Blog question one

Question: How is Marketing Communications changing for political candidates?

With the success of such websites as You Tube, political candidates now have more easy access to their potential voters, especially younger voters (say 18-30 years of age) who in the past have been reluctant to vote in local elections. In times past, a candidate's only contact with their voters was only through structured appearances such as a debate on TV, a press conference or any other form of one-shot appearance (in other words the public has one chance to see their candidate and if they miss it they have no second chance). Now, a candidate can record their appearance and post it on You Tube where the voters can watch at any time of day for several days (or even weeks or months) after the televised event. As I said before this enables candidates to reach the younger voting public because the majority of You Tube users are high school and college age kids who under normal circumstances would not watch a televised debate. Put something on YouTube, however, and they can be persuaded to watch virtually anything.

You Tube has also been used in reverse, allowing the voters to communicate with their candidates. In a recent presidential debate, voters were asked to tape themselves asking questions for the candidates and post the videos on You Tube. By structuring the debate in this way, voters are able to participate in the political process probably more so than they were able to in years past. Since You Tube is not limited to one region, a person in Idaho can conceivably participate in a debate in New Hampshire. In short, using YouTube has opened a new channel for candidates and their voters to communicate with each other.