Obama's campaign is a "for dummies" guide to creating a mass movement online.

1. Obama‟s 4 steps to
victory!
A communication analysis
Key Channel: “mybarackobama”
Allows to Create profile, build groups, connect, chat, find or plan offline event,
Raise funds, generate content.
Obama’s Campaign Strategy
Not just capture people’s attention, enable them to become activists, create a social media buzz which
spreads and becomes a mass movement “of the people” on the issues Obama stands for. Supporting Obama
in election to take this fight further was a part of the movement.

2. Focus:
Grab attention:
Engage:
Enable to take
action:
Focus
• Inspiring a mass
involvement
• “Change we can be
a part of”
“The first step of the campaign”:
A Single, Concrete,
Measurable Goal
What always works:
• Humanistic goal
• Actionable Micro goals
• Personally meaningful to
masses

3. Focus:
Grab attention:
Engage:
Enable to take
action:
Grab Attention
• Personalized
emails
• Visual: Photo
tagging on
facebook
“The second step of the
campaign”: Making everyone
Look
What always works:
• Personalized
• Unexpected
• Visual
• Visceral
….. But, Obama already had all
the attention..

4. Focus:
Grab attention:
Engage:
Enable to take
action:
Engage
“The third step of the
campaign”: Fostering Personal
Connection
What always works:
• Tell a story
• Generate Empathy
• Create Immediacy
• Get into Collaboration & Co-
creation mode: Facilitate action
• Authenticity, Transparency & trust
• Match the media: align
communication and context
Tell a story: A writer and a
documentary film maker, Sam Graham
Felson, was hired to tell the story in
blogs of how the Obama campaign
was bigger than just Obama, was a
movement of people
Authentic: Number of people
involved, constant updates through
mails and photo tagging on facebook,
Real stories of real people shared on
issues. A democratic way of building
menifesto
Match the media:
• Multiple media
• Symbiotic online and offline events
(engaging people both online and
offline)
• Feedback and co-creation

5. Focus:
Grab attention:
Engage:
Enable to take
action:
Enable to take action
“The final step of the campaign”:
Enable And Empower Others
What always works:
• EASY: Make it easy for others to act.
• IDIOSYNCRATIC: People glom on to
programs that they perceive they are
uniquely tailored to them – where they
are uniquely advantaged to do well and
have disproportionate impact.
• OPEN: No one should have to ask you
permission
• Easy, Fun and Tailored:
Registration through Fb or
simple 4 fields to be filled
• Donate, plan events
or attend events
• Your journal about
the experience of
these events or
related to the issues
mentioned in the
manifesto
• Rapport and Feedback:
Dashboards with the
information on actions taken
by the „supporter‟, the effect
given pictorially too. Other
events in the region and the
present state of the OFA.