Presidential Marketing

When Barack Obama came to the University of Oregon Campus May 9th and spoke in the quad, I was a little surprised at how much it felt like a sports event. I say this because people were trying to sell things left and right. It reminded me of vendors in a stadium. Not only were people trying to promote opinions, but there was an endless supply of merchandise; buttons, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and the list goes on. I was a little uncomfortable, even to the point where I was trying to avoid eye contact with anyone selling something. It made me think, what is an appropriate way for presidential candidates to market themselves?
One thing is sure, I don’t have the answer. In the small amount of research I have done, the most interesting forms of communication I have found is an Obama thong for sale on an online store called CafePress (no I do not have one). At the same store, for the Clinton campaign, boxers are the number one seller. Although this merchandise is not officially part of campaigns, it is something that can easily be found online. While some people could find it offensive, others get a hoot out of it and are even entertained enough to purchase there own. Are situations like this out of the control of the candidates? Are they good or bad press?
Besides the overkill amount of merchandise available in presidential campaign marketing, another popular trend in presidential marketing is online promotion. With more and more people using the internet, online marketing has played a crucial role for contenders to spread awareness of their campaigns. In fact, I would argue that there is absolutely no way that one of the presidential candidates could get away without having a website. Then again, what business could? It is essential in this day and age to have a place for people to find information on the World Wide Web, even if it is just a phone number or address.
Online social networks have also become a popular form of communication. Not that Facebook is the ultimate online social network, but the majority of college students have a profile. I found it interesting to see the drastic differences in the number of supporters that each candidate had. McCain comes in last with 127,710 friends, Clinton second with 156,861 supporters, and Obama has an overwhelming victory of 837,923 friends on Facebook. Does this show that Obama has many younger supporters who use the network? Or is this a prediction of the next president of the United States?
Merchandise and online communication are huge parts of any marketing plan today. Especially when it comes to awareness, both these mediums help get the word out. Whether merchandise and websites are annoying, entertaining, or helpful, one thing is sure, they are an essential part of a presidential campaign.

By,
Laura Schatz
VP of Communications