Obama's Digital Marketing

It may be tough to imagine Barack Obama not getting elected, but only 4 years ago he was virtually unknown both domestically and certainly internationally. So how did this unknown Junior Senator from Illinois get elected as the 44th President of the United States?

The folks behind Obama's Digital Marketing Strategy were Blue State Digital. They were responsible for designing and running all online marketing, and ultimately in charge of directing the technology and digital elements behind the campaign. Baring in mind, it was a campaign that generated record-breaking fund-raising and drove 13 million followers.

Here, Blue State Digital's Managing Partner, Thomas Gensemer, discusses the digital tactics behind the success of Obama's marketing campaign. All four clips come from Silicon Valley Insider as part of their Innovation video series, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz.

How Was E-Mail The Most Successful Tool Of The Obama Campaign?


How Did The Obama Campaign's Marketing System Work?


What Were The Three Keys To Success In Marketing The Obama Campaign?


Are Republicans Catching Up With The Obama Campaign's Marketing Tactics?

Darklight 2009: The Trailer

Darklight X is nearly upon us! Ireland's premier celebration of art, film and technology will be taking place in a number of different venues in and around Dublin's Smithfield from 8th to 10th October. Tickets went on sale last Friday and the full programme is available online now.

This is the Darklight trailer, created by Morten Vinther and the guys at Piranha Bar.



You can also follow Darklight on Twitter or Facebook.

David LaChapelle

If there's one thing you do in the next 6 weeks, this should be it!

David LaChapelle, one of if not my favourite photographers of all time, is here in Dublin with his “American Jesus” collection. The exhibition is at the Sebastian Guinness Gallery until the end of October and offers the chance to experience, first hand, one of the greatest photographers of the last 50 years.

Lachapelle is widely regarded as one of the best fine art photographers working today, particularly for his treatment of iconic celebrity images for some of the world's most renowned fashion magazines. His work has featured in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and Vogue. LaChapelle has also directed music videos for artists such as Christina Aguilera and Moby.

Don't Stop Believing - Sam Tsui

You probably already saw Sam's Michael Jackson medley/remix which has been doing the internet rounds during the last couple of weeks, but it's worth checking out his other stuff. There's quite a few videos that I've come across on YouTube and they're all pretty good.

This is his version of Don't Stop Believing by Journey, with his customary approach of providing all vocals and musical accompaniment.

The Arthur's Day Petition

I wrote on Thursday about Arthur's Day and one of the things I mentioned was an on-line petition that is currently running on the Guinness 250 Facebook page. The petition is calling on the public to help make Arthur’s Day a national holiday!

Following a number of different pushes on Thursday, Friday was jam packed with coverage. All in there were no less then 6 high profile mentions of the petition; including The Irish Times, Ireland.com, BreakingNews.ie, The Evening Echo, The Irish Examiner, and Sunday Business Post


But what effect did any of this have on the campaign? As of 17.59 on Thursday there were:

• 26,795 fans on Facebook
• 6,618 signatures on the online petition

As of today at 12noon, it looked like this:

• 35,089 fans on Facebook
• 8,804 signatures on the online petition

That's an increase of 8,294 fans and 2,186 petition signatures in less then 66 hours! That is absolutely amazing. My only question, as it was on Thursday, is why have only a quarter of fans signed the petition? Seriously folks, all you have to do is click on the tab that says 'Petition' and enter your name. There's no other details required - just a name.

Arthur's Day is only four days away now - lets break the 10,000 mark on the petition. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Tell your co-workers. This is a big deal people - SIGN UP NOW!