The Android Market Surveys and polls allow you to tap your base and un-
cover your supporters. Once you find them, its important to be able to adapt your application strategy to harness these individuals. Scott Brown’s campaign introduced the concept of a walk-list mobile application that would al- low volunteers to walk a particular community and survey those folks on their support for Scott as part of a GoTV (Get-Out-To-Vote) initiative. While it was deployed too late in the campaign to be an effective tool, it captures the value of using mobile applications to drive voting. Building on that during the British election, the Con-
servatives harnessed the mobile contact directory on the phone and organized that information inside the applica- tion so that you could place calls, or email your friends on behalf of the party to attend events or come out and vote for the party.
The next generation of engagement applications is al-
ready been developed. Linking in video games, location check-ins and volunteer scoreboards to create online en- vironments that will track and reward real-world activities and push the campaign into the hands of the natural lead- ers and volunteers that any effective campaign depends on to make a difference. Emersion … virtual reality.
L’app, c’est moi! Stealing from Louis XIV, applications are the embodiment of the campaign, and at its core is the political candidate. I often tell my clients to tell the public once they have an app that “Special interests don’t have me in their pocket, you do.” The goal of the campaign should be to get the candidate into as many pockets as possible, empowering each downloader share the candidate’s message and engage in activities to drive donations and votes. As this is a technology shift at its core, you must adver-
tise your availability on the new platform. Here you need to leverage traditional techniques. Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia had his app on the front page of his website for one day and doubled his downloads. It needs to be on your front page every day! Liz Carter, who is running
Return on Engagement Campaigns that follow the best practices get the best re- sults.
Everyone who deploys an app will get a point
of differentiation from their opponent, and for the next short period can capture earned media in the press based on the novelty of the approach. Smarter campaigns will be able to recognize cost savings by reducing the amount of printed material used to solicit votes, and advertise their “Green” mobile campaign initiative. The best cam- paigns however will not release apps with the simple purpose of getting the word out there, or recognizing a print cost savings, but will push notifications out to their supporters and engage them to action and reward them for their efforts.
John Craig is the VP of Sales and Marketing at Purple Forge (
www.purpleforge.com) that provides iPhone applications to politicians, such as Meg Whitman, Tim Hudak and Liz Carter. Purple Forge won an AAPC Gold Pollie™ for its work on the Chuck DeVore iPhone app, and John was also named to the 2010 Aristotle Dream Team for Mobile Campaigning.
December 2010 | Campaigns & Elections 55
iTunes results for “Politics Apps”
for Congress in Georgia, puts her application on all her printed material and flyers. Tim Hudak advertises his polls on his iPhone app to get feedback from his constituents.
The goal of the campaign should be to get the candidate into as many pockets as possible, empowering each downloader share the candidate’s message and engage in activities to drive donations and votes.
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