Michael Bush,Ad Age
Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum,one of the few things about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign that was hard to criticize was its use of e-mail and database marketing. But in the past few weeks,Mr. Obama’s team has gone from a digital-marketing case study to being regarded as a lowly spammer.
White House senior adviser David Axelrod sent an e-mail touting the administration’s embattled health-care-reform plan to thousands of people who apparently hadn’t asked to be contacted. Was it an innocent mistake on the part of the administration? A Machiavellian stunt pulled off by opponents of health-care reform? Or an act of desperation mixed with some hubris on the part of the administration in an attempt to push its plan on as many citizens as possible?
Zain Raj,CEO of Havas’Euro RSCG Discovery,said he doesn’t believe it was an innocent mistake;the Obama team simply acted like many major brands do.
"The [administration] has become so arrogant about the amount of trust and credibility they have with their constituents,they think they can take advantage,"he said. "They forget who they are serving,and that’s what has happened with the brand Obama. When the campaign was building the brand,it was part of a movement,but now it’s become part of the establishment