Obama + marketing = winner

This has truly been an amazing month watching the election wind down. History was made!

Even more amazing to me is Obama's campaign - aside from his policies, plans, and views, there's his marketing. As someone that works in the marketing industry, I was able to see both sides to Obama - the presidental and the marketing. He was everywhere and purposely made sure of that - MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Even his website links to a number of social networks - Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Twitter, Linkedin - to name a few. His website is crisp, clean, and user-friendly and his messages, plans, and stances on issues are clear on the website. He has a section of downloadables, his website is personalized for you, and there was even a website created solely for the purpose of addressing smears.

I followed him on Twitter and got up-to-the-minute updates. Someone from his camp even updated his Twitter the moment the news was announced that he would become the president-elect. I know, I checked. :)

On top of that, Obama even purchased ad space (the first presidential candidate to ever do so) in video games such as XBox 360's "Madden 09" or "Guitar Hero."




Countless artists have rendered their creations in support such as the famous "Hope" poster.




Musicians have written and infused his speeches into their music.





And Obama's presence on YouTube is unmeasurable.

The amount of content that Obama supporters have created is simply astounding! It's no wonder Ad Age named Obama 2008's Marketer of the Year! Obama truly embraced the social networks and the viral marketing world and made it work for him instead of against him. No doubt, he set the pace and the path for the presidential candidates after him.

When brands battle...

Wow, this Mac vs. PC thing is getting interesting!

As brilliant as the Apple commercials are...I think Microsoft did an excellent job responding back with their ad, "I'm a PC."



I think this was the much better route to go, marketing wise, than the ones with Gates and Seinfeld.

I saw another Apple commercial that just came out that took a direct jab at Microsoft for spending a said $300 million on their advertising rather than using money to fix the actual problem - VISTA. Here are the following two jabbing Apple ads:






And then I see this - a more low-key Microsoft ad made entirely from PCers.




If you are a PCer, you can upload your own "I'm a PC" video here and possibly be on TV!

What would truly be ironic is if the "I'm a PC" ads were created on a Mac. According to this article, they are.

To be fair, I know several people that have and use VISTA and have absolutely no problems with it. They love it!

Efficient Website Developement

I thought this was an interesting article.



In April, the Web Marketing Association had our WebAward judges review both Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's Website in a head to head challenge. Senator Obama's Website won the challenge and he went on to win the Democratic nomination (I'm not saying it was because of us, but you have to wonder)...

Well, we are at it again. This month we asked the WebAward Judges to compare Senator John McCain's Website with that of Senator Obama's. Across the board, Senitor Obama's Website was consistently seen as better in all aspects of Website development.

Here are the results.

Design - Asked "which Website has the most pleasing design?" WebAward judges selected the Obama site 4 to 1 over the McCain Website.84.5% of them voted for Senator Obama's Website and 15.5% selected Senator McCain's Website as better looking.

Innovation - Website innovation also went in favor of Barack Obama. By the same margin as design, the vast majority of WebAward judges (82.4%) thought the Obama Website seems more innovative, while only 17.6% favored McCain's.

Content - In terms of having the most appealing content, judges again selected the Obama Website over John McCain 's Website, although by a narrower margin than the first two criteria. 71.6% of the WebAward judges felt barackobama.com has more appealing content for visitors compared to 28.4% for johnmccain.com. WebAward judges also found that the Obama Website is more effective for telling the candidate's story and attracting contributions and voters to its cause (72.2% Obama vs 27.8% McCain).

Ease of use - Senator Obama's Website was seen as easier to use by the WebAward judges than Senator McCain's. 73.8% selected barackobama.com as easier to use compared to 26.2% of WebAward judges who felt johnmccain.com was easier.

Copywriting - It is obvious that both campaigns have excellent writers on staff. Neither Websites have any of the editing issues some large organizations can experience. However, the WebAward judges gave the advantage to the Obama site (70.1% over the McCain site 29.9%).

Interactivity - Interactivity makes a Website more than just an online billboard and both candidates were effective in giving visitors to their Websites plenty to see and do. Nevertheless, once again the WebAward judges gave the edge regarding interactivity to the Obama Website (75.2%) over the McCain Website (24.8%).

Technology - Use of technology is evident in both candidates' Websites, however, the clear favorite for the WebAward judges was barackobama.com winning 82.4% of the votes compared to johnmccain.com with only 17.6% of the votes.

When the WebAward judges were asked "If the election was to be held today. Which candidate would you be more likely to vote for?" 54.6% responded Barack Obama, 15.7% responded John McCain, 11.1% voted neither and 18% reported that they are a non-US judge and can not vote for anyone in a US election.

Regardless of who you will be voting for in the next presidential election, Websites are going to play an ever increasingly important role in how candidates get their messages across to the American voters. Based on the findings of this survey by some of the top Internet professionals available today, the Web Marketing Association names barackobama.com the winner of the McCain vs Obama Website Challenge. We wish both candidates the best of luck in their efforts to become the next President of the United States in the November election.

Bill Rice
President
Web Marketing Association

Dramatic Cuts in your marketing budget call for creative ways to keep your brand in the minds of your consumers and partners. – Incorporate Social Networking Sites into your marketing TODAY!

I am always amazed at marketers cutting their budgets in times of economic doubt. I am a true entrepreneur at heart and am intrigued by the ideas that come out of us during hard times and history has shown us that the brands that continue their marketing are the ones that survive. Social networking sites today is a God sent tool for brands. There is no better or more cost effective way to interact with your customers than through a social networking site. After all they play a vital role in the brand-building process and there are so many to choose from; like MySpace, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Somewhat like dating – you should look before you leap, before getting involved with a social networking site. Please do your homework and get to understand the type of people your brand will be spending time with. Listen to what they are talking about, what are their interests and determine if your brand brings any value or is relevant to them.

Be smart about choosing who to hang out with. Just as we tell our kids that their friends say a lot about who they are. Figure out your brands objective before becoming friends with others in an environment that may not do justice for your brand. I was intrigued by the Mazda Design Challenge and how Mazda launched their branding initiatives of its 2018 MAZDA3 on Facebook. Mazda asked Facebook members to post concepts for the 2018 Mazda3 and Mallory McMorrow was named the winner of the Mazda Design Challenge. Mazda launched this branding initiative after they realized that their target audience was hanging out on Facebook. Facebook members submitted hundreds of designs and voted on the design features they’d be interested in. Mazda was able to interact one on one with existing and potential customers, getting immediate feedback and insight into what their customers expect of them and want from them. Mazda obviously put a lot of thought into this initiative and didn’t just reproduce an existing ad or video for Facebook. The brand strategy was true to Mazda’s business objective and they developed a new way to reach and interact with new and existing customers.