Why Obama Won - Assignment Example

? Why Obama Won Introduction Effective political marketing is fundamentally described as a well-acknowledged phenomenon in the modern day context. Moreover, it is regarded to be an increasingly significant aspect to attain political recognition creating immense influence over several organizations such as different political parties, educational establishments, media, interest-groups and health services firms. By taking into concern the current situation of this contemporary world, it can be stated that the political parties need to become market-oriented, by recognizing public demands and most importantly, by designing an effective party product. In this similar context, the party product may comprise certain important factors including policies, constitutions, symbols, organizations and ideologies. It has been apparently observed that an effective political marketing imposes significant impacts upon several important aspects which include political decisions, market orientation strategies, online association marketing and media coverage initiatives (Marshment & Rudd, n.d.). Besides, the notion of political marketing is also viewed as a sort of commercial marketing that emphasizes upon forming, preserving as well as improving long-term interrelation with the voters for the purpose of attaining significant success and expected objectives (Shaughnessy, 2001). In addition, an effective political marketing is all about shaping and delivering accurate message to the key audiences in order to obtain considerable success, especially in the political field (Ren Scott Creative Marketing, n.d.). In this discussion, a detailed analysis will be taken into concern regarding how an effective political marketing supported US President Barack Obama succeed in defeating Mitt Romney to earn a second term. Analysis Brand Difference of Obama and Romney Considering the recent changes in the US political environment, it can be stated that it is the democratic brand which mainly differed Obama from Romney who possessed republican brand. A major difference that can be viewed in this regard is that Obama largely supported the ideas as well as the policies based on Democratic Party while conversely, Romney deciphered strong concern towards Republican Party’s theories and concepts. Furthermore, US President Obama, from the very beginning, was observed as much keen towards introducing as well as developing significant democratic policies concerning international relations, supporting legalization particularly for illegal immigrants and augmenting employment opportunities among others. These quality facets of democratic policies can be viewed as a significant factor which contributed to the success of Obama helping the common people to interpret the policies as mainly formulated for the interests of the nation (Carothers, 2012). This significant aspect, i.e. the democratic brand of Obama might have significantly assisted him to attain success and win for a second term as US President by a large extent. The democratic branding of Obama evolved over the course of the campaign when he included republican idea into his proposal relating to health insurance reform. According to the proposal, a few of the initiatives based on republican ideas have been taken into concern under the guidance of Obama. In this regard, the initiatives included facilitating varying health insurance premiums on the basis of participation in programs relating to employer wellness, establishing standardized mechanisms to enhance healthcare quality and superior access towards different community based health centers (The White House, n.d.). Conversely, the republican branding of Romney evolved over the course of the campaign when he acclaimed prior to the election that it is possible to mitigate the loss of revenue resulting from tax cuts by eradicating different deductions as well as exemptions, especially for the upper-income individuals of the US. However, a few of the republicans were significantly criticized regarding the viewpoint of Romney regarding the aforesaid issue. During this important debate before the election, Romney hinted at certain ways by which he might enlarge the tax base and thus ultimately diminish the tax deficit by a considerable extent (Coy, 2012). Difference between Campaign Message of Obama and Romney Obama and Romney’s campaign consistently conveyed several important messages out of which the most important was concentrated in education policies. In this regard, Obama consistently conveyed the message relating to education policy that an outstanding education is regarded as the only significant aspect in determining not only the competitiveness of the children but also the nation as well. Moreover, another message conveyed by Obama was the requirement of supporting a breakthrough work that would dramatically enhance the quality of various learning as well as developmental programs of the children. In this similar context, it has been apparently observed that Obama executed significant reforms for promoting school enhancements. Moreover, he remained much committed towards improving the standards of the students so that they can succeed in this dynamic and contemporary global economy competitively for the long-run. Besides, Obama also conveyed the message that the states receiving substantial grants should serve with the intention of designing as well as implementing an integrated method of high-quality learning programs and incessantly developing the standard levels of the different educational programs. In contrast, Romney’s campaign consistently conveyed the message relating to education policies that a significant portion needs to be spent in the innovation initiatives and teachers should be rewarded for their results instead of their tenure. It has been viewed that Romney strongly favored parental choice that acts as a mechanism in order to hold different schools liable for their student’s success. His campaign also conveyed the message that certain important factors including effective resourcefulness and fiscal responsibilities were needed in order to refocus upon investments which would help to deliver favorable results at large. In relation to smoother access as well as affordability of the learning programs, the education plan formulated by Romney intended to support the families along with the students by lessening loan repayment rates and augmenting future earnings. Furthermore, with regard to the campaign message, it was observed that Romney emphasized upon developing various institutions of higher learning which can be regarded as one of the imperative aspects for innovation particularly in the US economy (ASCD, 2012). Campaign Marketing Strategy of Obama Barack Obama implemented the idea of social media as a form of digital marketing in order to attract majority of supporters to make his election campaign 2012 a successful mission. Notably, this particular conception of executing the strategy of social media as a form of digital marketing is not new for Obama as he had already implemented it in his previous election campaigns. It has been observed that his team successfully ran numerous websites as well as social networking accounts in order to gain substantial portion of supporters during his previous election campaigns. In relation to the marketing strategy in the form of social media, the team of Obama also created a homepage consisting of a YouTube video that featured the citizens of the US voicing their active support for Obama. The prime objective of creating this homepage was that the users can subscribe to his newsletter and can also join his Facebook page with ease. Moreover, the homepage also encompassed a list of several online groups so that the people can join to further support Obama’s election campaign. In this context, each online group was aimed to target a specific audience such as ‘Florida Women for Obama’ group where they can raise their support for Obama. Furthermore, the homepage created by Obama’s team also comprised a comprehensive list of different upcoming events and links to volunteer as well as to donate money for the campaign. In addition, the homepage through an online store by which the users were able to buy apparels representing Obama’s campaign. Hence, it can be apparently observed that Obama used the perception of digital marketing as a form of social media rather than traditional TV marketing. Obama strongly realized that creating fans as well as branding advocates can be raised by a significant level through the execution of digital marketing as a form of social media when compared to traditional TV marketing. This is due to the reason that the notion of digital marketing is quite easier to make rapid transformations in designing any sort of campaigns (Silicon Republic Knowledge & Events Management Ltd, 2012). Thus, on the basis of the above discussion, it can be stated that the role of digital marketing played an imperative role in the election campaign of Obama as an effective marketing strategy in comparison with traditional TV marketing. In relation to the narrative that shaped over the course of the election campaign, it has been identified that Obama remained much focused upon certain significant aspects which included increased home values as well as wireless access, enlarged wireless access, diminished tuition rates and most importantly expanded heath insurance (The Daily Caller, 2012). Voting Segments & the Role of Gender and Race One of the decisive factors that permitted Obama to build a winning coalition was the capability which he possessed to tap into the emerging divisions of the American landscape. In this similar context, the different voting segments which ultimately supported Obama to construct a winning coalition majorly included the young people, minorities and women. Emphasizing upon these segments can be thus regarded as one of the key facets of the political marketing strategy of Obama. Moreover, the other important activities such as registration of new voters and increased rate of polling stations also assisted Obama to build a winning coalition. In order to determine the role of gender along with race in voting patterns relating to the election campaign of Obama and Romney, it can be noted with reference to the 2012 Youth Voter Fact Sheet that the voting patterns in response to the political campaigns varied largely on the basis of race as well as gender. In this regard, Young Blacks along with Hispanic women strongly supported Obama due to his attentive response towards Hurricane Sandy which ultimately imposed crucial impact upon supporting Obama. In contrast, Young White women who are considered as an imperative influential youth constituencies as well as young white men were recognized to possess a dissimilar viewpoint about the President, role of the government and various other reforms such as immigration. They were not happy about the present condition of the US economy and desired to vote Romney in order to enhance the economy by a greater extent. This crucial viewpoint of the Young White men as well as women ultimately imposed extensive impact upon supporting Romney. Additionally, it has also been identified that a majority of Black men supported Obama but consequently a large proportion of them voted in support of Romney (CIRCLE, 2012). Thus, on the basis of the above discussion, it can be stated that both gender as well as race played an imperative role in the voting patterns and impacted Romney’s as well as Obama’s performance by a considerable extent. Use of Social Media by Obama Obama employed the strategy of digital marketing as a structure of social media in comparison with traditional TV marketing during his election campaign. Notably, Obama employed this similar strategy previously in the year 2008 and attained his expected targets. In relation to the use of social media, it has been viewed that Obama used valuable technology based data in comparison with Romney’s campaign with the prime objective of running a more intellectual, adaptive and responsive election campaign. Obama’s execution of social media was fundamentally based upon promoting a homepage through a YouTube video through which, the citizens of the US citizens could voice their support for Obama. Moreover, the homepage also comprised wide online groups through which people could join enormously to support the campaign at large. By taking into concern the use of social media, it has been viewed that Obama socialized, mobilized and most significantly analyzed his voter bases by a significant extent. Additionally, blogging, as another form of social media, supported Obama by encouraging the users or the voters to comment as well as to provide valuable feedback about the campaign and different effective policies of Obama. In this similar context, Obama realized that the execution of social media proved to be one of the effective tools for creating communities which would ultimately support him to mobilize the voter bases towards victory. In contrast, Romney was not able to use the concept of social media as Obama performed during his election campaign. This was observed to be fundamentally due to the reason of failing to use technological data to collect valuable feedbacks as well as comments from the voters or the users concerning his different policies. Moreover, it was further identified that the team of Romney failed to mobilize his voter bases towards victory due to inefficient distribution of plans through social along with mobile channels (Forbes.com LLC, 2012). By taking into concern the aforementioned aspects, it can be stated that Obama campaign used the perception of social media better as compared to Romney. Use of “Big Data” in Obama’s Campaign Obama’s election campaign was recognized to be an enormously sophisticated as well as persistent digital operation which had been typically based upon the execution of “Big Data”. Obama’s election campaign executed this technology as an effective political marketing strategy which worked quite well for him to motivate and to identify the voters by a greater extent. In this regard, the election campaign of Obama applied the notion of “Big Data” in such a way through which the supporters were encouraged to comment as well as to provide valuable feedbacks, post photos along with videos and donate funds. The election campaigning team of Obama also concentrated on the execution of the concept of “Big Data” by organizing as well as maintaining databases regarding various significant aspects relating to Obama’s election campaign. In this regard, the different aspects included fundraising, recognizing probable supporters and urging them to vote. This particular form of maintaining databases supported the election campaigning team of Obama to identify and most significantly, to motivate the voters at large. Specially mentioning, apart from identifying and motivating the voters, the application of “Big Data” enabled the election campaigning team of Obama to predict which users were going to make online donations and become volunteers. Moreover, the utilization of “Big Data” also facilitated Obama’s election campaign to determine the messages that would attract the voters and the people, who would be influenced by the messages (Computerworld Inc., 2012). Thus, it can be stated that the application of “Big Data” played a vital part in the success of the election campaign of Obama. Obama’s Campaign in Swing States and Romney’s Probable Moves From an in-depth perspective, it can be stated that the election campaign of Obama was effectively marketed in various swing states, particularly in Ohio, Florida and Colorado by focusing upon certain important aspects. In this similar context, it has been observed that Obama emphasized upon making final appeals to the moderates, independents, women as well as the minorities belonging to the aforementioned swing states. Moreover, the election campaigning team of Obama invested substantial amounts in advertising various notions of their campaign. The attitude of the election campaigning team as well as the appearance of Obama in different swing states can thus be regarded as quite significant to unambiguously communicate his prime intention to energize as well as to motivate his own voters or supporters and get them to vote in an effective manner. Contextually, in order to perform different activities effectively, particularly in the aforesaid swing states, the election campaign of Romney could have identified a detailed list of targeted influencers who possessed a strong control over the voters of the different swing states such as Florida, Colorado and Ohio. Moreover, Romney’s election campaign should have remained much focused upon considering various social causes in order to motivate as well as to attract the voters by a greater extent. Another imperative activity that could have been performed by Romney was targeting those voters who would largely support the candidate. In order to make successful a particular election campaign, it was required to target those users or voters who would prefer a specific candidate to win the election (Forbes.com LLC, 2012). Conclusion It’s the democratic brand of Obama that differed with Romney as he bears republican ideology while formulating their respective election campaign. Obama’s campaign consistently conveyed the message of enhancing the quality of education that would raise the competiveness of the children and the country as well. Conversely, Romney’s campaign consistently conveyed the message of investing substantially in the field of innovation simultaneously deciphering the vision that the teachers should be rewarded for superior results instead of their tenure. In this regard, it has been viewed that Obama executed digital marketing strategy as a form of social media by creating homepages and blogs. It is in this context that the voting segments which included the minorities and the women among others also allowed Obama to build a winning coalition. From an overall perspective, it can be stated that Obama campaign used the concept of social media better than Romney by employing the technology of “Big Data” in the form of maintaining databases for identifying as well as motivating the voters. It has also been observed that Obama’s political campaign was effectively marketed, especially in different swing states such as Florida, Colorado and Ohio by investing a significant proportion in advertising different campaigns. Hence, largely with the support of social media and effectively marketing in the swift states, Obama once gain won a second term as US President. References ASCD, 2012. Policy points. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/policy/ASCD_PolicyPoints_Obama_Romney.pdf Carothers, T. (2012). Democracy policy under obama revitalization or retreat? Retrieved from http://carnegieendowment.org/files/democracy_under_obama.pdf Coy, P. (2012). The real story about Romney’s tax-cut plan. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-04/the-real-story-about-romneys-tax-cut-plan CIRCLE. (2012). 2012 youth voter fact sheet: data show youth voting patterns varied widely by race & gender. Retrieved from http://www.civicyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/CIRCLE_2012Election_RaceGenderFactSheet_NovRelease.pdf Computerworld Inc. (2012). Article. Retrieved from http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9233587/Barack_Obama_39_s_Big_Data_won_the_US_election Forbes.com LLC. (2012). Sites. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2012/11/11/5-ways-romney-could-have-won-the-election-with-data-social-and-mobile/ Marshment, J. L., & Rudd, C. (n.d.). Political marketing and party leadership. Retrieved from http://kasyp.net/fileadmin/kasyp_files/Documents/reused/documents/politicaleducation/marketing/Article-Political_Mktg_n_Party_Leadership-Chris_Rudd_n_Jenn_Lees-Marshment.pdf Ren Scott Creative Marketing. (n.d.). Political marketing & advertising. Retrieved from http://renscottcreativemarketing.com/political-marketing/ Shaughnessy, N. O. (2001). The marketing of political marketing. European Journal of Marketing 35(9/10), pp.1047-1057. Silicon Republic Knowledge & Events Management Ltd. (2012). Item. Retrieved from http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/21224-obama-launches-2012/ The Daily Caller. (2012). Obama’s manifesto. Retrieved from http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/16/obamas-manifesto/ The White House. (n.d.). Republican ideas included in the President's proposal. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/republican-ideas Read More