Obama Online - the Future of Political Campaigns

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeLove him or hate him, Barak Obama has made history, and it wouldn't have happened without the internet and social media.

Obama's grassroots online fund raising pulled together over 1.5 million donors and outperformed the Clinton Democratic machine. His online supporters have created more than 30,000 events to support him. The campaign used wikis to organize precinct captains, created counter viral e-mail campaigns to offset anonymous smears questioning his faith and patriotism. They solicited letters from online supporters to help lobby undecided super delegates, and the campaign constantly updated it's YouTube page to contain the latest speeches and support videos, like the "yes we can" video produced by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas after he was inspired by an Obama speech in New Hampshire.

A charismatic personality like Obama's lends itself to the online space, but much of the fervor has been spurred on by the power of social/viral content sharing. It's a new age in politics - the ones who learn how to do it right are the leaders of tomorrow.

What do you think? Could Barak Obama have won the Democratic nomination without the internet? Can McCain stop him without a powerful online counter punch?

Thanks to Sarah Lai Stirland, Wired Blog Network for great details for this post: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/obama-propelled.html

Prince vs. Radiohead - You Gotta GIve to Get

I just read a post with a great socal media lesson: http://mashable.com/2008/05/30/prince-radiohead/#comment-1051978

Prince (you remember, the little purple fellow) is clamping down on every unlicensed use of his name, likeness and music anywhere he can find it online. Among other recent absurdities, he recently leveraged the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to have a family remove an online video of their 18-month old dancing to his 1980's hit "Let's Go Crazy."

At the far end of the spectrum, the band Radiohead has been doing everything they can to give away their music. In October '07 they announced that a fully digital version of their new album would be available online for whatever anyone wanted to pay for it - name your price. $25? 25¢? whatever you think its worth. They also developed a widget for fans to use on their social media pages - to play/broadcast Radiohead songs, videos, it's all fair game.

Upon its commercial release in Jan 08, the new Radiohead album debuted in the #1 slot on the Billboard charts.

Now, it's not surprising that someone like Prince who makes a living off of his name and music might overreact in trying to protect it. The fascinating thing is just how counter-productive that sort of behavior is in the face of today's social media.

Radiohead has a smash success on their hands because they have figured out how to fan the flames of social media by giving away what they ultimately aim to sell - while people like Prince seem hell bent on dousing fans with cold water.

WARNING: The linked post on MASHABLE contains an embedded video of Prince performing the Radiohead song "Creep." And it's...well...let's just say "creepy."

BMW Accelerates with SEO and Online Marketing

Below is a link to an interesting article about the strategy BMW has taken for their new 1 Series. A few things really stand out to me. The first is that about 50% of the budget is going online. This is big. They are utilizing social media, PPC, SEO, banner placements and viral tactics to generate a buzz among the 30 and under crowd. I'll go on a limb and say that this will work for them. They are also using non-traditional placements within traditional media to stand out. It is the effort and follow through on doing something different that is worth noting. You don't have to be BMW or have a large and expensive ad agency to be dynamic in your thinking. If you are an agency person, challenge your clients, if you are a client, challenge your agency -If you want to get noticed, get out there and do something different.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/business/media/07adco.html?fta=y