Antisocial Web Marketing: Why McCain Is Losing

The McCain campaign continues to drown in stunning negativity. A search on YouTube for the term "John McCain" yields a results page filled with McCain-bashing videos including:

• McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare
• David Letterman Reacts to John McCain Suspending Campaign
• John McCain vs John McCain - Get off the double talk express

All 20 of the first 20 user-uploaded YouTube results are negative. In stark contrast, the top 20 YouTube results for the search term "Barack Obama" are all positive. The "Yes We Can" music video is still going strong, his speeches and interviews are in high demand, and his dancing moves on the Ellen Degeneres Show have attracted over 2 million views.

McCain's top 20 videos, all of them potentially damaging, have been viewed 21 million times. Obama's top 20 videos, all favorable and brand-building, have been viewed 47 million times.

So what's the McCain team doing wrong? As with the Clinton team's comparative marketing failures, the McCain web strategists are combining an outdated strategy of tight control with a woeful neglect of Web 2.0 tools. Their central campaign website has no external links to social networks like Facebook or MySpace. Photos aren't tagged for easy searching, are locked inside a Flash file with no deep links or tools for sharing, and cannot be commented on. The events page contains just four events inside an old-school calendar. Supporters looking to recruit friends are faced with an embarrassingly archaic email tool.

One click away, the Obama team continues to lead the most successful internet marketing campaign in history. Their strong foundation from 2007 continues to grow, based on an impressive central website and a brilliant social marketing campaign. The Obama Everywhere section links to over 3.2 million fans across Facebook, MySpace, BlackPlanet, and a dozen other social networking sites. All of these sites link to each other and back to the central hub, creating a powerful, viral, ever-growing web presence. They have the most-followed account on Twitter and 39,000 easily searchable tagged photos on Flickr. Events, blogs, fundraising pages, and an activities tracker all reside inside the custom-built social network. Comparing this network's thousands of locally-organized events to the McCain campaign's sparsely populated 1-way calendar is almost unfair.

The Obama campaign is embracing the web and fully leveraging the power of social networking. The McCain campaign is not, and they're paying the price.

Comments

[darter22]

Obama's site is easy to navigate and effective, just what you would expect from a campaign that is astute and in touch with modern society. McCain's site looks like it was built by someone who just discovered the telegraph. John McCain is a functional and technological illiterate and the website shows that.

Jim, 54, Wyoming

[ElBruce]

I find Obama's site to be so "clean" that I have a hard time finding what I want to. This may be great for the average user just browsing around in there, but if I want to go direct to a specific thing, getting to a comprehensive site map is kind of a headache. But I do appreciate that the clean design works for most people, and a lot more are getting involved because of it.

McCain - well, there's just nothing there.

[BosieO]

True...I dont have cable. I have a small tele and only get 3 channels...I do everything online, watch full episodes, download music, read the news...blogs EVERYTHING...and i stay in touch with myf riends through AIM, myspace or emails...or cell/text messages....so I can see what you mean.

[ProudLiberalDemocrat]

While I can use the internet, most of the social networking stuff is beyond me (fyi, I'm 43).

But it's nice to know that Barak Obama and his campaign contnue to show how smart they are....using cell phones and trhe internet.

Thanx.

Now I might have to start using more of these sites......crumudgenly forward....

[barkingcat]

Andrew -- Good post and I could not agree with you more.

[Andrew Cherwenka - Huffpost Blogger]

See Andrew Cherwenka's Profile

ReesieKitty, I agree. I have a ton of stats showing the growing online usage and engagement of the 50+ crowd. The fact that the Obama camp targeted www.eons.com as one of their social networks tells me they know this too.

Building a political profile isn't all that different from building a brand, and online you are what Google says you are.

Thanks for the comments!

[Andrew Cherwenka - Huffpost Blogger]

See Andrew Cherwenka's Profile

Alice A.N., from a pure business standpoint Obama's online support also translates into online donations. His camp's success at generating a little money from a lot of people has been nothing short of amazing. And as we've seen throughout 2008, more money = greater reach = more votes.

[hakujin]

Dear Andrew. I love the sentiment. I'm a Barack supporter all the way and convinced that he will usher in a brave new era of intelligent internet-savvy leadership in the WH.
But what you write is just NOT TRUE.
Search Obama's name on YouTube and right up there with Yes We Can is a video letter from an Iraq vet titled Dear Mr Obama, with more than 10 million views. It directly criticizes my man on his opposition to the war and promises a vote for McCain.
Search McCain and you find Its Raining McCain from The McCain Girls with nearly 2 million hits. Now the girls are plug ugly and cannot sing to save their lives, so you might argue that they are actually helping Obama, but they see themselves as a pro-McCain force.
A couple of McCain's web ads are up there too: the infamous Paris Hilton/Britney Spears smear Celeb, with over 2 million views and the Obama as God video The One, with nearly 1.5 million views. These are all in the top 20.
We all love to criticize the MSM, but this is the problem with the blogosphere: where is the fact checking on a piece like this?
It is not appropriate to just invent facts to fit your argument.
That's what Republicans do.
We should hold ourselves to a higher standard.

[Andrew Cherwenka - Huffpost Blogger]

See Andrew Cherwenka's Profile

Hakujin, thx for the comment. Google and YouTube search results depend on many variables including geography. Your top 20 results will be different from mine for the exact same search terms, even if we search at precisely the same time.

My search terms were "John McCain" and "Barack Obama", in quotes, with results sorted by relevance - the default option - as opposed to view count, date added, or rating. Honestly, my top 20 results were positive (or at least entertaining) for Obama and negative for McCain. I watched the ones I didn't recognize just to be sure.

I just checked again. The order and a few results have changed overnight, of course, but my findings still hold true.

[hakujin]

Hey Andrew
I appreciate your response and I'll take you at your word.
Your larger point is self-evidently true: the McCainiacs have no idea how to exploit the web and their gut instincts run to the authoritarian 'Let's control this s**t' school.

[ReesieKitty]

Alice AN, I have to disagree. My parents are both in their 60s and live in south-eastern Ohio. They are VERY active online and follow a lot of news that way. My mom also belongs to several 'social' websites- book discussion, playing Jeopardy online when she can't sleep at 2 Am, etc. It has exposed them to a LOT more news media and many different viewpoints and I know for a fact that it has affected their votes. My father has been a life long Republican, but he has been reading up, watching interviews on YouTube - and has decided not to vote for McCain. He is on the fence for Obama, but says he will abstain, rather than cast a McCain vote. he made this decision after getting info online. Coming from my dad, who is also a lifetime NRA member, this is pretty amazing, and tells me that the internet is not just 'preaching to the choir' when it comes to candidate appeal.

[ReesieKitty]

It's so interesting- there must be no Young Republicans who could step up and say " Hey.. we could do more with this computer gadget and our wacky social clubs!" You really have to wonder how the McCain campaign didn't figure this one out.
This also ties into another lack of knowledge of tech- polls that are only using LANDLINE phone numbers! I am in my late 30s, but my boyfriend and I do not use a landline at our house, just two separate cell phones for all calls. Just another way that being out of touch can affect people's perceptions.

[lvdragonlady]

I have found out that, IF when you register to vote(at least in Nevada) you give a cell number that you do get calls about who you plan to vote for. The call I got was from a democratic group but still I did finally got a call.
I think that the pollsters are similiar to the JM campaign, they are still using old school methods instead of moving into the 21st century.

[bluevillage]

Wish you wouldn't give away the McCain camp's weaknesses before the election. Do it as a post-mortem.

[Alice A.N.]

That's a huge boost for younger voters and well educated internet savvy types, but a lot more people will vote November 4th than those 47million who have seen the positive Obama Videos or 20 something million who have seen the McCain negative videos.

The effect of the heavy internet presence, other than driving the media narrative is probably negligible in swinging votes. What it has done, in my opinion, is solidify support. The internet is most probably both keeping the enthusiasm of the Obama Camp high, and tarnishing McCain's image. In other words, gives Obama supporters reasons to like their choice, and reasons to work for McCain's defeat.

[CoulterIsASuccubus]

Poor Johnny. He shoulda learned how to use that newfangled cornpooter contrapshun.

[Claude203]

PS - Social networking is the way of the future so you can either "McCain" it or you can "Obama" it (new verbs I just made up). But it won't go away.

[Claude203]

Social networking is limited to a bunch of celebrities and elites and Georgetown cocktail drinkers telling each other how cool they are. Right?

[lvdragonlady]

Wrong.....
I am none of these above and neither are any of my friends.
You have been listening to propaganda again.