Trends Report: Politics Goes to the Affiliates and Bloggers
by Sam Harrelson
Every year, our space in the world of online direct response
marketing produces a one-season wonder… an offer that
everyone in the industry can’t get enough of and tries to
find the highest payout in order to beat the competition.
Those offers range from the mini-cars during the Holiday
Season to the teddy-bears at Valentines to mail order steaks
at Father’s Day and even to book club offers near the
beginning of the school year. The offers do well for a
short period of time (think of the “Iraqi Most Wanted”
playing cards) but then fall off after the buzz has faded
and the campaign has become saturated in the public eye.
This year, the hot offer might have a life span of a few
months… from July to November and be wrapped in an American
flag.
For years, journalists, visionaries and prophets have been
proclaiming the coming revolution to the world of politics
from the online avenue. 2004 could be the year when the levy
breaks and the politicians storm the online gates.
Specifically, there have been five major developments in the
political online world this year (and three of them just in
the last week):
1.
Howard Dean set
the commentators afire with his
trailblazing amounts of fundraising
through small donations online. This will be the campaign
that scholars point to fifty years in the future as the real
beginning of online political solicitation.
2. Since the race has trimmed to a two man duel, there has
been a steady adaptation of blogs by the campaigns. At both
Kerry and
Bush's campaign site,
there are literally dozens of links to blogs of all sizes
touting their man.
3. Accordingly, just this week both major parties announced
that they will
allow bloggers into the convention
to participate. This may not seem like a major step at
first, but it points to the realization by the major parties
and the politicos that blogging is an important form of
social media and can have value.
4. Kerry
announces his VP nominee pick by an
email to his database. The Bush team
quickly counters by posting an ad featuring popular Sen.
John McCain on
its own site and hosting
a 28 page dissection of Edwards at
www.kerrypicksedwards.com
5. And in what could be the biggest surprise in my book, the
RNC is officially
listed as an advertiser on CJ
with a strong commission rate. This brings to mind a few
things about the major parties' take on affiliate marketing
through a channel like CJ...
-General acknowledgment of
marketing through the CJ/Affiliate channel from a
large player with tons of cash looking to spend it right
away.
-Political campaigns are
traditionally VERY safe when it comes to media buys
and creative designs. Anything beyond the glossy
run-of-the-mill ads with
smiling elderly and flag saluting is revolutionary. The fact
that they are
entering the affiliate playing field is definitely a big
leap forward in my book.
-Their take on search
marketing thru CJ.
-Evident realization that this
channel can provide direct response results in a
completely cost effective manner (and with a reasonably high
payout, at that...
let's not forget that CJ takes its own cut).
However, there are certainly some questions that can be
asked about the brand damage that’s a possibility from
opening up such a sensitive brand to affiliates. Is the
brand to value proposition ratio worth it for the RNC? How
will consumers take to this model? Will this offer be the
seasonal summer time one-hit wonder?
2004 is definitely shaping up to be an interesting year in
online political spending. With so much cash and interest in
quick feedback, the affiliate world and the political world
seem made for a good fit.
Sam Harrelson is the Co-Editor of the Digital
Moses Confidential. He can be reached at
sam@digitalmoses.com
