The Barack Obama Presidential Campaign Connects to Voters with Sign-Up Ads
During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Barack Obama built a brand out of two simple words: hope and change. No matter one's political orientation, the campaign has been widely praised as extremely innovative. It changed politics — and the marketing of politics. As Business Week stated, "When the book is written on this election, it should not be titled 'The Making of a President,' but 'The Marketing of a President.' Barack Obama's campaign is a case study in marketing excellence."
Obama's Approach to Marketing
Two months before the Presidential election, Obama's campaign created a performance branding program to reach and engage voters in critical swing states. The campaign used methods with a high return on investment, placing the bulk of its advertising budget in cost-per-click (CPC) and sign-up advertising. For paid search, the campaign spent most of its advertising dollars with Google. For sign-up ads, the campaign partnered with Pontiflex to collect the contact information of interested voters and potential donors. The Obama campaign paid only for qualified sign ups, not for impressions or clicks.
In 2008, the Obama campaign spent more of its marketing budget on sign-up advertising with Pontiflex in six months than it spent during the entire year with WashingtonPost.com.
The Obama campaign partnered with Pontiflex to run a three-step campaign:
Acquire contact info through high-ROI display banners
User info was captured within banner ads, so no landing pages were needed.Engage with email
The campaign sent emails to interested people with information about key issues and invitations to town hall events.Build brand in relevant ways
The Obama campaign used email to direct voters and donors to multiple engagement locations: Facebook pages, social communities, donation pages, Twitter forums, YouTube videos and mobile apps.
Advantages of Pontiflex
Timeliness
The campaign was able to connect to voters in key swing states within a narrow time window and follow up immediately. During an election season, timing is everything.Guaranteed returns
The campaign acquired actual contact info from people who wanted to learn more. And email addresses are tangible, actionable returns.ROI
Because the campaign paid only for qualified sign-ups, there was no wasted ad spending.Simple campaign management
With Pontiflex serving as a single point of connection, the campaign was able to manage all its campaigns in one place and connect to the entire market.Control
Because Pontiflex is transparent, the campaign knew exactly where its ads were running and could track performance by publisher.Brand-safe performance marketing
Using sign-up ads, the campaign was able to run online branding campaigns while paying on a performance basis.
