Study Obama's infomercials.
The program's production values were first-rate, as a variety of styles and points-of-view were used to keep the viewer engaged. After the opening segment, where Obama addressed the camera from an executive-looking office (MSNBC's Chris Matthews astutely observed how it resembled the oval one in Washington), the scene shifted to North Kansas City, where a middle-class mom identified as Rebecca Johnston told of struggling to make ends meet for her husband and four children.
In these and three other stories (all but one of which were filmed in a swing state), Obama did not appear but narrated. In other segments, he stood or sat side by side with people in group settings, listening to their concerns. These scenes were filmed from multiple angles to maximize the connection between candidate and voter.
There was a biographical segment, in which Obama ingeniously retold the story of his mother's death from cancer in order to address a current concern about his candidacy.
While in the past he has talked about hearing his mother on the phone arguing with the insurance company, this time he talked instead about her death as a wake-up call that taught him that "life is short" -- and thus a rationale for his audacious run for the White House.
Another segment used black-and-white photography effectively to present Obama as a statesman who had earned the respect of his elders, including Republican Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana, the foremost authority on arms control in the Senate.
And every few minutes, Obama would re-establish intimacy with the viewer, addressing the camera to tick off a few more action items for his first term in office. These have been recited countless times in 30-second TV ads, but as they stacked up throughout the program, they acquired a kind of momentum that's simply not possible in a conventional commercial.
The program ended with one last deft production touch, as viewers were whisked live to an Obama rally in Florida, where the candidate implored the audience -- both the cheering thousands surrounding him and millions watching on TV -- to vote.
With Obama continuing to widen his lead in battleground states, the question can fairly be asked why he would spend millions to buy a half hour of prime time network television.
Well, if he wanted to spend more of his colossal war chest on TV ads, he had no choice. All available commercial inventory in many markets is already spoken for. The breaks are stuffed with political ads, especially in swing states, and that goes double for border markets like Kansas City. In the minute before his paid program aired on KCTV-5, a feel-good ad for Kansas congresswoman Nancy Boyda was airing; at that same time on KSHB, Peter Kinder was roasting his opponent for lieutenant governor of Missouri.
There's a fair amount of industry research to suggest that certain products can only be sold effectively with infomercials. Because it's not a simple sale, the viewer must be eased into making a buy. That would describe Obama's relationship to the undecided voter, and I doubt his campaign strategists were unaware of such research.
But it may also be that Obama may have been seeking a broader impact. As his party pushes toward the ambitious goal of winning a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the U.S. Senate, the positive momentum from Obama's ad buy could be the rising tide that lifts all boats.
Roger Ailes, the Nixon aide who helped fashion the 1968 TV campaign, freely admitted his candidate had negatives. "That's why these shows are important," said Ailes, who would go on to create Fox News Channel. "To make them forget all that." In that sense, little has changed in 40 years.
But wait, there's more!
Following the Obama infomercial, the candidate made his first joint campaign rally appearance alongside former president Bill Clinton. And once again, Bubba was in his element. Grizzled political observers no doubt paid more attention to how many times he talked about himself than what he had to say about Obama, but I have to say, no one can outline a speech better than Bill can.
Like a tent preacher, he barked out four (four!) reasons that audience members should go out and try on their friends who aren't sure about Obama. And then he proceeded to drive them home ... such that I can remember them now, 20 minutes later (better philosophy; better policy; better judgment; ability to execute).
http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008/10/the-obama-infom.html
First Barack Obama’s campaign made political and broadcast history by buying $5 million of advertising in NBC Universal’s Olympics programming. Now it’s marking another political first, running the first infomercial of the 2008 presidential campaign.
If you hadn’t noticed, that may be because the nearly 30-minute program aired at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 10, on Ion Television.
The Obama campaign late Tuesday described the ad as an effort to reach voters who don't see normal ads.
"This was one more effective way for us to communicate with folks who may not normally see other communications we have with voters who are paying closer attention to the race," the campaign said in a statement.
The mostly biographical, 28-minute, 30-second program included scenes of the Illinois senator’s keynote speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, as well as scenes from other campaign appearances, background about Sen. Obama and frequent call-in numbers.
There was immediate speculation that the airing was a late-night test of whether the infomercial format could successfully generate contributions and calls.
It's the first time a campaign has done this since Clinton and Perot in the early 1990s.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0808/An_Obama_infomercial_.html?showall