CaseStudy:NewMediaintheJerryBrownforGovernorCampaign

HowCalifornia’sGovernor‐ElectSuccessfullyReachedVotersThroughDigitalChannels

SITUATION 

JerryBrownfacedanopponentwhoseunlimitedresourcesextendedtoher

newmediaefforts.Itseemedshewaswillingtopourasmuchmoneyas

possibleintoheronlineprograms—nowebsite

wentwithoutabannerad,noGooglesearchitem

withoutasponsoredresult.

CHALLENGE 

Usinglimitedresourcesandanevenmorelimitednewmediabudget,howwouldthecampaignengageJerryBrown’ssupportersandspreadhismessagesthroughthedigitalspace…withoutbeinghammeredbyopposiOonnoise?

SOLUTION 

TakeadvantageoffreetoolsandcreaOvemeanstobringJerry’sdisOnctpersonalityand

yearsofexperiencetolifeonline.

Jerry’sFacebookpageactedasahubforfanstohearcampaignnews,sharemedia,readshortmessagesfromthecandidate,andinteractwithoneother.

Widgetslikebadges,donatedstatuses,andpollskeptusersengaged,allowedthemtopubliclyexpresstheirsupport,

andintroducedothersintheirnetworkstoJerry.

Thosewhoalreadydidn’t“like”JerryautomaOcallyredirectedtoavideo

introducingthemtothecandidate.Userscouldalsoclickthe“VoteJerry”tabto

signuptohelpthecampaigneffortsdirectly.

The“SoluOons”tabshowedusersJerry’splansforCaliforniawithoutleaving

Facebook.

Specificdemographicsandinterestgroupsformedindividualpages,featuredonJerry’smainpage—

everyonefromMomstoStudentstoRepublicansforJerryBrown.

CreaOngFacebookeventpagesforupcomingcampaigneventsandvolunteeropportuniOesgeneratedexcitement

amongsupporters,whocouldRSVP,findimportantinformaOon,andinteractontheeventwall.

Photogalleriesofcampaignstopsandotherbehind‐the‐scenes

imagerylivedonthe“Photos”tab.UserswereencouragedtoposttheirownpicturestoJerry’swallthatansweredthequesOon,“HowdoYOUsayJerry?”

WithoutanypaidadverOsingwhatsoever,thesetacOcshelpedJerryorganicallygeneratemorethan

onehundredthousandFacebookfans.

JerrygeneratedmorethanonemillionfollowersonTwi[er.Alwaysprivytoemergingtrends,hevisitedtheTwi[erheadquartersearlyoninhiscampaign,resulOnginhis

addiOontothe“suggestedusers”list.InteracOngwithotherTwi[erusersenhancedthe

experienceforhisfollowers.

Jerry’sTwi[eraccountwassounique,ita[ractedthea[enOonoftheLos Angeles Times,whichencouragedits

readerstovisithisprofile.Certaintweetswerealsoreadduringnewscasts.

Jerry’sFlickraccountvisuallychronicledamixofcampaignhappenings,volunteerworkinthefield,andfunimageryfromJerry’spast.UserswereencouragedtosubmittheirownphotostoJerry’sFlickrstreambyuploadingand

taggingtheirpictures“jerrybrown2010.”Imageswereadownloadableresourceforanyonewhowantedthem.

ThedesigncontestwasacollaboraOveanda[enOon‐garneringuseofsocialmediaandFlickr.

ArOstswereencouragedtosubmitdesignsforanewcampaignlogobyuploadingandtaggingtheirsubmissions

onFlickr.Usersthenvotedontheirfavorite.Thewinninggraphicwassoldasat‐shirtinJerry’sonlinestoreandusedinvariouspiecesofcampaigncollateral.

Jerry’sYouTubeaccounthousedacollecOonofviralvideos,includingfirst‐releasesofeveryTVcommercial.

Wecross‐promotedvideosonallothersocialmediachannelsandinpressreleases.

DuetoeasysharingandenabledcommenOng,our“MegWhitman:WhyIcametoCalifornia”commercialearnedcloseto500,000views—unprecedentedforan

onlinecampaignad.

Aseriesof“SocialMediaWebisodes”werealsoseededontheYouTubepageasaresource.Thetwo‐minutelong

episodestaughtJerry’ssupportbasehowtobestuseonlinetoolsavailabletothemtohelpthecampaignefforts.

ThecampaignblogprovidedanarenatoshowcaseJerry’seffortsthroughanauthenOc,insidevoicedisOnguished

frompressreleases.Itslargereadershipregularlycommentedonposts,whichwerepublishedatleastonceadayandrangedfromvolunteeropportuniOestopolicy

breakdownstostoriesfromthecampaigntrail.

BlogpostsextendedtoTheHuffingtonPost,soourmessagespreadtoawideraudiencethanJerryBrownsupporters.OurnewmediateammaintainedagoodrelaOonshipwithotherprominentbloggers,whoocen

reachedouttothecampaignforresources.

OneofthethingsthatdisOnguishedJerryfromhisopponentwasherconOnuousdisregardforthetruth.Tochroniclethis,thecampaigncreatedMeg‐a‐Myths,awebsitethatkepttrackofanddebunkedtheliestold.WebuiltthewholesiteusingWordpress,aninexpensive

andeasypladorm.

Meg‐a‐Mythsquicklyevolvedfromawebsiteintoitsownbrand.UserscouldfollowMeg‐a‐MythsonTwi[erandfanitonFacebook.Readerssubmi[edtheirownmythsand

signedupforthe“trulyperplexingMythMail.”Meg‐a‐MythsflipflopsevensoldinJerry’sonlinestore.

ThoseinterestedinacOvelyhelpingwiththecampaigneffortswereencouragedtocreateaprofileon

my.jerrybrown.org,ouronlinevolunteernetwork.My.jerrybrown.orguserscouldconnectwithoneanother,creategroupsforlocalsupportersintheirarea,planevents,

andsetuptheirownpersonalfundraisingpages.

Throughoutthecampaign,westeadilygainedsupportersthroughemailsubscripOons,endingupwithalistof430,000.InanefforttogainmoresubscribersanddonaOons,email

blastsweremirroredonFacebookandTwi[er.Wesurpassedouronlinefundraisinggoal,earning$2.8

millionindigitaldonaOons.

SocialmediaaccountscentralizedonJerry’scampaignhomepage,

jerrybrown.org.Visitorscouldeasilyaccesshisvariousprofilesandconnect

directlyfromonesimpleonlinehub(weevenlinkedJerry’s

MySpaceandLinkedInprofiles).UserscouldalsoconnectwiththeirFacebookandTwi[eraccountsto“like”andtweet

contentdirectlyfromjerrybrown.org.

CONCLUSION 

BytakingadvantageoffreeorinexpensivetoolsandbringingJerrytolifethroughhisdigitalchannels,theonlineaudience

experiencednotonlyacandidate,butarealperson.AuthenOcityandcreaOvity

wereawinningcombinaOon—notonlyontheInternet,but

alsointhevoOngbooth.

Thankyou!