2012: Welcome to the Campaign of Tomorrow

Even as we celebrate the dawn of a new presidential administration, political strategists are already looking ahead to 2012. While the political industry has traditionally been a laggard when it comes to the adoption of new technology, the advances made in the 2008 election signal that more and faster change is coming. Political campaigning will be revolutionized four years from now.  
Perhaps the greatest impact will be accessibility. New technologies will further level the playing field, no matter a candidate’s resources. The technologies will make both online and offline mediums more affordable. An underdog Senate candidate will be able to better compete with a deep-pocketed incumbent by advertising efficiently through more strategic targeting and more direct engagement with voters.Targeting
The next wave of candidates will reach an individual within a single household with a distinct message addressing that individual’s singular lifestyle, preferences and political ideology. As a result of addressable advertising technology currently being developed, voters will see fewer and fewer ads that don’t address their own specific concerns. A single, 30-year old, conservative-leaning male working in finance may see an ad for a candidate’s fiscal policy more regularly than his neighbor, a 35-year old, working mother of two, who may instead see an ad addressing the candidate’s education policy.
Just as we saw the Obama campaign experiment with advertising in video games in 2008, 2012’s candidates will be armed with the technologies to send tailored messages into any household. They will  have the potential to modify and geo-target messages more quickly and pin-point them more exactly—even on TV. Spot Runner’s Geo-Voter Targeting technology determines the most cost-effective and efficient way to reach key voters. With this technology, candidates at any level of government will have the ability to pinpoint different neighborhoods with versioned messages speaking distinctly to that area’s needs and concerns. Additionally, local candidates will be able to deliver their messages more cost effectively on TV and regional and national candidates will be able to tailor their messages to more succinctly address unique communities’ needs.Engagement
Campaigns will also be able to converse with and react to voters on a level not seen in previous election cycles, largely through interactive television and video technologies. People will be able to access, experience, respond to, and share a candidate’s video messages at any point throughout their day with the click of a button.
The availability of low-cost video devices, video websites with social networking features and even mobile devices with one-button upload capabilities will allow voters more engagement. Campaigns will have the capacity to act or react, respond, pinpoint and address the questions that specific voters care most about. A voter in a small Salt Lake City suburb will have the same access to a candidate addressing a packed hall in Las Vegas, Nevada, as a person standing in the room, via mobile messages, Twitter, Facebook and other response-driven technologies.
TiVo is currently experimenting with brand advertisers and click-to-buy or click-for-more technology. With similar technology, voters will click through videos—on TV, on the Internet, and on mobile devices—to get the information they want, pose their own questions and share their views directly with candidates, friends and family on the issues that matter most to them—and they’ll be able to do so instantaneously.
Of course, as video is integrated more seamlessly with other platforms, including mobile and outdoor, this will also improve targeting. After buying organic produce at the grocery store, ‘Joe the Consumer’ may see a video ad on the screen at the checkout counter about a candidate’s green policy, all before swiping a credit card; he may even be able to add a few dollars to his bill as a donation to the candidate.Campaigns of the Future
Soon, tens of millions of ordinary citizens will be able to amplify, transform or reject a campaign agenda, allowing each one of us to join political movements on behalf of the candidates and causes that matter most to us—or build our own movement. Technology will continue to empower voters to be something more than members of a passive audience.
Tomorrow’s campaigns will not only be ‘futuristic’ but historic in ways that we just began to imagine in 2008. This last year signaled the re-emergence of the democratic ideals and individual empowerment that seemed to be fading away. Four more years will give each of us more of a say and more ways to say it.Nick Grouf is the co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of privately-held Spot Runner, Inc., a technology company that is developing the next generation of advertising services.  
Robert Shrum, senior advisor in the Gore and Kerry campaigns, is a senior fellow at the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU and Spot Runner advisor.