POLITICAL

 PR  &  
THE  NEW  MEDIA  

By    
Ma.  Lourdes  N.  Tiquia  
 Word  Cloud  

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 The  PR  Brain  

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 Change  

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 Context  
•  Explain  concept  of  poliFcal  PR  within  a  
campaigning,  representaFve  and  governing  
context.  
•  Explain  it  in  relaFon  to  8  approaches:  relaFons  
with  publics;  the  Grunigian  perspecFve;  hype;  
persuasion;  rela'onal;  reputa'on  
management;  rela'ons  in  public;  and  
community  building.  

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 What  is  PoliFcal  PR?  
•  PoliFcal   PR   is   essenFally   persuasive   as   it  
represents   an   interest,   and   requires  
representaFve   democracy   where   different  
compeFng  interests  can  be  heard.    

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 What  is  PoliFcal  PR?  
•  Although  poliFcal  PR  
may  oTen  be  shouted  in  
a  loud  voice  so  it  is  
heard,  it  should  uFlize  a  
range  of  both  “loud”  
and  “soT”  PR  
techniques  using  both  
direct  and  indirect  
communicaFon  
channels.    
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 What  is  PoliFcal  PR?  
•  PoliFcal   PR   encourages   a   rich   interacFon   at   a  
range  of  different  levels  between  those  ac3ve,  
interested   or   even   uninterested   in   the  
poliFcal  process  and  poliFcal  discourse.  

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 Changing  Landscape  
•  CommunicaFons  ≠  Media  Channels  

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CommunicaFon  is  a  2-­‐edged  sword  
•  Good   News:   elite   news   organizaFon   no   longer  
controls   the   agenda   and   defines   the   terms   of  
debate.   Today,   if   you   have   a   narraFve,   you   have  
an  opportunity  to  tell  it  even  if  big  media  choose  
to  ignore  you.  

•  Flip   side:   There   are   so   many   ways   of  

communicaFng   to   both   niche   and   mass-­‐market  
audiences,   hence   very   hard   to   be   heard   above  
the  din.  
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 Newscycle  is  24/7  or  worst,  1440/7  
•  News  cycle  is  24/7  
Its  fast  –  ciFzen  journalists  
Its  viral  –  passed  on  electronically    
Its  relaFonal  and  audience  is  very  visual  
NarrowcasFng  is  trend  than  broadcasFng  
No  gatekeepers  unlike  tradiFonal  media  
Technology  runs  the  cycle  
•  BUT…   the   basic   communica3on   process   s3ll   involves   the  
organiza3on   of   words   and   thoughts   into   a   coherent,   convincing  
and  passionate  message,  which  may  be  accompanied  by  sound  &  
visuals,  depending  on  the  medium  

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 Changing  Landscape  
•  TradiFonal  –  Tri  media  
•  New  Media  –  Web  2.0  
•  Social  Media  
•  From  Analog  to  Digital  to  Convergence  
 Signs  of  Times:  TV5,  all  news  in  free  channel  
(QTV)  and  teleradyo,  local  cable  buying  
naFonal  content  

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 Web  2.0,  from  Word  Cloud  to  Tag  Cloud  

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 Internet  as  a  poliFcal  tool  
•  Ease  –  anyone  can  set  a  
website  or  launch  an  
email  campaign  
•  Speed  –  know,  learn,  
advocate  in  one  day  
•  Reach  –  from  Nigeria  to  
Ebay  
•  InterconnecFon  –  linking  
is  power  
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 Social  Media  OpFmizaFon  

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 Internet  in  PH  

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 5  Simple  Rules  on  Online  PoliFcs  
•  Think  about  the  ends  before  you  think  about  
the  means  
•  Brilliance  almost  always  takes  second  place  to  
persistence  
•  Integrate,  Integrate,  Integrate  
•  Content  is  KING  
•  Is  selling  an  idea  (or  a  candidate)  like  selling  
soap?  YEP  
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 DemocraFzing  Tool  
•  17  Million  users  
•  Text  Capital  of  the  
World  with  the  
average  Filipino  user  
sending  600  texts/
month,  43%  higher  
than  in  US  (2009)  

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 Top  10  TacFcs  on  Digital  PPR  
•  Make  parFcipaFon  simple  
•  Encourage  conversaFon  
•  Build  Trust  
•  Don’t  forget  what  you  already  know  
•  Mind  your  content  

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 Top  10  TacFcs  on  Digital  PPR  
•  Cross  promote  
•  Manage  expectaFons  
•  Find  the  Leaders  
•  Join  a  Hub  
•  Be  yourself  

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 PoliFcians  
copied    
I  want  to  be   Obama’s  
embrace  
like   on  new  
Media  
Obama…   starFng  
2010  

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 Presiden3al  Marke3ng  Campaigns:  Offline  and  Online  Strategies

Barack Obama John McCain

Marketing messages “Hope”, “Change we can believe in” “Country first”, “The original maverick”

Offline marketing TV, radio, print (including candidate’s TV, radio, print (including candidate’s
channels books), direct mail books), direct mail

Online marketing E-mail, display, organic and paid search, E-mail, display, organic and paid search,
channels in-game advertising, mobile, social media social media

Budget $150 million in Sept 2008 alone $ 84 million (public funds)

Marketing strategies Energize young voters; spread optimism Energize the right wing; attack Obama’s
and hope; emphasize McCain’s similarities weaknesses; emphasize experience and
to Bush military service
BarackObama.com
BarackObama.com:  Main  body  of  text  is  like  a  blog  
My.BarackObama.com = Do-It-Yourself Citizenship
My.  BarackObama.com:  Do-­‐it-­‐yourself  Ci3zenship  
My.BarackObama.com
DeconstrucFng   deconstructed
My.BarackObama.com  
 My.BarackObama.com  Dashboard–  Dashboard  

My.barackobama.com  allows  users  to  join  groups,  connect  with  other  users,  plan  events,  raise    
money,  write  own  blogs  and  volunteer.  Basic  tools  for  grassroots  organizing  at  your  fingerFps!  
My.  BarackObama.com  –  Ac3vity  index  
My.  BarackObama.com  –  Personal  Fundraising  
My.  BarackObama.com  –  Event  finder  
My.  BarackObama.com  –  Neighbor  to  Neighbor  
My.  BarackObama.com  –  Voter  Script  
My.  BarackObama.com  –  Phone  Banking  tool  
Innova3ons  –  Widgets  
Geared  toward  ge\ng  out  the  vote  
Innova3ons  –  Fight  The  Smears  
Innova3ons  –  In-­‐game  adver3sing  

For  weeks  Obama  ran  in-­‐game  ads  in  18  games  such  as  Burnout  Paradise  for  the  Xbox  360  
across  10  basleground  states.  The  Obama  campaign  paid  Massive  Incorporated  $44,465.78  
for  online  adverFsing  in  early  October.  
 Obama Everywhere

•  Obama  has  gained  5  million  supporters  in  other    

social  networks.  
•  Obama  maintained  a  profile  in  more  than  15  online  
communi3es,  including  BlackPlanet,  a  MySpace  for  African  
Americans,  and  Eons,  a  Facebook  for  baby  boomers.  
•  On  Facebook,  where  about  3.2  million  (during  the  campaign)  
signed  up  as  his  supporters,  a  group  called  Students  for    
Barack  Obama  was  created  in  July  2007.  
•  It  was  so  effecFve  at  energizing  college-­‐age  voters  that    
senior  aides  made  it  an  official  part  of  the  campaign  the  
following  spring.    
•  And  Facebook  users  did  vote:  On  Facebook's  ElecFon    
2008  page,  which  listed  an  800  number  to  call  for  voFng  
problems,  more  than  5.4  million  users  clicked  on  an    
"I  Voted"  buson  to  let  their  Facebook  friends  know  that    
they  made  it  to  the  polls.  
 My.BarackObama.com Statistics

•  On  MyBarackObama.com,  Obama's  own  social  network,    

2  million  profiles  were  created  
•  In  addiFon,  200,000  offline  events  were  planned  
•  About  400,000  blog  posts  were  wrisen  
•  And  more  than  35,000  volunteer  groups  were    
 created  -­‐  at  least  1,000  of  them  on  Feb.  10,  2007,    
 the  day  Obama  announced  his  candidacy  
 "In  this  Internet  era,  it's  not  enough  to  run  a  
campaign;  you  need  to  lead  a  movement.  That's  
what  Obama  did.  If  you  look  at  their  site,  their  
online  videos,  their  online  ads,  everything  they  
did,  it  wasn't  about  'me,  myself  and  I.'  It  was  
about  'we'  and  'us.’”  
Mindy  Finn,  Republican  poli3cal  opera3ve    
 THANK  YOU!  

Photos  from  various  web  sources.  Adheres  to  CreaFve  Commons  License.  Non-­‐commercial  use  

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