A valuable insight about Adwords: target the long-tail: you want to reach voters who are researching issues, voters who are likely to be undecided (example here: “North Carolina unemployement rate”)

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-maslansky/hope-and-change-20-its-th_b_766839.html?ref=twitter

If you listen to the Tea Party candidates…actually listen to what they (as opposed to the media filters) are saying, you start to hear the same language of hope and optimism we heard in 2008. You may not agree with their philosophy for creating a better future for America, but the optimism is the same. The goals are the same. It is simply the media narrative that’s changed.

• http://www.rhein-zeitung.de/nachrichten/computer/computernews_artikel,-Mobiles-Kamera-Einsatzkommando-Die-Volksreporter-von-Stuttgart-21-_arid,151852_arpage,2.html#articletop (German)

An article about the role of the media..makes me wonder to what extent popular defiance against the media – not even politics – will change the “game” of political communication in the years to come (if it hasn’t already). In other words: people are not just tired of politics, they’re also tired of traditional media which is said to distort “reality.” Perhaps social media is not so much good for politicians as it’s bad for traditional media.

• http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/political-advertising-in-the-tivo-era/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OTB+%28Outside+The+Beltway+|+OTB%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

There are some forms of television programming that typically aren’t watched on a delayed basis, specifically news and sports. As DVR use increases, you’re likely to see political advertising concentrated around these types of programs where the audience is more captive

• http://www.faz.net/s/RubDDBDABB9457A437BAA85A49C26FB23A0/Doc~EA0993D63ECFE4D3BA6CF351E2555D97C~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html (German)

An interview about the new “comprehensive approach” of the NATO which is said to include more extensively on civil actors – including political communication?

• http://www.internetactu.net/2010/10/25/danah-boyd-vivre-avec-dans-et-autour-de-linformation/ (French)

Defining power as attracting our interest, stimulating our attention..

• http://adage.com/article?article_id=146665

You’ve all seen the “I’m You” video – here’s an interesting anecdote:

• political PR
• “campaigning” of all sorts (election campaigns, institutional campaigns etc.)
• lobbying

These three fields can be associated with “horizontal mediation” (building trust between different political agents), “vertical mediation” (building trust between political agents and citizens) and “political advocation”, respectively. I find this a rather neat conceptual framework.

In addition, if you’ve ever wondered how to justify political consultancy to politicians you could claim:

• technical expertise, improved infrastructure, etc.: a question of ressources
• the “innovative and independent” point of view that outsiders (should) provide: a question of innovation
• the possibility to pseudo-legitimize admist others: a question of legitimization

So, I just came across this video on Youtube:

What’s really interesting here is what this fine lady says at the beginning of the clip:

The president alone cannot affect the changes that he had promised in the 2008 elections…

Let me rephrase:

The president alone cannot affect the changes that he had promised in the 2008 elections…

This is, in fact, quite revolutionary; it’s both acknowledging the relative powerlessness of politicians and getting citizens to support them in order to “get the job done.”

In other words: if there’s one thing this campaign did do, it was 1. to identify one of the major elements of today’s political landscape – “politicians have lost all real power” – and 2. using just this “fact” to turn it into something positive, something stimulating and engaging. That really is quite astonishing.

Now: what’s left after the midterm elections? I’m not quite sure, actually, but let’s look at what he said on Wednesday:

I think we have to take direct responsibility for the fact that we haven’t made as much progress as we need to make.

He’s assuming leadership, integrity and honesty, fair enough – and, for all “we” could mean here, I think it’s fairly obvious that he’s taking on personal responsibility for the election outcome. In other words: he’s just another powerless politician..which is, in fact, probably not as bad as it sounds – because, God forbid, the last thing you’d want is to believe that the “people” are powerless too…

Deliberative democracy stems from the belief that democratic leadership should involve educating constituents about issues at hand, and that citizens may significantly alter their opinions when faced with information about these issues. Advocates of the approach state that democracy should shift away from fixed notions toward a learning process in which people develop defensible positions.⁵ While the approaches of the Center for Deliberative Democracy, America Speaks, and the Consensus Building Institute do differ, all of these deliberative methodologies involve unbiased sharing of information and public-policy alternatives with a representative set of citizens; a moderated process of deliberation among the selected citizens; and the collection and dissemination of data resulting from this process.

Source: http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2010-10-25/promise-deliberative-democracy

It all sounds so good, deliberative, rational..and then there’s a rally to restore honor, another one to restore sanity, the Tea Party etc. – so what’s going on? I find this somewhat puzzling – is it not? The promise of more direct, deliberative democracy seems to be on the rise with the developpment of the Web 2.0; yet, at the same time, you also seem to have more and more virulent and irrational forms of political expression.

..or are these two just two sides of the same coin: the reemergence of direct democracy? I guess you can’t have your cake and eat it too..

That’s obviously a somewhat shaky anwer but an elegant one nonetheless. Now have a government tell this to their citizens and no one would believe them..

What I’m fascinated by though is the implicit but efficient use of what I consider to be traditional “American iconography”: 1. the guy who’s “doing the job” (I think it’s not too far a stretch to imagine a rifle instead of a shovel…plus it’s a motive which I think works well here with the guy in the suit, making it appear all the more dramatic) and 2. the Grand Canyon. Here’s what I mean:

• http://www.faz.net/s/Rub7FC5BF30C45B402F96E964EF8CE790E1/Doc~E400678D137D843899DBE031140F0BD39~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html (German)

Politics is more and more perceived as the simulation of competence and influence. There’s work to do.

• http://e-blogs.wikio.fr/le-blog-comme-outil-politique (French)

Blogs as an opportunity to “humanize” politics; I like this: I’d say you can “sell” “humanity” in politics both as authenticity/personalization and ethics, so the trick is to combine both of them efficiently.

• http://nonprofitprforum.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-tea-party-means-for-communicators.html

But how can you crush a nascent, undefined network of Americans of all stripes with differing agendas? Without a leader, there is no one for the two major parties to demonize. Without a platform, there is no way for the major-party candidates to easily label and dismiss their tea party opponents with traditional political communication tactics. Instead, they will have to run against tea party candidates as individuals, based on what those individuals think and say and propose.

Sounds correct.

• http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/2009/05/02/building-a-culture-of-trust-in-politics/

“FUD” – the startic tactic of manipulation: fear, uncertainty and doubt.

• http://aubry.var.over-blog.com/article-universite-d-ete-du-parti-socialiste-2010-le-temps-de-l-uniteroms-otages-d-une-politique-marketing-sarkozy-pris-la-main-dans-l-urne-57487134.html (French)
  

You’ve heard about the controversy surrounding Sarkozy, the Roma and the subsequent European outcry. And what if Sarkozy deliberated wanted to provoke this outcry in order to reinforce the “France, an independent nation” theme? (I doubt they went thus far though.)

• http://abcnews.go.com/WN/tcot-drives-tea-party-republican-message-social-media/story?id=11682222

About the #TCOT tag on Twitter – excellent move to exploit competitiveness:

It turns out there were a lot of conservatives on Twitter,” he said. “They were A, lonesome, and B, competitive. They wanted to get on top of the list.

• http://www.ledevoir.com/international/actualites-internationales/295084/harper-en-balade-poutine-a-la-chasse-l-art-de-surfer-sur-la-politique-spectacle (French)

Description of how we moved from “the politician as inspiring” to “the politician as, well, you” – which makes me wonder whether Obama’s campaign success cannot be understood as due to the fact that he opted for the “inspiring” version (vs. the “you” of McCain).

• http://bigthink.com/ideas/22957

Two interesting things here: 1. sure, we can more and more personalize and target the message we’re trying to deliver but but the melding of identities means that how to target those messages is less clear than it used to be. And, secondly, research seems to show that generalized messages about science are more effective than messages rich in detail and factual information.

• http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/tech-medias/actu/020802244009.htm?xtor=RSS-2004 (French)

The gist: if you “overtarget” your message you risk losing your own “brand identity” – so the goal should be to navigate between “accommodating” your audience and sticking to your principles (the core values of your brand..).

• http://osocio.org/message/signs_of_trouble_on_the_i_75/

This is excellent: add your own “historical signs” in an political marketing effort..! (not sure if that’s possible – legal?  – everywhere though.)

• http://www.socialtimes.com/2010/09/politicians-active-onsocial-networks-supercharge-politics/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+socialtimes+%28SocialTimes.com%29

Oh the irony..

For instance, while 81% of respondents said they expected politicians to have a website, only 48% have ever visited one. Maybe this reveals a reason why politicians have met with varying success online. If actions don’t follow words, there is no trust – and this goes both ways. If voters say they want something but don’t act as if they do, politicians are unlikely to pay much attention to it.

• http://smartmediagroup.com/in-game-political-advertising-does-retail-success-prove-political-value/

In-game political advertisement?

the Nielsen Company released the findings of a study regarding the effectiveness of in-game advertisements. This was the first time that a study of this kind was performed.  The analysis included more than 100,000 U.S. households and focused on many of the same game titles that were purchased by the Obama campaign back in 2008. The study found that “in-game advertising increased household dollars spent on Gatorade by 24%, and offered a return on investment of $3.11.” These results are extremely energizing and enlightening. Whether or not political advertisements will be met with the same success as retail advertisements is still open for debate, research, and review.

• http://blog.entrepreneur.com/2010/09/book-review-the-political-brain-by-drew-westen.php

About the role of polling in politics – but does the analogy really hold?

One of the problems Westen points to as a downfall of Democratic candidates is that they make decisions based on polling results. Heck, if Steve Jobs ever polled people, do you think they would’ve said … yes, we want this thing called an iPad? Not telling a story.

• http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2010/09/30/quand-l-ump-se-fait-passer-pour-le-ps-sur-twitter_1417803_823448.html (French)

Here’s an interesting little story surrounding Twitter: one party accusing the other of posting diffamatory messages, the latter saying it wasn’t really them – and maybe it was the first party, after all (I just added this); however this may be, anonymity gives you tons of possibilities to do a little mischief here and there..

• http://clubdeleurope.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/management-marketing-politique-les-dix-strategies-de-manipulation-de-masses/ (French)

Chomsky on manipulation – 10 strategies: 1. distract the public from the more important problems 2. create problems and propose solutions to them 3. propose a policy which will not be adopted 10+ years from now – it’s more likely to get passed 4. communicate a policy proposal as painful but necessary (the rest of these “manipulative” strategies are not worth quoting, I find.)

• http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2010/09/30/01002-20100930ARTFIG00731-aubry-refuse-de-se-laisser-dicter-son-tempo.php (French)

The media strategy of Martine Aubry, a potential Socialist candidate for France’s presidential campaign in 2012, is not to portray herself as a “hyper-president” (à la Sarkozy) – it’s all about differentiation…

• http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2010/09/30/l-ump-veut-rattraper-son-retard-sur-internet-avant-2012_1414976_823448_1.html (French)

The French governing party’s thinking about a “squash these rumors” website similar to Obama’s. I don’t know what this says about the power of rumors on the internet..

• http://www.lahiruhands.com/news/?p=1870

How come door hangers don’t seem to be particularly popular in Europe (or at least in Germany)? Is it due to the urban structure? I’d find a pleasant surprise from time to time..

Door Hanger Distribution is one of the best ways to deliver a message to voters t’s true, a picture is worth a 1000 words, or more! But, don’t just use a head shot of the candidate that looks like it came from a drivers license. If the candidate is for Education, get a photo of him at a school with kids. If he’s pro-business, get a picture at a Chamber of Commerce Meeting. If he’s for moral values, a shot with the family on Sunday talking to the Pastor. You get the idea.

• http://www.fastmkn.com/2010/10/example-politics-marketing-video-content-for-your-niche-gorilla-political-marketing/

This is so obvious it’s too good: incumbents shouldn’t do negative political advertisement, the challengers should.

• http://politicaladguy.blogspot.com/2010/10/joe-dioguardi-does-little-presto-chango.html

This political ad is just so good (at least the idea behind it): explore any type of new technological gesture for your own purposes. See, political ads can be innovative!

• http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20018631-503544.html

A piece of legal history: it is illegal under the Tillman Act of 1907 for “foreign nationals” to spend money to influence U.S. elections.

• http://www.kstreetcafe.com/foursquare-political-marketing-campaign-may-backfire/

I like this #1 comment on the post:

A better way to use Foursquare for elections: add every polling place to it, and encourage people to checkin and share their checkins on Twitter/Facebook.

• http://restlesscapital.net/2010/10/geoff-craig-on-political-interviews/

What’s a political interview? It’s both 1. the shaping of political controversies and 2. the attempt to be authentic, show or delineate your “personnal” side.

• http://oldhickorysweblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/george-lakoff-and-value-frames-1-dont.html

So what’s “framing” anyways?

I heard a speech by linguist George Lakoff this past Wednesday in which he talked about his concept of “frames” and how they work in political communication. He said he illustrates the concept for his classes by telling them, “Don’t think of an elephant.” His point is that even when put in the negative, the word “elephant” creates a frame of concepts that makes you think of an elephant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6r1jdWkscw

1. 5 seconds showing this face – that’d do the job:

2. “I approve this message because…” (@ 25secs) – smart way to integrate that phrase into your ad.

3. Nothing works better than turning a smiling and self-confident politician into…:

4. Spicy colors!

6. “…and I am honored to approve this message…”  – not bad either. And yes, testimonials are effective.

7. This is really good – he’s “one tough nerd.” That doesn’t prevent him from having what seems to be his family though – smooth transitioning here although I’m not sure if his wife’s his secretary (outch) or they’re working side-by-side (good). Anyways, love the baby picture just above them:

8. “…will enable me to get reelected.” He’s got a weird way of saying this; but it’s no wonder they’re repeating this twice – looks where he’s looking just at the end of each clip (I have no idea where, actually, – but it does look sinister):

9. The hesistant but nonetheless triumphant music starting @ 28 secs – a classic, slightly modernized.

10. Here’s the final spot – it works quite well but for one thing – eye contact. It’s a good two seconds at the very beginning of the add but then gets more and more fleeting. Should have payed less attention to the road, I guess..

• A lobbyist offered rich insight into his job. Key points: it’s very important to target just who you’re trying to influence; influence presupposes confidence;  there are multiple types of lobbying – institutional, commercial…; any task can be subdivided into four phases – 1. intialization 2. development 3. validation 4. application – and it’s important to get going before 3, else all the major decisions have already been made; there are 2 indirect modalities to reach whoever you’re trying to influence: grass root (civil society) and grass top (a close adviser to whoever’s making the final call); the preference among lobbyists if for this type of indirect exertion of influence; the note recommending to take action in this or that action is clearly structured by 5 elements (more or less being 5 paragraphs): 1. you address the issue 2. integrate affective elements 3. state the motivation behind your intervention 4. refer to a neutral third party (or poll) who’s agreeing with you 5. argue that you’re in fact defending the common interest (for which a cartography of the parties involved is often necessary, your aim being to align yourself with whoever’s neutral); there’s 1. counter-information 2. disinformation and 3. intoxication, lobbyists operating mostly with 1
• Other things I found noteworthy: lobbying is very efficient; it’s a very, very pragmatic job; there are 4,000 European parliamentarians and 30,000 lobbyists; sustainable development is a “pure creation of lobbying”; the media is – or can be – an instrument of lobbying; there are ex-politicians turned lobbyists and ex-lobbyists turned politicians; for a list of European lobbyist groups, click here (declarative, not required).
• Anne Morelli presented the “ten principles of war propaganda”, arguing that they’re still being used today. Here they are: 1. we don’t want war; we’re pacifists but surrounded by ennemis 2. the ennemy camp is responsible for the war (was Pearl Habor a US military trick to gain war support?); it’s a “challenge” we cannot ignore 3. the head of the ennemy is, well, satan; there’s a personnification of the ennemy (“the monster” – the Kaiser in WWI) because you could think, after all, that for the ennemy considered as a nation (Americans, Germans etc.), there are a couple of nice persons among them too; Saddam Hussein is a point in case; interesting too, a favorite form of portraiture seems to be to just show half of the “monster’s” face; likewise, they’re all insane (Bush being portrayed as mentally retarded); 4. hide real goals behind noble causes (“for right and liberty..”); 5. the ennemy is responsible for war atrocities, but I really didn’t commit any (or at least won’t show them to you); in addition, I take care of babies.. 6. the ennemy uses non-authorized arms (sounds familiar?) 7. lots of losses and prisoners for the ennemy, very, but seriously, very few for us (don’t worry, you’ll be shown their war prisoners on TV) 8. artists and intellectuals support the war (Bruce Willis and Britney Spears..); 9. really, it’s a holy war and 10. and if you don’t believe us, well, you’re treacherous.

…and a final example (thanks to technochitlins.com)