Speaking of politics and technology, a Washington Post editorial on November 5, “YouTube? It’s So Yesterday,” gave a nice picture of some cutting edge overlap between the two domains.
Included in the politech grocery list for 2008 were:
- Media Cameos — John McCain showed up in “Wedding Crashers” … guaranteeing he’ll continue to show up as the movie makes its evolutionary journey from theatre to DVD and Netflix.
- Corporate-style Data Mining — Catering political messages to specific demographics via email
- Avatar Campaigns — Virginia governor Mark Warner did some presidential campaign stumping in the virtual world of Second Life, possibly setting the tone for simlilar adventures in 2008.
- Underbelly Networking — Porn and gambling are the traffic centers of the Internet, so how long will it be before a candidate jumps into those networks to leverage connections of a key demographic?
- Rep Trackers — In the same way one follow fantasy baseball players or stocks, Congresspeople could soon be the subjects of activity tracking. Ratings and trends could become a measuring stick on Election Day.
- Affinity Zones — Did your truck break down in the middle of West Texas? Use your cell phone tools to locate a “blue” bar to make your call amongst fellow Democrats.
1 reply on “PoliTechs 2008”
Mine is not a new thought, but it bears repeating in light of this post. The current means for election exactly match those of any traditional marketing/new product development methodology to the jot and down to the tittle.
The candidate is the product. Carefully developed by means of extensive market research to appeal to the broadest demographic with the deepest penetration. This brings in the greatest ROI, so as to satisfy the shareholders who have bet their livelihoods on the success of the product. Design a superlative product that does not appeal to the masses (even if it’s better for them than they actually know), and you’re out on the streets selling pencils within weeks. Design a slightly substandard product that appeals to the masses and everyone goes home happy – in the short term at least.
Before i go pointing my accusing little finger at the Hill for stooping to marketing as a part of the democratic process, though, i must ask if a superlative, un-marketed candidate could be elected any other way, and whether i inform myself enough as a consumer to choose the best overall “product.”
Unfortunately, these questions, answered in the negative in my personal case, turn the accusing finger back in my direction.