Memorandum

To: Candidate Smith, running for President of the United States

From: Rebecca Tzou, Campaign Analyst
Date: February 12, 2015
RE: Results and Analysis from 2012 campaign strategies of Barack Obama
Much of the research conducted found that some of the reason Barack Obama was so successful
in his 2012 campaign was his use of social media to reach a wider crowd. He flooded the media
with videos and debates, and started discussion groups and pages on the internet. He hosted
many rallies and was active in talking to the people. Looking into some of his videos and
comparing them to the challenger, Mitt Romney, it is clear that there are some dos and donts
that should be followed if you, Mr. Smith, want to be successful. To state the obvious your
success depends on the number of votes you receive from the general public and you must
capture the vote of the important swing states. Two states, Colorado and Virginia, have been
analyzed for you to choose your target audience and issues.

How to be successful in Media Campaigning

In the analysis of Obama and his media campaign, he spent about $47 million on the social
media, while Mitt Romney spent only 10% of that, $4.7 million. This statistic is taken from
PBSNewshour.TheinformativevideoexplainshowObamahadtheinsightthatsocialmedia
wouldplayabigpartinthecampaignintheearlystages,sothey pushed more spending in that
general area. Compare that to Mitt Romney and how he came onto the social media stage too
late. His plan to try and monitor the voters came to a big crash. The success of Obama justifies
his expenditures. It is not to say that the same amount should be used in your campaign, but that
the same attention and effort should do wonders for your campaign.
In an article by Times, "Friended: How the Obama Campaign Connected with Young Voters."
one of the crucial efforts for the Obama campaign was the use of a facebook app, one that
garnered 600,000 votes! That is a big chunk and could make the difference in a close election.
The app allowed the campaign officials to view the subscribers list of friends, and with that
information, to create specific messages targeted to those friends. The philosophy behind the
campaign is that most people would trust their friends more than they would trust biased
campaign ads sent to them directly from the officials themselves. Obama utilized the fact that if a
subscriber to the app were to ask another friend to vote or donate money, that friend would be
more likely to do as asked. Just the mere picture of a friend voting can prompt other friends to do
the same. This was a great app, even Obamas directors said so, I think this will wind up being
the most groundbreaking piece of technology developed for this campaign, says Teddy Goff, the
Obama campaigns digital director. (Times) This is one app that should be a must have on
your list, Mr. Smith.

Conduct for appearing in front of the camera

Now looking at Obamas video advertisement, it is good to remember that he remains positive
throughout the videos. Keeping the face up and looking ahead is a good positive sign to the
audience that the speaker is confident and know what he is doing. Speak clearly and but do not
be overly fancy with words, remember that you want the everyday audience to understand you

and take your side on the issues at hand. Remember the popularity of FDR and how he showed
the public that he cared about the average American through the fireside chats. Now through
video advertisement you can convey this not just through radio, but TV and internet too. Take the
example from Obama, keeping it simple but to the point worked for his campaign, and it should
work for you as well.
Here is a summarized analysis for one of Obamas videos:
Obama,Barack.Always.TheLivingRoomCandidate.MuseumoftheMovingImage.Web
accessedFebruary7,2016.http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2012
Itisvisuallyandaudiblyappealingbecauseheisspeakingclearlyandshowspicturesof
everydayAmericanpeopleingoingabouttheirjobs.Healsoshowsthathecaresforthesmall
businessmanandhowhewillsupportthembyimprovingtheroads,education,andresearch.In
shorthegivessupport,andbackstheplanupwiththehow.Thisisimportantforthepeopleto
know;thatyouhaveaplanwhenyoubecomepresident.Theintendedmessage,asmentioned
before,hewantsthevotesoftheaverageAmericanandpromotinghismottothatweareallin
thistogether.Intheend,thevideoiseffectiveinallitspartsbecauseitappealstomost
Americansbecausepeopletendtoliketheideaofsmallindividuallyownedcompanies.Asthe
videoshowsthepeopleintheireverydayjobs,Obamaspeakstosupportthem,anditcreatesa
similarinterestbetweenhimandthepeople.Thatisthekey;hecaresaboutthepeopleandisnot
justanotherofficialsittinginWashingtonD.C.

Whatnottodoinfrontofthecamera
In addition take Mitt Romney as an example of what not to do in front of the camera. In his
videos, he mostly degrades Obama and does not give much of a plan himself. This is a mistake,
because without a plan, how can the American people vote to give you the highest office in the
land? He is really good at nit-picking his opponents holes, but he needs to also focus his own
plan such that they will counter what he sees or deems bad in the system. That is to say, do not
become stuck on hurling insults at the opponent but stick to your plan and let the people judge.
Here is a summarized analysis for one of Romneys videos:
GiveMeaBreak(2012).TheLivingRoomCandidate.MuseumoftheMovingImage.Web
accessedFebruary7,2016.
VisuallyandaudiblythispieceisgoodtoproducethepointthatObamahasnotdonehisjobin
fixingtheeconomy.ItreliesheavilyonthewordsofthepastpresidentBillClintonaboutwhat
hesaidaboutObamain2008.MittRomneycontinuallyspeaksthroughoutthevideowith
snippetsfromClintonandhowthisnationneedsabreakfromObama.Themessageisintended
toconvinceAmericansthatObamahasfailedathisjob,andthatifthepubliccontinuestovote
forhim,thentheeconomywillstayslumped.Butintheoveralleffectiveness,yesMittRomney
saysthatObamahasfailed,buthehasnotgivenaplantofixtheproblem.Ifhehadgivena
summaryofhisplantofixtheproblem,theeffectivenessofhisadvertisementwouldcarrymuch
moreweightwiththepopulation.

StateStatistics
Afterstudyingthetwoswingstates,ColoradoandVirginiawithFactFinderAmerica,therearea
fewpopulationstatisticsthatshouldbenoted.Numberone,ofthetotalvotingpopulationofboth
states,morethanhalffallbetweentheagesof2054.Thismeansthattheyoungerandmidaged
voterswillhavethemostvotesforeachstate.Colorado:2,517,235;Virginia:3,985,438.
Thereforethecandidatethatcanpersuadethesetwoaudiencesshouldwinthatstate.Thisisthe
targetaudience.Inusingthesocialmediacampaignitwillcapturetheattentionofmanyinthis
youngergeneration.Soyoursocialmediacampaignshouldbeeffectiveinthesetwostates.
Thenwehavethetargetissues;onesuchissuecouldbethatinboththeseswingstates,morethan
10%ofhouseholdsfallbelowthepovertylevel.Colorado:13.10%; Virginia: 11.50%. If you
could somehow decrease this number by creating more jobs, or educating more people for higher
pay, then some of that percentage will be certain to vote for you.
Another fact to consider is that a little bit less than half the population has had some college in
both states. It is statistically proven that people with some college education are more interested
with government and are more likely to vote. This also creates a target audience in the college
students and professors, because they are more familiar with how government works.

Cited Sources
GiveMeaBreak(2012).TheLivingRoomCandidate.MuseumoftheMovingImage.Web
accessedFebruary7,2016.
Obama, Barack. Always. The Living Room Candidate. Museum of the Moving Image. Web
accessed February 7, 2016. http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2012
"Obama Spent 10 Times as Much on Social Media as Romney." PBSNewshour. Jan 4,
2016. http://www.pbs.org/video/2305745720/
Scherer, Michael. 2012. "Friended: How the Obama Campaign Connected with Young
Voters." Times. November 20, 2012. Feb. 12, 2016.
http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/20/friended-how-the-obama-campaign-connected-withyoung-voters/
Colorado
EducationAttainment.Colorado:Factfinder.WebAccessedFebruary82016.
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
ProfileofGeneralPopulationandHousingCharacteristics:2010.Colorado:FactFinder.Web
accessedFebruary8,2016.
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF

SELECTEDECONOMICCHARACTERISTICS.Familiesbelowthepovertyline.Colorado:
FactFinder.WebaccessedFebruary8,2016.
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
Virginia
EducationAttainment.Virginia:Factfinder.WebAccessedFebruary82016.
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
ProfileofGeneralPopulationandHousingCharacteristics:2010.Virginia:FactFinder.Web
accessedFebruary8,2016.
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
SELECTEDECONOMICCHARACTERISTICS.Familiesbelowthepovertyline.Virginia:
FactFinder.WebaccessedFebruary8,2016.
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF