More than any single issue, Election 2012 is a referendum on the proper role of government in 21st century America. I believe Democratic candidates up and down the ticket should aggressively run toward the real issues that factor into this election with positive messaging that educates voters about what government has already done for them, personally, and how so much of what they take for granted is threatened by the radical GOP agenda. The only way to convince voters that their personal future is brighter with government working for them is to show them all that government has already done to better their lives and how that would change with the GOP in charge. A lot of attention has been given to the fact that “jobs” is the #1 issue nationally but there are sub-groups for which other issues can more effectively personalize the issues and persuade them of the importance of voting in this election. Modern advertising technology can allow us to target each of these sub-groups with personalized messaging.
Using offline addressable advertising and modern online advertising techniques, it is possible to micro-target ad content to very specific groups of people. Even some online pre-roll and post-roll video spots can be targeted in this way, allowing for the recycling of traditional TV spots but with dollars being more efficiently spent. By ensuring that the right messages reach the right people, it better leverages limited advertising dollars and can help us mitigate the effect of being outraised financially by allowing us to spend budgets more effectively. Also, instead of focusing on one “conversation” at a time and merely responding to the 24-hour news cycle, this strategy allows us to have many conversations with many different constituencies simultaneously.
At a minimum, I believe the following groups in swing states should be targeted with the messaging described below:
Seniors with household income < $200k (or, where specific household income information unavailable, zip codes with moderate or low incomes)
This one is obvious: Medicare. How about a 30 or 60 second spot with relatable seniors talking about how Medicare paid for the lifesaving care they would have otherwise been unable to afford, followed by a clip of Paul Ryan promising to turn it into a voucher program and a promise by Obama to safeguard existing Medicare benefits for both current seniors and future generations? Obama can refer to the Affordable Care Act, and how he has expanded healthcare coverage, as proof that he can be trusted to preserve seniors’ Medicare benefits.
Students In/At College (college town zip-codes and/or age 18-24 and/or .edu reverse DNS)
Another obvious one: Pell Grants and subsidized student loans. How about a 30 or 60 second spot with students talking about how access to federal programs helped them go to college followed by successful people talking about how college helped them in their careers and ending with a clip of Romney telling a student that he should “borrow money from his parents” followed by Obama talking about how he would preserve and expand federal programs to ensure that people from all socioeconomic brackets can attend college and build a better future for themselves? Since the voter turnout for this demographic tends to be low, the spot should end with a message that students should sign up at a special website for more information/to get involved. This list should be nurtured over time with messaging about the importance of each person’s vote and how their access to the programs they depend on to attend college could be curtailed by a Romney administration. As the election approaches, the list should be directed to a site about “get out the vote” organization ensuring that people find their ways to polling places.
Spanish Speaking Citizens (targeting US IPs on Spanish language sites or browser language settings and US IP – can segment by household income level)
Immigration enforcement and racial profiling are the obvious issues here. How about a spot where recently naturalized citizens discuss how proud they are to be Americans followed by stories from Arizona about racial profiling under their draconian immigration law, and how Romney wouldn’t condemn the Arizona law while Obama spoke out against it?
People Likely To Be Targeted By Voter Suppression Laws
Yet another obvious one: voting rights! It is important to educate these voters about the new barriers that might prevent them from voting and what they can do now to prepare for the election and ensure that they will be able to vote. How about a 30 to 60 second spot with older veterans of the civil rights movement talking about the importance of voting rights and each person’s vote followed by a synopsis of how those rights are threatened by GOP voter suppression tactics in that state and direction to a website with more information (i.e. barackobama.com/every-vote-should-count or something similar)?
Small Business Owners
SBA loans vs. bank deregulation. How about small business owners talking about how SBA loans allowed them to expand their businesses and how they faced hardship during the last recession followed by Romney saying that the right approach is to further deregulate banks that precipitated the crisis while Obama plans to expand the SBA loan program (http://bigstory.ap.org/...)?
Women
Equal pay for equal work is a great issue here. Access to contraception is probably a close second.
The list goes on and on. 2008 was the year of social media. I believe a strategy like the one outlined above could work to our favor in 2012.