« Yahoo, Microsoft Delay Search Deal Signing | Main | Sanford Wallace Could Face Jail Time in Facebook Spam Case »

October 29, 2009

NJ Candidate Daggett Campaign Says Can't Reach Voters Online

If you think Obama's campaign changed everything and from now on political campaigns will never again question the value of using online ads to reach voters, build lists, or generate donations, think again.

The campaign team behind New Jersey independent dark horse candidate for governor, Chris Daggett aren't spending on Web ads. Yet, as Daggett has gained momentum among disillusioned Jersey voters, the opportunity has come -- and less than a week till the election -- nearly gone, to be there through advertising when people search for more info on Daggett, or read articles mentioning the candidate.

As former McCain campaign search ad guy Eric Frenchman put it, any momentum Daggett's campaign is experiencing, "doesn't matter" because "He has no online marketing." He goes into detail on his blog.

There's no question that different campaigns require different tactics. However, I rarely speak with any political or advocacy campaign or consultant (and I speak to them often) who doesn't see search advertising or other forms of online advertising as an important part of any campaign.

But, then again, I tend to talk to people who understand the Web, rather than traditional media consultants, some of whom still operate the way they did pre-Internet. (Which, by the way, serves them well because they tend to take home a nice slice of the TV media spend for their commissions.)

So, I'm not accustomed to hearing things like the Daggett campaign apparently has from its media consultants, as noted in a comment on Frenchman's post. This is from "Ali," who works for the campaign:

"From our research, we have discovered that NJ voters are primarily reachable via TV and other media -- not internet -- and that is why we have focused our efforts where we have. I can imagine you have strong opinions as to how we should be using our money, but actually the media company who has led every successful independent in this country is spearheading our efforts, so we are deferring to the experts."

So, think 2008 changed everything? As I demonstrated in the title of my book on the subject of paid digital media efforts of the '08 presidential campaigns, it was only "A Turning Point for Digital Media."

Posted by Kate Kaye at October 29, 2009 4:54 PM

Digg this! Add to del.icio.us Stumble It!

Comments

I think your article is very interesting. I think the internet allowed younger people to really get involved in the last elections. Every one was on facebook and myspace, waiting for the next updates. This is a key area that most candidates(especially older) over look. Corzine's ads have been popping up a lot, but I was already turned off by him, so I didn't bother. The most success I would think is in the free youtube videos. This is where we see a lot of the promos and different opinions from creative people. As said in the 1998 movie Bulworth, "If you give them free airtime they won't have to fake" This allows the candidates to give their 5 minute commercials and really explain their plan, instead of a 30 second or 1 minute spot. They can put more videos out ad really hear feedback on those videos.

I wish Daggett used youtube a little bit more, but there's some nice comedic relief with a "gone with the wind", Howard Beale and The Candidate, satires that really made me laugh, and encouraged me to go more towards Daggett...

Like many polls have proven wrong, it's hard to see where everyone is going to be at on election day. I would also add, polls don't matter, individual votes matter...

JustinF  October 29, 2009 5:31 PM

Daggett is polling around 15% and is at best a spoiler. This whole "deferring to the experts" thing is the reason a ton of campaigns sink after listening to overpaid consultants who are stuck in the old school media mindset.

They are missing the concept of horizontal segmentation. Sure, TV and radio may be important, but it's also important to get that message out through the online medium as well. The internet reaches likely voters. You can bet that somebody who is doing an online search about the race, NJ politics, etc. is going to show up at the polls.

I think the turning point in digital media is not in becoming effective but in campaigns understanding it.

Kevin Bondelli  October 30, 2009 10:30 PM

Even though most New Jersey voters are not general users of the Web it would still be a good addend to his campaign. People use the web to search for people information and background. So if he wants people to get to know him more he must at least use the web to interact with the voters. Besides Internet is much more convenient to use for campaign because he can post more agendas and propaganda on it than the minute long advertisements on T.V.

Steve Phillips  November 1, 2009 11:29 PM

Don't worry about the guys that are watching TV, they are probably illegal or not registered to vote.

JIMO  November 5, 2009 5:51 PM

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

• Send us feedback
|
• FAQ
|
• Technical questions or bug reports?
|
• Newsletter problems?
|
• Site Map
|
• ClickZ RSS feeds

• Incisive Interactive Marketing LLC. 2009 All rights reserved.
|
• Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints & Permissions
|
• Privacy Policy