From where I sit as CEO, we see every marketing challenge as a battle between one brand and its competitors. We spend a good portion of our upfront time investigating the competitive landscape to ensure that we know as much as we possibly can about brands that we are trying to unseat. We study their product offering, marketing messages, and media plans to find the gaps that we can exploit in order to win more customers and gain market share. In fact before beginning any work on behalf of our clients, we conduct a comprehensive competitive analysis to determine areas of opportunity. We know that competing against market leaders will require focus and a commitment to plotting a course to out maneuver the entrenched market leader.
We believe that the biggest and most watched brand battle in the next 12 months will be focused on winning the White House. There are conservative estimates that predict that 3-4 Billion dollars will be spent by the market leader (President Barack Obama) and competing brands (Romney, Cain, Gingrich etc.) in the next year to win this coveted prize. I continue to be fascinated, amazed, and frankly confused from a marketing perspective by the significant lack of competitive understanding that brands seeking to unseat the leading player in the market have exhibited in recent months. In fact, Governor Chris Christie’s most recent comment shows the first inkling of this gap. Christie warned his republican brand colleagues that they “underestimate the power of the Obama marketing machine at their own peril.”
We tend to agree with the Governor that our own competitive analysis speaks volumes regarding the huge gap between competing brands and President Obama in the area of the social media. There is little doubt that even the novice researcher amongst us understands just how then candidate Obama leveraged social media and the internet to build a huge community of believers that not only filled his campaign coffers with nearly “half a billion” dollars in campaign financing, but how many of these Facebook “likes”, Twitter followers, and site visitors went to the polls and actually voted. This groundswell of support caught the McCain brand totally flat footed. In plain fact, the “Obama marketing machine” is nothing more than an incredibly well executed brand marketing effort that leverages new media within the social media and internet landscape. Competing brands in the last election were totally outclassed by the innovative thinking, messaging, and execution of the interactive strategists in the Obama camp.
Brands competing with the market share leader in the upcoming campaign had best keep tabs on his machine. Not only is the Obama marketing machine still in place, it seems like it is gaining steam. With all of the “negative” brand press being promulgated in broadcast media platforms these days, one would think that the Obama brand would be taking a pounding. The exact opposite seems to be taking place. While the republican brands continue to wage inner party brand warfare through a dizzying array of debates, it seems the real damage is self inflicted. Brand Obama is growing in its reach and relative power. Let’s take a look at leading indicators.
Site Traffic – We continue to monitor weekly the number of unique visits that individuals make to each of the brand sites. Site visits provide insight into the relative interest level consumers/voters have with a specific brand — one visits a site to learn more about a specific brand. Site traffic measurement is an element that shows a level of affinity to the specific brand
Brand Obama has over 2x the number of site visits on a weekly basis versus any of the other competing brands. Brand Gingrich is the nearest to the President with 316,108 visits, Herman Cain 156,168, and perceived front runner, Mitt Romney, gathers nearly 1/10th the number of visits than does the leading brand. The gap here is gigantic and widening. Competing brands must find ways to drive more interest in their platforms and websites in order to compete effectively.
Tracking Facebook Likes – The power of the social community Facebook is well documented. No other social community can compete with the immense audience and level of member engagement. There isn’t a brand in our customer portfolio that hasn’t made the building of an effective Facebook strategy a critical component of their overall marketing strategy. What was deemed “Facebook Friends” is now termed “Facebook Likes”. A “Like” is the strongest indication available of loyalty and affinity to a person, brand, and cause. Marketers are working tirelessly these days to build a stronger number of “likes”. More likes = More power within the social media landscape. It is here where the battle for the hearts and minds of consumer/voters is most intense, and in the case of the White House brand battle, the most telling:
There is no misprint here. Candidate Obama’s marketing machine currently has over 24 Million Facebook likes. The nearest competing brand is Mitt Romney with close to 1.2 Million likes. Today, Candidate Obama has 20x the number of Facebook likes as does his nearest competitor. In fact, in the last week, Candidate Obama has recruited 83,275 Facebook likes and that’s more than ALL of his competitors combined. You do the math; if just half of those who “like” brand Obama pull the lever on election day, the result would be tsunami like. Any brand that dreams of catching brand Obama had better put a much more robust Facebook strategy on their “wish list” this holiday season.
Follow the Tweets – Then there is the Twitter Channel. You know the channel where everyone is following someone. Whether it is Ashton Kutcher or Kim Kardashian, this social media phenomenon is gaining popularity on a daily basis. It seems that “followers” can’t get enough information from the brands that they like to follow. Following the tweets of your favorite brand is big business. A follower can spread the news about your brand to his/her friends and create a groundswell of support in a moment’s instance. Brands work to build viral campaigns that build brand advocates and evangelists. Twitter Followers can make or break brands. Follow the tweets:
Brand Obama knows Twitter. Currently the brand has a commanding lead over his competing brands. There are over 11 Million Twitter users faithfully following Barack Obama. Only Brand Gingrich at 1.3 Million is even in the same league with the front runner. The rest of the brands seem to be lost in terms of their understanding of just how important and powerful the Twitter tool can be in waging their campaigns ahead.
What does it all mean?
The Obama Marketing Machine is very powerful and gaining strength. Nothing we have seen yet from any competing brand should cause anyone in the Obama camp to worry. When you do the math, today, before any of the billions of marketing dollars that will be spent are spent, Brand Obama has a commanding and formidable position in a channel that will most certainly be critical in winning the brand battle.
We plan to watch this brand battle unfold in the coming months. We will continue to monitor and critique the strategies that competing brands deploy and the success or lack thereof in the weeks and months ahead. Suffice to say, brands that don’t address the digital divide are doomed to disaster. It’s clear by the data that we are monitoring that the road to the White House will be paved by brands who understand each twist, turn, and opportunity.
Stay tuned.
*Data referencing Site Visits was sourced from Experian Hitwise, Inc and analyzed by Zeta Interactive.
*Data referencing social buzz is sourced from Zeta Buzz, which monitors the online media landscape. Using an algorithm, the team is able to measure the volume and tone of conversations across the social media landscape.
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Hi Al, great article–I didn’t realize that the gap between President Obama and the Republican candidates was so vast. Did Zeta Interactive take the global nature of buzz into consideration in the study? I do believe that President Obama has much better brand recognition and positive sentiment internationally but that may not translate to voter counts.