The Presidency And Social Media Iabc May 2009
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IABC NSW Presentation on Barack Obama and social media
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The Presidency And Social Media Iabc May 2009
- 1. What Companies Can Learn from The Obama Campaign May 2009 The Presidency & Social Media
- 3. “ tonight we gather to affirm ” the greatness of our nation. July 27, 2004
- 4. nobody was looking for obama
- 5. political change cultural change social change
- 7. this is
- 11. content goes viral Tactic Outcome 13 million people on the e-mail list E-mail Received 7,000 variations of more than 1 billion e-mails 3 million online donors Donors Contributed 6.5 million times 5 million quot;friendsquot; on more than 15 social networking sites Social networks 3 million friends on Facebook alone 3.5 million monthly visitors to MyBarackObama.com Web site 2 million user profiles with 400,000 blog posts 35,000 volunteer groups that held 200,000 offline events 70,000 fundraising hubs that raised $30 million Nearly 2,000 official YouTube videos Video Watched more than 80 million times, with 135,000 subscribers 442,000 user-generated videos on YouTube 3 million people signed up for the text messaging program Mobile Received five to 20 messages per month 3 million personal phone calls placed in the last 4 days of the campaign Phone calls
- 12. from there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!
- 13. one
- 14. there is no there
- 15. build things where people are, not where we want them to be.
- 16. 1 MyBarackObama.com 16 Official Social Spaces + 500 Facebook Groups
- 17. 75% of the community exists “out there” Facebook (official) 1,110 Facebook (“1M Strong”) Glee 2 587 Twitter MyBarackObama 46 930 Mi Black Planet Gente 490 54 You Tube MySpace 62 415
- 18. from destination to distribution
- 19. two
- 20. brand is elastic
- 21. from brand police to brand host
- 22. consistent, but not the same
- 23. “ together we will begin the next great chapter in the american story with three words that will ring ” out from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea...
- 24. “ you’re into border security… ” let’s break this border between you and me.
- 25. three
- 28. it influences our behaviour
- 30. and started producing it
- 32. “ in a connected world, power shifts ” to those best able to connect. HOW, by Dov Seidman
- 33. lastly
- 34. social is not “emerging”
- 35. even if you are
- 36. so evolve
- 37. thanks. i’m blogging this. www.twitter.com/PercepCounsel
Editor's Notes
- 8.5 million more ballots cast; 200 more electoral votes than Senator McCainConverted everyday people into engaged and empowered volunteersSocial networks, e-mail advocacy, text messaging, online videoObama loves technology. He is the first president to govern with BlackBerry in hand…and 13 million advocates at his fingertipsHe also plans to bring social media into the White House – and use his network to continue a non-stop connection with millions – now called “Organizing for America” (and accepting donations<number>
- Quick stage-setting:Obama has become such a constant cultural presence that’s it’s easy to forget just how unlikely his nomination was.It was not supposed to be his turn.Just 46 years old.Took office in US Senate January, 2005, only 3 years ago.In 2006 he ranked 98th in seniority in the Senate.In contrast, Hillary Clinton ran a campaign based on the presumption she was “owed” the presidency. <number>
- In fact, before he launched his Presidential campaign his entire political resume amounted to one accomplishment: his keynote address at the Democratic convention in 2004.Political analysts counted him as a rising star and someone to watch. No one imagined 4 years later he’d be at the same convention accepting the nomination as presidential candidate.3
- Took a look at historical Google searches as a way to gauge the public’s consciousness of Obama historically.We can see a blip of activity right after his 2004 DNC speech, and then…total silence.So how did he rise so quickly, from essentially out of nowhere?3
- A large part of his rise can be attributed to his understanding and embrace of “change”.Change has been at the core of the Obama brand.Usually thought of in political terms, ie. change from Bush policies – or the Clinton dynasty.But Obama has also been masterful at understanding cultural changes and their implications.Understood that social media and connectedness of individuals through technology had fundamentally changed, and could be used to his advantage.3
- To all evaluating social media – I have bad news. This is not the story.In fact in 5 years time “The Economist” predicts these sites will disappear – they impose artificial boundaries impeding the free flow of information. Think instead of your personal space without boundaries – independent of any one site. 3
- A few fundraising facts to give a sense of how successful he was at creating this social movement:1.7M contributors thru April2.9M total contributions thru April93% total contributions under $100 in April according to Huffington PostWhile the campaign doesn’t report on % of contributions received online, anecdotally we know the smaller contributions tend to come onlineTo attend an Obama rally you didn’t need to donate. You were required to give your email address.3
- What Obama demonstrated was the latest evolution in media – from Newspaper articles published by Abraham Lincoln to Radio “Fireside Chats” by Franklin Delano Roosevelt – to game-changing politics in 1960 – the first television election.3
- 9/60 four debates – Nixon versus Kennedy – Nixon intellectually superior. Kennedy spent afternoon prior tanning on roof of The Drake Hotel, Chicago.Kennedy understood the power of television and harnessed it to become president. 3
- Obama understood the power of social media and harnessed it to become president. Texting at DNC acceptance speech? Beyond capacity of networks3
- Here are some of the statistics – taken in isolation they show an astonishing effort. But this is not a talk about starting your Facebook page or how to get started on Twitter. 11
- This is a talk about strategy – great leaps forward in thinking – and how you should reformulate your thoughts about social media. I want you to get from there to here – from past conceptions about Internet marketing and get you in a frame of mind to accept the future – and all its changes. 11
- So, Obama’s election became a mass movement, powered by the web… how did he do it?The first principle is literally about following the consumer.11
- To start let me borrow from Gertrude Stein’s quote: “There is No There There”Wizard of Oz is a classic “destination” story – all about getting there. We’ve become destination-focused in the digital world. Our mindset is about driving consumers to some specific place that we create and we control.That’s a comfortable model for us: we can measure, have a sense of being effective.Above all it’s familiar; the destination site is the online version of a physical retail presence.The problem is, this approach is at odds with consumer behavior. The idea of driving consumers somewhere is outdated and out of step – there is no there.11
- To put it in retail terms, think about the importance of convenience. Would you open a store in this mall?No, you open stores where people are or where people go. You don’t expect them to change their lives to come to you.When it comes to social networks, people have already established their roots, and brands need to adapt to them, not vice versa.11
- Obama is the most progressive brand in realizing that there is no there and building an appropriate strategy.Obama does have his own social network, mybarackobama.com, but that is by no means the focus of his social strategy. It’s not about getting people there, being “sticky,” etc.He has also created 16 official presences in other social nets.Not to mention the countless social spaces that consumers have started – over 500 on Facebook alone (some of them not so nice, by the way).This graphic is on his homepage – it’s sort of a passport to the social web.11
- Let’s take a look at what the overall group of communities looks likeA quick count of members of the various obama communities comes out to 3.7M members, conservatively (did not go through the 500+ Facebook groups)Of that total, only 930K, or 25%, are members of Obama’s personal siteHad Obama gone the typical route, and just built the destination, 75% of the community wouldn’t exist.Let’s use that as a benchmark – 75% of the potential social audience exists outside of our owned destinations. Why wouldn’t we want to tap into that 75%?11
- So, There is No There – we need to move away from a destination mindset and toward a distribution mindset. Be where people are, and participate in a way that speaks to them directly.But there are big implications to being in all of these social spaces. First of all, it’s a lot of work to maintain a presence in multiple spaces.You’re in people’s personal environments, so the cost of entry is relevance.How can we be relevant to many small groups of people who have self-organized around some interest?11
- If we can’t maintain a Twitter site and a blog and a Facebook page and a chat board around special interests we need to let go. Breathe – here’s some big news. You’re not supposed to be in charge. Social media is not about control. It’s about permission – and the first item you need to stop controlling is the brand.11
- Second Principle: The Brand is ElasticTo do so calls for a new way to think about branding.Whereas we have typically thought of the brand as a sacred object that can never be altered, social environments call for an approach that is much more pliable, malleable – more elastic.But there’s something interesting about an elasticIt can change its form, but at its core it is always “it”11
- The brand police – every organization has them.Have historically focused on minutiae – white space around logo, pms colors, etc.We need a new beat for the brand police – let’s make them hosts at a dinner party where everyone invited wants to discuss their brandThere is a hugely important role for brand steward to play, but we need them focused on managing the brand in a way that is meaningful to consumersThe focus needs to be on the core values of the brand21
- Instead of spending time making sure that the brand looks the same everywhere, focus on making sure that the brand behaves in a way that is consistent with its valueAnd by the way, that will have many different manifestations – in fact, in order to be relevant, it has to.Role of the brand stewards is to make sure the brand behaves appropriately in every social environment it enters.Close to home Deacons Lawyers understand – they are active in social media but they’re not larrikins. They behave professionally and provide meaningful, intellectual heft to their on-line presence. 21
- When the brand is pliable, but stands for something at its core, you also unleash the potential for participation. Yes We Can – the most successful mash-up of all timeQuick history – after losing the primary in New Hampshire, obama gave a great speech anchored by the line “yes we can”A group of musicians and actors made a video of the speechNo involvement from obama, although they embraced it and distributed it afterwards, which of course fuels more participation 17.7m views, just of this one instance of the video, which is posted multiple times all over the webBy the way, the actual speech has been viewed more than 2.9m times on YouTube – imagine that, nearly million people watching a speechIts about empowering – yes we can happened because it was OK to change the brand, and the brand then promoted itIts about ownership by the community, nobody is going to get excited about something they don’t have a voice in23
- Not every user-generated campaign is as deep…But the obama campaign didn’t try to shut this downObama girl has more than 30 videos, seen 13.8 million times“Universal health care reform – it makes me warm…I got a crush on Obama.”24
- So, bringing the brand into social spaces calls for a new understanding – something more fundamental to understanding social media.Let’s talk about sociology….24
- At heart we are the same people as our ancestors – even if our tribes have changed.Soccer Moms...Metro-sexuals...Christian fundamentalists...Forever 40s...Disciples of Beckham...24
- To understand social media we need to understand people.24
- Technology allows new ways of expressing ourselves.From Guttenberg to Blogspot – everyone has looked for ways to express themselves. This is the greatest democratic movement in history of the world – the liberation of the individual voice. 24
- Newspapers sales are down – and we don’t need FoxTel guides to show the splintering of televised media. 24
- As Rudd’s ambitious plans for broadband are rolled out, Australia will belatedly join the global revolution. 24
- In 2004, videos circulating on the Internet demonstrated that some tubular pin tumbler locks of the diameter used on Kryptonite locks could be easily opened with the shaft of an inexpensive ballpoint pen of matching diameter. Trade website BikeBiz.com revealed that the weaknesses of the tubular pin tumbler mechanism had first been described in 1992 by UK journalist John Stuart Clark[3]. For an article in New Cyclist magazine he teamed up with a bike thief to show how easy it was to break in to the majority of bicycle locks then on the market.24
- I bet Hillary Clinton would agree with this.The social web changes power dynamics, and the brands that can become connectors will win. 24
- So, those are the three principles we can learn from obama and apply in our own way:There is no there, The brand is elastic, and Technology changes – not peopleFinal thoughts to leave you with…24
- What was it about obama that allowed him to do this?Time, or lack of it, had a lot to do with it. Nature of the election cycle meant test and learn was not an optionOne year to go all out, and he embraced the social web fully. If you knew you only had one year… 24
- Finally, we need to rethink our view of socialSocial is not off to the side. Should be core, ongoing effort. Should be part of every program. Media, Search, and SocialIt’s not a question of will it work for us.Because it works for the consumer.24
- The question we have to answer is, how do we make it work for us.24
- 24