Huw Lewis - harnessing new technology
INTERESTING news from the Lewis 4 Labour team who today sent out targeted emails to party members advising them on how to vote on the internet with the clock ticking down to the 5pm deadline on Thursday.
The campaign believes it has put innovation and interactivity at the heart of the bid to win over Labour Party members, boasting a number of firsts in Wales, and even the UK:
sending out the first bulk email to party members
sending out the first regionalised emails to party members
personalised emails from supporters to advertise events which went viral
putting online a youtube “blooper” reel, since copied by another campaign – a first in UK politics
behind the scenes videos giving members a sense of fun, along with key campaign messages – another UK first
only frequently updated campaign blog
first campaign to have an online “donate” facility, bringing in hundreds of pounds
online “endorsers wall” for party members to have their say on why they are backing Huw
constantly updated flickr site, with pictures of Huw from around Wales
producing the only interactive online manifesto, with questions for party members to answer online
the “Go For It Huw” facebook page was the first specific campaign presence on the social networking site
supporters on facebook changed profile pics to “Lewis 4 Labour” images the second the campaign started
supporters on facebook changed profile pictures to the “feelings’ mutual” poster, within minutes of the Co-op Party endorsement
constantly updated twitter feed
Huw “tweeted” to a big screen live feed at Eddie Izzard gig in Cardiff, asking all Labour Party members and trade unionists to vote
the first campaign to change website design to reflect different stages of the campaign
only campaign to have imaginative pages like mythbuster and “Who is Huw”
producing downloadable material for party members and trade unionists to send to colleagues
only campaign to have blog and twitter accounts updated by candidate
Other less visible hi-tech campaigning tools claimed by Lewis4Labour include “NYE”, the huge in-house database constructed by the Lewis 4 Labour team detailing the thousands of contacts made with party members across Wales, designed to allow personalised follow-up contacts.
Today the campaign will be sending out targeted emails, with a link to a youtube video explaining to members how they can vote online and advertising the campaign hotline in case members are experiencing problems. You can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/lewis4labour#p/u/2/z_MSur1rLSI
A Lewis 4 Labour spokesperson said, “We hit the ground running with our online campaign, and we’ve dominated the scene ever since. This is innovation for a purpose – things like the blooper video, a first in UK politics as far as we can tell and the endorser wall have changed the way people think about online politics in Wales.”
To be fair it has been an impressive online campaign – but do the other campaigns accept the online dominance claimed?
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flickr
This is indeed an impressive catalogue of ‘Obamaesque’ online campaigning activity. However, I would question the claims that Huw Lewis has been first in all of this. Edwina Hart, for a start, has been doing ‘personalised’ bulk email campaigns throughout this period. Moreover, Edwina Hart has been using solutions and services developed by local Welsh companies. This is supportive of the Welsh economy. I question whether Huw Lewis’ campaign is doing this, or is it just another example of giving business ‘anywhere but Wales’?
As for the effectiveness of this in getting a ‘result’, we shall see when the final votes are in and we find whether Mr.Lewis has been elected as leader or not. I am also wondering where the money for this has come from. We have a fair idea of how much this sort of thing costs and it ain’t peanuts or a pocket full of loose screws.
A good comment, CP, and I see what you did there at the end. I guess you’ll be dining out on your spat with Team Lewis for quite a while.
CP – I think the phrases “The campaign believes it has put innovation and interactivity “, “Other less visible hi-tech campaigning tools claimed by Lewis4Labour include” and “Do the other campaigns accept the online dominance claimed?” demonstrate a degree of distance between the content supplied by Lewis 4 Labour and my position. Yep, not ground breaking analysis on my part, but it’s also clear I didn’t write that list, I’m reporting on it.
And I agree that Edwina’s site has been good. I said a few weeks ago: “No big changes to Edwina Hart’s site though – perhaps her team is more confident in the original structure they came up with.”
http://waleshome.org/2009/11/campaign-2-0/
Planning to do something more substantial on online campaigning from all three parties to run over the weekend, as well as few more retrospective pieces on the campaign as a whole from all 3 sides.
I think all online campaigns have had their merit and knock spots off anything Labour in Wales has done to date which is credit to all campaigns, but two, maybe three things strike me as interesting. One, the Lewis campaign choose to emphasize this at the end of the campaign, showing how much value they put into this side of things; Two, the assertions above though clearly not accepted by Darren Hill are unchallenged by other teams it would be interesting to hear their “firsts”; and the Perhaps Third thing, Plaid Cymru run Cambria Politico backing Edwina. Who knew
Thanks for those comments David. Some elements of Huw’s online campaign have been very ground breaking. The use of facebook, for example, to my mind has been most effective. Other things have shone too, and I have genuinely been impressed by lots of it. But maybe not every thing on the list was as solid as it was made out to be.
Campaigns are very personal things to those running and delivering them, and I can’t see where Team Huw has put a foot wrong online. But equally not every step forward is quite as big as suggested either.
What I find amusing are the number of people who think having a website means they are running an “Obama change-style campaign”. Just because you embrace “whiz-bang” technology… unless you change the party “machine” command and control mindset… will not mean Obama-style success.
Team Obama created a new paradigm of community organising and enthusing grass roots political activism. They knew they could not take voters away from the established dynasties of Clinton and McCain. Instead they had to bring new voters to the dance.
With 60%+ of the UK electorate sitting on their hands/sitting out, traditional candidates should worry about any candidate who energises those who cannot be bothered and it has to be real. Having a website is like having a bathroom in your home and bragging about it. It is a utility. Not the reason for winning/losing.
All best.
“I can’t see where Team Huw has put a foot wrong online”
Well, for a start, they had a go at us by trying to prevent one of our contributors having his/her say. I would maintain that was a foot ‘put wrong’ with a vengence.
As Denis rightly points out, these are potent tools to be deployed with intelligence not an end in themselves. Politics is about people and Obama was successful at mobilising grassroot activists using these tools. (Not so) Simples. I seriously doubt that any prospective leader, in any party , really ‘gets it’ yet. The first to do so will do well. Huw Lewis is not amongst them, but chwarae teg some marks for trying.
CP – You quote me: “I can’t see where Team Huw has put a foot wrong online”
Then say: “Well, for a start, they had a go at us by trying to prevent one of our contributors having his/her say. I would maintain that was a foot ‘put wrong’ with a vengence.”
I was reflecting on Lewis’ own campaign, not your campaign to smear him.
Bit late in the game to follow up on this.
Of course the online campaign wasn’t Obama-esque because this isn’t the the US presidential election, this was an internal election.
That obviously changes the nature of how to communicate with people. I agree that just having a website is not good enough and facebook/twitter et al need a proper strategy to work. I think Huw’s site did exactly the purpose it needed for an internal campaign. Obama-esque methods should (and I hope will) be used in the run up to next assembly elections but again some methods will need to be different to that of Obama’s as Wales’ online state is very different to the USAs.
In the next few weeks if I get some time I will blog about my analysis of the online campaigns and what Welsh Labour need to do in the run up to the election.
Denis Campbell says “What I find amusing are the number of people who think having a website means they are running an “Obama change-style campaign”. However, it is not Huw Lewis’s team, but CambriaPolitico who first bring Obama into this. What Lewis’s team helpfully list is a simple more modest range of achievements, which is still impressive by Welsh (and very definitely by Welsh Labour) standards.
What I find amusing is that Denis assumes you have to be American to “get” the Obama campaign. This evidence suggests you don’t:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/05/12/labour-leadership-contender-huw-lewis-sets-out-his-vision-91466-23598143
http://www.nextleft.org/2009/05/sticking-plasters-do-not-inspire-people.html