Text messaging or SMS (short message service) is one of the biggest ways of communicating today. I, on average, send about one hundred text messages a day. My friend, a Blackberry owner, says she sends about six hundred. Not only do people talk to their friends, but they also get stock numbers, sports stats and even coupons from different places. It seems obvious to get into text messaging for the campaign and once again, Obama had that market tapped.
While reading my introduction aloud at home my roommate asked me very kindly why I am writing an Ode to Obama after my second blog with him as a specific. Besides the fact that I voted for and supported him, the man and his campaign team truly had his technology mastered. President Obama himself is part of the new technology generation and apparently was extremely depressed when forced to give up his Blackberry that he was so fond of (Lose the BlackBerry? Yes He Can, Maybe By JEFF ZELENY). Now, back to the campaign.
His text-messaging scheme was simple. You could go to his official webpage and sign up or you could text the short code ‘62262’, which spells ‘Obama’ on the number pad, and receive updates on his campaign. People have received texts from Michelle and other campaign staff, platform details, and requests to come out and support certain events. Each text provided a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ when they personalized it by using pronouns directed right at the individual, instead of the group. One of the most exciting things was when the people signed up for the texts received one shortly after midnight in the latter part of August that Joe Biden was the official Vice Presidential choice. However, there were some problems in the systems. Many signed up claimed that they never received the text, or got it hours later. These will be glitches that will have to be worked out for the future.
Unlike Facebook, the text messaging came at a hefty price. They had hired Distributive Networks to deal with the text messaging. It is reported by the campaign that between July of 2007 and November of 2008 they had spent upwards of $230,000.
Obama also had a Mobile Web set up for phones like the iPhone and Blackberry, m.barackobama.com. For this campaign they hired iLoop Mobile and it is reported that they only paid $7,000. A minimal sum compared to the cost of things like television ad.
Personally, I loved getting text messages from our future President. Reminding me to vote, giving me updates, being one of the first to hear Biden as his choice, it gave a very personal touch to something typically very impersonal. Minus the few glitches, the younger audiences definitely benefited from these texts.
Resources:
Tale of the Obama Text Message by Anne E. Kornblut and Ed O'Keefe
Lose the BlackBerry? Yes He Can, Maybe by Jeff Zeleny
The 2008 presidential race: A baseline for the future of wireless campaigns by Gary E. Salazar
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Clever man, that Obama. Do you continue to receive his text message post-inauguration? That would be nice to know his every move now that it REALLY affects the country. Maybe just a celebratory "I WON THE NOBLE" would crack me up.
ReplyDeleteWho would have thought that a simple text message would have made such an impact on the 2008 election? I mean this is a big deal we are talking about! And to get a text message from your fellow president is pretty impressive. I cannot say that I ever got any text messages from Obama myself, but that is probably because I have been unable to afford a Blackberry or IPhone!!!
ReplyDeleteMagzilla, I am going to take the assumption you are not a fan of Obama. However, I actually laughed at that comment. No, I no longer receive text messages from him.
ReplyDeleteRegs, I have a regular phone, as does the rest of my family. No smart phones here and I was still able to get the texts.
Wow, I actually didn't even hear about this. Probably because last election I tried to stay out of the mudslinging war so I was outside of the loop. However, if I were in his shoes I would have done the same thing. Utilizing text is brilliant. Not only did he appeal to the younger crowd, but he showed the older crowd his campaign was keeping up with the times. Bravo!
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