Yesterday, while on the Boston Globe website, I clicked on a large box ad for Barack Obama. It led me to this page.
There are several problems with this effort. First of all, the ad campaign is designed strictly for people who live in New Hampshire. That’s understandable, but if that’s the case, why was it availalble to me down here in Virginia? The Obama campaign probably paid for my click thru unless they’re doing a CPC or CPA campaign.
The box had, in small letters, the URL NH.BarackObama.com, so I knew that I knew that it was designed for New Hampshire residents. But I’d bet a lot of people wouldn’t notice that URL. And if the ad was available for me, 550 miles away, then I’m sure it was available to people who live in the heavily populated Massachusetts, a blue state if there ever was one. They could be getting a ton of clicks from people who can’t vote in the primary.
When I clicked through, I got a fill out form – no warm greeting – that I’d pump my personal info into along with a pledge to vote for Barack Obama in the New Hampshire primary. They were concerned about my contact information, but not my interests. They’re concerned about building up a database, but not taking the effort to educate me about the man so I would support him. There was no offering that would lead me to issues that I could be concerned about. An offering that would help me make a more informed choice. They assumed that either I was already an Obama supporter…or they didn’t take the time to care.
It does have a nice 8 minute and 20 second video presentation. Somewhat inspirational. He is a great speaker and has a compelling life story. And it includes some good interviews with people from his past. But a problem there is that many who click through may do so in an environment in which they can’t or shouldn’t use audio.
It still is the same old here’s what he’s about with inspiration, now give the campaign something. A wasted opportunity.
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