2012 is coming; its time for a “new” Republican Party

MadMikesAmerica says that if the Republicans can’t change their policy then maybe they should change their logo.  (See above).

But what about rebranding?  Lessons learned from the Obama campaign show that the Republicans have got to get into social marketing.

Dollars in conventional advertising alone did not create the massive gulf in why people felt  a part of where Obama was going, Ads and TV are necessary too. Although I know a lot of SMM guru’s will come back and say its all about inbound marketing or online marketing.
A  percentage – yes thats true.  Hillary Clinton ran a conventional ad campaign and ran hard against Barak Obama to the end.
To reach all generations will demand a new skill set in marketing and advertising. There is a massive paradigm shift taking place where the age of information is no longer limited to the networks, to television and certainly not to radio or newspaper. The age of txt, IM, SMS is not new, it has been used for years, but now politicians are seeing that there is a way to reach out to grassroots, millions of people, especially the internet generation. These are not just young adults in college but many businessmen and women have accepted the 24/7 approach to receiving news, email, messages, even paperwork via pda’s blackberry’s and iphone’s are the norm.

The next Republican candidate that wants to be taken seriously by the people of the United States is going to have to implement a few things.

* Money: Obama raised so much money online that he did not have to use Federal Matched funds. Money drives the ability to generate unique marketing opportunities. Despite what people say that its all about the message – if you can not afford to get the message out to the masses you have already lost. Raising money offline and online is going to be a make or break situation. The DMC already have this skill set and know exactly how to turn this on.

* Social Awareness: it goes without saying that the new Republicans will need facebook, twitter, friendfeed, and  websites that look as though they were designed in 2012 not 2000 and most of all they need content! Listen to what people are saying and reply, become part of the conversation in society. Become part of the viral movement. Remember in 2012 you may be the underdog!  This is not the place to write anti-government speeches, but an opportunity to be positive and speak the truth.

* Website: content, content, update. And update often, use landing pages so that people can be followed up. Plus it gives the opportunity to get ground support in areas where candidates will be campaigning. Learn from the marketing gurus that use landing pages to point people to the next level.
Check out; David Meerman Scott – World Wide Rave or Seth Godwin – Tribes to see where the next level of communication is going. (If your reading this later than 2009 then input what the new books are!)

* Email: The Obama campaign used email blasts to reach out to followers in every city and state, selectively, not just blasted nationwide. This way when the tour pulls into a city or state, everyone knows what is happening for them alone.

* RSS: blogs/feeds updates daily on where the campaign is going, interaction with local people, interviews from the road, etc.

* Video: You Tube is easy to upload up to. Create professional videos that are both personal and informative.  people want to see what you have to say as much as listen to what you are saying. If the video message is a unique message then the opportunity for these to go viral and become more than a campaign message.

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