The presidential race is finally over. But as an industry, did we learn anything? A panel of experts weighs in on what the candidates taught us about digital marketing.
No matter how you cast your ballot in Tuesday's landmark presidential election, it's time to step back and reflect on the marketing lessons that can be gleaned from both candidates' arduous bids for the nation's highest office.
"If you look at candidates as marketers, which they are, and you look at them as media planners, which they are, they've just done a phenomenal job of joining the conversation, activating the conversation and using all forms of media at different times to get different messages out," said Tina Sharkey, chairman and global president of BabyCenter LLC. "The candidates used digital media as a creative means to get their messages across and engage with the audience, and I think that's a great example for marketers."
Joining Sharkey and other expert panelists during yesterday's state of the industry roundtable discussion at ad:tech New York, was David Morris, chief client officer for CBS Interactive. Morris noted that, on a personal level, he was very glad that the candidates' lengthy -- and often grueling -- campaigns had finally come to an end.
"However, from a media professional standpoint, I'm sorry it's over," he said. "We've had unbelievable audiences driven by this."
Like Sharkey, Morris pointed to several lessons that marketers should take away from how both McCain and Obama handled their campaigns in the digital space.
"The one thing I've learned is that not everything in your campaign goes well," Morris said. "In this 24-7 world, where every word you say and every video you do is immediately put up on the web for scrutiny, you run into trouble. You have to go to the web, and you have to deal with it. And they did. They went to their websites, and they listened to what the problem was, they discussed the problem with their fan base, and then they fixed the problem either by correcting or clarifying their positions or even admitting they were wrong, in very rare instances."
Such an approach is one that brands can learn from, Morris said, adding that brands make mistakes in their campaigns as well. For example, campaign materials may be distributed that contain copy that's offensive to a certain group of consumers. Or a brand may make a promise that doesn't go well. In these cases, Morris noted that brand managers have three options: They can ignore the problem, they can dump it onto their colleagues and make them deal with it or they can go to their consumer bases, listen, learn and try to correct the problem to the best of their ability.
The third approach is the one that both candidates took, and Morris said it's the one marketers should aspire to as well.