Barack Obama Utilizing the iPhone for Political Gain

Political campaign advertising has always been a crucial part of the election as candidates want to reach out to the majority of the people for political gain. The advancements of technology today have only increased the ways for politicians to reach a wider demographic.

An article entitled 'Obama Uses iPhone To Win Support' which was featured on BBC News on the 3rd of October 2008 reported that Barack Obama used the latest trend namely the iPhone application and turned it into a political campaigning tool in order to win votes for the recent American presidential campaign. The reason for using this particular brand is because of the recent uprising of  iPhone application usage which has taken hold of many citizens of America.

By utilizing this popular phone application, he was able to create a new genre in the new media of campaigning using popular technology trends. The wide usage of the iPhone has certainly better the chances of getting votes from not only the older generation but also from the younger generation. Thus, he was able to reach a wider and younger audience for political gain.

The new way of advertising through interactivity is seen to surpass the traditional way of advertising. The people are akin to have a '... higher degree in cognition interactivity instead of the linear way of getting information' (Bezjian-Avery, Calder & Iacobucci, 1998).

According to Valentino, Hutchings & Williams (2004), 'Advertising has grown from a tool used exclusively by presidential candidates to an essential element of campaign communication at all levels of government'. Hence, by using the latest trend to advertise and gain political momentum in the presidential elections, Barack Obama was very popular particularly among the younger generation.

All of that illustrates the marketing genius at work here: Obama's impact has been so big because the campaign has managed scaling down to the smallest possible level of offline and online engagement (Leberecht, 2008).

In my opinion, Barack Obama was very smart in a sense that he knew how to touch upon the technology savvy demographic in America. This demographic does not only cover the younger generation but also the older generation who have adapted to the latest trends in society.

Reference List:

1. Bezjian-Avery, A, Calder, B, Iacobucci, D 1998, New Media Interactive Advertising vs Traditional Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 38, pp. 23-29.
2. Leberecht, T 2008, A new (Obama) brand of politics: yes, we can...remix America!, Cnet News, viewed 18th of November 2009, <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13641_3-9901353-44.html?tag=mncol>
   
3. Shiels, M 2008, Obama uses iPhone to win support, BBC News, viewed 18th of November 2009,<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7649753.stm>.
4. Valentino, NA, Hutchings, VL, Williams, D 2004, The Impact of Political Advertising on Knowledge, Internet Information Seeking, and Candidate Preference, Journal of Communication, vol. 54, no.2, pp. 337-354.