Political Campaigns

#169: Data-Driven Campaigning: How Political Campaigns use Data, Analytics, and Technology, with Prof. Kate Dommett and Dr. Simon Kruschinski

February 11, 2024 Academics

Prof. Kate Dommett, Professor of Digital Politics at the University of Sheffield, and Dr. Simon Kruschinski, Postdoctoral Researcher in Communication at the University of Mainz, discuss their new book: Data-Driven Campaigning and Political Parties.

 

We discuss the book’s theoretical framework on how system-level, regulatory-level, and party-level factors explain variation in data-driven campaigning across five democracies: the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia. 

 

Prof. Dommett and Dr. Kruschinski also break down their findings on how data, analytics, targeting, and personnel differ across these five cases, and how regulation might need to focus on broader structures in the electoral system to minimize the potential harms of campaign practices. 

#162: Negative Campaigning on Facebook in EU Elections, Cross-Platform Extremism, and Dissonant Public Spheres, with Prof. Ulrike Klinger

July 1, 2023 Academics

Prof. Ulrike Klinger, Professor for Digital Democracy at the European New School for Digital Studies at European University Viadrina, shares her latest research on negative campaigning on social media. We discuss some of the challenges in studying digital communication in the EU, as well as what explains a rise in negative campaigning across two European Parliament elections. Prof. Klinger also shares her research on the UN Global Compact for Migration, where extremist ideas from the Identitarian movement were picked up by the mainstream media. Lastly, we discuss Prof. Klinger’s suggestions for increasing researcher data access ahead of the Digital Services Act.


Here are links to the studies discussed in the episode: 

  1.  Are Campaigns Getting Uglier, and Who Is to Blame? Negativity, Dramatization and Populism on Facebook in the 2014 and 2019 EP Election Campaigns (2023)

  2. From the fringes into mainstream politics: intermediary networks and movement-party coordination of a global anti-immigration campaign in Germany (2022)

  3. Delegated Regulation on Data Access Provided for the Digital Services Act (2023)

  4. Political Communication Special Issue: Digital Campaigning in Dissonant Public Spheres (2023)

#161: Connecting Social Media Influencers with Political Campaigns, with Zach Fang

June 18, 2023 Digital Strategists

Zach Fang, Head of Sales and Business Development at Vocal Media, shares how the start-up is building a database of social media influencers to connect with political campaigns and organizations. We discuss what makes TikTok influencers a different type of political advertising and how their costs stack up to traditional broadcast and social media. Zach also shares what’s happening with influencers on Twitch, Discord, and YouTube shorts, and how influencers may turn from awareness raising to organizing. 

 

Here’s a link to the study mentioned in the episode. 

#160: Digital Media Trends in American Political Campaigns, with Russell Mindich

May 20, 2023 Digital Strategists

Russell Mindich, political consultant and author of the 2022 Political Tech Landscape Report, shares his insights on the role of social media in political campaigning. We discuss social media influencers and how campaigns are connecting to them on TikTok, the move towards politicla advertising on streaming services, and the potential uses of ChatGPT and other generative AI for politics.

#153: Data-driven Campaigning with Polling and Focus Groups in American Politics, with Zac McCrary

October 29, 2022 Digital Strategists

Zac McCrary, Partner at Impact Research and host of the Pro Politics podcast, shares his insights on how American campaigns leverage polling and focus groups to craft a winning message. We discuss the upcoming 2022 US midterm elections, the (still) dominant role of television in political advertising, how social media fits into the picture, and how smart phones have changed polling into a multimodal endeavor. 

#145: Political Tech Incubators in American Digital Campaigning, with Eric Wilson

May 29, 2022 Digital Strategists

Eric Wilson, Managing Partner at Startup Caucus and Host of The Business of Politics Show, discusses political tech incubators and their emerging role in US digital campaigning. We chat about how the Republican and Democratic Party need different tech solutions for different campaigning styles, the need for start-up campaigning firms, and the potential impact of Web3 on future political campaigns.

 

Here’s the link to Eric’s blog post on Web3.

 

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#129: Political Marketing, Digital Strategy, and Social Media for the Yang 2020 Campaign, with Andrew Frawley

June 27, 2021 Digital Strategists

Andrew Frawley, former Director of Marketing at Yang2020, shares his experience running marketing and digital strategy for Andrew Yang’s 2020 campaign. Andrew discusses the role of social media for outsider campaigns, challenges in establishing growth on social media, and the role of podcasts for political campaigns. We also discuss campaign slogans, differences between outsider and mainstream campaigns, and Facebook groups as organizing hubs. 

Check out Andrew’s website for more experiences from the campaign! 

#128: Modern Political Campaigns and Social Media in the United States, with Dr. Michael D. Cohen

June 13, 2021 Academics

Dr. Michael D. Cohen, CEO of Cohen Research Group and Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, discusses his new book Modern Political Campaigns: How Professionalism, Technology, and Speed Have Revolutionized Elections. 

We talk about how communication technologies have shifted political campaigns from being party-centered to candidate-centered. We also discuss various aspects of political campaigns covered in the book, such as: how political campaigns conduct opposition research, the role of data and analytics in the modern campaign, and the value social media can provide to a political campaign.  

Buy Modern Political Campaigns here and use code RLFANDF30 for 30% off! 

#126: The Cultural Sociology of Political Performance, Icons, and Social Media, with Prof. Jeffrey Alexander

May 16, 2021 Academics

Jeffrey Alexander, Professor of Sociology at Yale University, discusses his cultural sociology approach to political performance and cultural icons. We start out with the concept of fusion, and how political actors work to achieve it through the elements of political performance. Then, we turn to a discussion of objects, affordances, and the power of political icons.

 

Here’s some extra reading on the topics we cover in the episode:

 

Cultural Pragmatics: Social Performance Between Ritual and Strategy (2004)

The Performativity of Objects (2020)

#123: Social Media Influencers and Political Campaigns, with Madeline V. Twomey

March 27, 2021 Digital Strategists

Madeline V. Twomey, President at Rufus and Mane, discusses how social media influencers can benefit political campaigns (and vice versa). Madeline forged digital influencer partnerships for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and inauguration. She shares her experiences working with influencer programs and her thoughts on best practices moving forward.

 

We talk about the value that influencers can provide to campaigns, how that working relationship looks like in practice, and how storytelling can help non-political influencers break into political topics. 

 

Here’s Madeline’s Medium post discussing her 10 lessons from the Biden campaign.  

 

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