The 2024 Hunger Games
Doomscroll 5.19.2024
Happy Sunday and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll, your all-time fav Sunday-evening read. I’m your host, Amanda Elliott. Let’s get to some scrolling!
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by VoteSharp. Keep reading for a Q&A with founder Stephanie Sharp!
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about whether MAGA Inc’s decision to get on TikTok was swaying you one way of the other. Out of everyone who responded…results were split 50-50. Half of you said NO; half of you said Not sure. Glad we cleared that up! Honestly, I’m glad. Enough talk about TikTok.
This week I’ve been thinking a lot about influencer marketing in the political space (read below for why). Every time I chat with someone about this or read about it, one question comes up: Should influencers on Twitter be required to disclose if they’re being paid to post something? An ad is an ad is an ad, right? And should a disclosure just say “PAID AD” or should it mention who’s spending the money? What’s more, there’s a huge difference between a campaign that is “organized” and a campaign that’s “paid.” Not every influencer who posts on behalf of an agency’s client is doing so for money (weird, I know), so are those fine without any kind of disclaimer? Whenever I think about this on my own, I’m like “yes, obviously they should be required to disclose.” But every time I bring this up with someone who actually works in the influencer world, I get a lot of sighs and “it’s complicated.” Why? What makes it so complicated? Enlighten us!
Who’s Doing What
—May the odds be forever in your favor
Buckle in, folks. This one’s a long one. In the 2024 Hunger Games, the only question is this: Will the right survive long enough to claim victory or will we mortally wound each other so badly in this battle royale that it’ll be hard to even tell who won and who lost come Election Day? Or…let me put it this way: Can’t we all just get along? Ah, silly me - not when there’s money and ego on the line! Obviously I’m talking about Influencer Marketing. Duh.
A story in the Daily Caller caught my eye a couple weeks ago about a leaked pitch deck belonging to one Zach Henry, a former Vivek Ramaswamy staffer whose new firm, Total Virality, was “caught” red-handed doing some work for RFK Jr. Apparently the business deal was important enough for the Washington Free Beacon to cover as well. And NBC News. And The Daily Mail. Why was this news? Good question. That’s what I was wondering myself when I reached out to Henry for some real talk (spoiler: being the nice dude that he is…he gave me a comment). Now, I don’t know Zach all THAT well, but full disclosure, yada yada, we have exchanged Twitter DM’s and a few texts here and there over the past year. Here’s what Henry had to say when I contacted him:
It's surprising that Trump's super PAC would go to such extremes against one of their own for promoting an inspirational video that doesn't even mention Trump. I respect both RFK Jr. and Trump. The fact that some people in Trump World would try to nuke me and my new business, while also threatening the influencers I work with, shows it had less to do with RFK and more to do with certain individuals disliking a newcomer stirring things up. Ultimately, they only managed to bring multiple new clients to my agency and plenty of free publicity. Thanks, Alex.
And here’s what I think. The Daily Mail article seems to do the best at explaining what’s really going on here. This whole thing is a byproduct of the dog-eat-dog race to be Trump’s running mate. Rival factions (with or without the candidates’ knowledge) are trying to knock other potential picks out of the running - and they’re using social media influencers - and influencer agencies - to do it. What’s more: Word on the street is that these stories about Zach were planted by Alex Bruesewitz's rival firm, X Strategies, during the dust-up over the Kristi Noem puppy-killing story. The lesson? If you win the influencing battle one day (say, by helping to get an anecdote about a potential VP candidate shooting her dog to go viral)…get ready to have a target on your back. So when Bruesewitz, whose firm works for Noem, saw on FEC filings that RFK Jr’s campaign had paid Total Virality, they used it as the perfect excuse to take aim at Zach to paint him as a Trump Traitor - all, supposedly, with the blessing of Trump Campaign top brass (IYKYK).
I’m going to try real hard not to extrapolate too much from this one dust-up in the influencer marketing world. I do think, as I’ve said before in Doomscroll, that there’s real value in using influencers to get our message out to voters. Meet the people where they are, and all that. But what this incident has really exposed for me is the degree to which influencers on the right could be too busy fighting each other to effectively fight the left. I’m not going to go so far (yet) as to name names, but why is Zach Henry being targeted by other influencers when his actual track record in MAGA World is long and established, those two RFK Jr. projects notwithstanding? Ok, don’t answer that.
When Republican Super PACS, orgs, campaigns, etc, hire an influencer marketing agency to tap into their networks to hype a story about a rival candidate on the right, it’s so much more than just asking a digital vendor to run an ad campaign. What they’re really asking is for influencers on the right - all of whom have massive megaphones - to go to war with each other based on their relationship or allegiance to whichever agency they work with. And in the end, it creates a Hunger Games style slugfest - and NOT an echo chamber for GOP messaging that’s actually reaching and persuading new voters. If you know what I mean. Is this a glass-half-empty type of perspective? Sure is, but this newsletter isn’t called “Doomscroll” for nothing! (emphasis on the DOOM).
That’s what has me worried. And those who work in this business or follow it more closely than I do may try and reassure me that 90% of the time, this is not what happens. That everyone has the same goal, we’re all on the same team, etc etc etc. But the swiftness at which some (again, they’ll remain nameless here for now) didn’t hesitate to turn the guns on Zach makes me question how delicate the game really is - and whether it’ll all be worth it in the end.
—Nice spin
I’m loving all the Trump world ads that tell people NOT to donate if they really can’t afford to. It’s a nice change in message and tone in the fundraising world.
—Down-Ballot Dark Knight
You guys…I LOVE seeing down-ballot candidates get creative with their content. Enter Frank Farmer, who’s running for freaking COUNTY COUNCIL in Greenville, South Carolina. H/t to the loyal reader who sent me his reel. Feast your eyes. Just because you’re running in a local election doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun! Way to go, Mr. Farmer. Doomscroll salutes you. If you are working on a local race or know a candidate who’s churning out good stuff on the socials, drop me a line at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Merch Shout-Out
This week I got hit with a bunch of new ads on Twitter from CLF, hawking some new mugs. And honestly, I wasn’t mad about it. These are some cool looking mugs - so much so that I thought they deserved a shout-out this week. And, they each benefit a key GOP member: Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, and Juan Ciscomani.
2024 Roundup
This is where I make note of a few other things that caught my eye this week.
Nancy Mace challenger released a new ad this week, hyping her bona feds as a conservative who “fights and wins.” Kind of a snooze, if you ask me, but watch it here.
Nevada Governor Steve Lombardo endorsed Marty O’Donnell. Reminder: Lombardo flipped the governors’ mansion in 2022 from blue to red. Read about it here.
Kevin Bishop, longtime former aide to Sen. Lindsey Graham and one of several Republicans running to replace Rep. Jeff Duncan, is out with a new ad introducing himself to voters. Love the Clemson theme, obvi. Watch it here.
Apparently, the Nikki Haley campaign brought int 145,982 new online donors to the GOP ecosystem. Read more here.
Larry Hogan released a “Democrats for Hogan” ad. Watch it here. As an aside: I’m generally a huge Hogan fan and I get the complexities of running as a Republican in a blue state, but still…restoring Roe?? Lost me there. Woof.
Who’s Spending Where
From May 9 - 15, the top conservative spender of Facebook ads was Americans for Prosperity, at $264,000. Trump National Committee JFC came in second place at $149,268 - with the vast majority of that being spent on fundraising ads. PragerU spent $147,000, while The Daily Wire shelled out just over $100,000. Rounding out the top five is AFP Action at $83,000.
On Google during this same time period, Trump National Committee JFC was the top spender, with $391,000. Make America Great Again Inc spent $126,000. Americans for Prosperity spent $98,000, while AFP Action came in fourth at $71,000 and a newcomer called Fix Washington PAC spent $46,000 on anti-Tammy Baldwin ads.
P2P
Industry Watch
High-five, Netflix! According to Fast Company:
Netflix was late to the ad-supported side of the subscription streaming world, but it is quickly becoming a leader, boasting more people paying for the Netflix advertising-supported-subscription option than Peacock has total customers. At its Upfront presentation to advertisers on Wednesday, the company’s president of advertising reported total subscriptions to the ad-supported plan had hit 40 million—an increase of 5 million people from a year ago. That’s a 14% jump when many other streaming services were facing user churn—and it underscores Netflix’s dominance in the streaming world.
…
Two of every five people who sign up for Netflix these days opt for the lower-priced ad-supported option where it is offered. And that’s spurring the company to launch an in-house advertising technology platform before the end of next year, which will give it not only more ways to measure the impact of those ads, but a higher percentage of the revenue from them. It currently partners with Microsoft for its ad services.
So….when can we expect Netflix to start accepting political ads????
The Grapevine
Axios reported this week that conservative operatives are investing $1M into a new news outlet called The Washington Reporter to cover the Hill. My question is…Why?
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Now, to our Q&A with Stephanie Sharp!
First up: What's your name and what do you do? Stephanie Sharp, creator of VoteSharp.biz, a voter CRM. Former Senate staffer (Brownback, Ashcroft), KSGOP volunteer, lobbyist, KS House member (03-08), Johnson County Community College Trustee (KC Metro, 35K students, 09-18), legislative content creator and campaign consultant (11-20).
Over 20 years, I’ve done every job in politics and know what candidates need (and don’t) in a tool. VoteSharp launched in 2011 but sat on the back burner because sessions and campaigns always take center stage! Since 2020, it’s been VoteSharp full-time.
Ok, that was easy! Tell us about VoteSharp. What is it? VoteSharp is a web-based voter CRM which makes tracking, targeting, and remembering voter relationships easier. A tool that’s easy for your client is one that will get used. When they use a tool, you get better microtargeting data.
Map: The subscriber’s relationship history with each voter in the palm of a hand. Notes are keyword searchable, yard sign management, mapped mail ballot chasing.
Email Tracking: Use cc: to capture email addresses and content, save to voter’s file and keyword searchable.
What makes VoteSharp different from other voter data tools that are out there?
Private: The only tool that’s not party approved means the subscriber owns the data and decides where it goes.
Easy & Intuitive: Designed for users aged 60+, it’s easy for power users AND first-time volunteers.
Affordable: Our yearly fee is what some others charge for a month!
How are you innovating for the 2024 election cycle?
Dozens of UI updates to make it even easier and faster.
Offering data-centric automated print products based on data subscribers enter into VoteSharp.
What's the single, biggest piece of advice you would give to a first-time candidate who's overwhelmed with the data side of campaigning? Depends on how you define “data” - my definition is different than the data your newsletter focuses on!
Voter data: Good public service IS a good campaign - every interaction is a vote, so keep a record that’s easy/flexible to recall/search quickly, so each voter thinks you remembered them. You did - you just had a little help from VoteSharp:)
Social, online, etc: DO NOT DIY. Hire a firm that can translate this work into plain English, with clear and understandable reports on a weekly or biweekly basis which tie your spending to ROI. Anyone worth their salt will be able to do that. If they talk over your head or assume you should know all their jargon, RUN AWAY.
Anything else we should know? The data nerd in me loves geeking out over your reports!
Thank you so much, Stephanie!
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
This is, in my opinion, a genuine merch fail. Did the Biden camp just make up the thing about Trump being free on Wednesdays? If so, it’s kind of a lame quote to put on a t-shirt. It’s so context-specific and doesn’t stand on its own. If you blinked for five seconds this week, you wouldn’t get the reference at all - even IF you heard the news about Trump and Biden agreeing to a debate. Fail.
From the other side of the tracks:
I was kind of fascinated by this New York Times article this week about how McDonald’s clawed its way back from all the negative attention it received 20 years ago (!) over the Super Size Me documentary. And truthfully? It doesn’t sound like it was all that hard. Because let’s be real: Americans love their burgers and fries! Take it away, NYT:
In the end, the chains handled the brand crisis with the very tool — their most powerful — that had caused the problem in the first place: marketing.
That “human truths” idea — essentially, the genuine emotional resonance of eating McDonald’s — originated in part from Wieden+Kennedy and the Narrative Group, the two creative agencies that the chain hired in 2019 and 2020.
As W+K New York’s co-chief creative officer, Brandon Henderson, explained to AdAge in March, “When we first started with McDonald’s, they were hesitant to be themselves and had been listening to the haters since the ‘Super Size Me’ documentary. I think the big shift we gave them was to stop listening to the haters and listen to the fans.”
For the agencies, the lodestar of that strategy was the idea that “No matter who you are, everyone has a McDonald’s order.”
…All that needed to be done was to connect the power of that comfort and nostalgia to the power of celebrity. Fast food isn’t just cheap, accessible calories; it’s a universal experience. You’re eating the same fries as your idols.
What’s the lesson here? Ignore the haters, embrace nostalgia, get some quality celebrities on board, and boom! Super Size Who??
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!