To Conservatives...And Beyond!
Doomscroll 8.6.23
Make my week and smash that subscribe button. Do it before someone gets another indictment.
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about the future of Le Twitter. Almost 80% of you said you could care less about Elon Musk’s quest to rebrand the platform, and honestly, I applaud our shared indifference. Good for us. The rest of you decided you liked it; a rebrand was in order. Fair. As for the bonus question where I begged you all to share your thoughts on the future of Twitter…I got a variety of responses. Here are some of them:
Same shit different name for the next few years.
It is still relevant for now and will continue to be used by those who even “hate” it and use Threads or other platforms.
Future is strong
I think the logic behind the rebrand has to more to do with expanding what people think of the platform. Everyone thinks of Twitter as a social media platform/communications and that's basically it. When you get pigeon-holed as a company into "I only use X for Y" it's a problem. You see companies struggle after a point as a result. See Mailchimp creating a website builder or SquareSpace trying to get in on contributions or emails (functions none of us use those platforms for). You can expand your use-cases it if people think about you as more than X, but when your entire marketing and brand is tied to a single concept, it's often hard to grow and feels out of place when you try to expand. I should note, a complete redesign/revamp of Twitter/X is also likely coming as well. There's no way for Musk to make Twitter into an "everything app" with its current interface design which is geared towards the feed. For video or podcasts, they're going to need new sections so videos don't get lost amongst all of the other posts. The other issue (which is convenient in this case) is the reported Rube Goldberg-ian state the code base had become pre-Musk due to Dorsey's lack of management. Musk hinted at the code base being made up of a metric ton of microservices where no one knew why things worked (or not) and minor changes could potentially break everything. Regardless of the platform being Twitter or X, the codebase likely needs a rewrite to become manageable and the X-rebrand provides the perfect excuse.
Bracing myself for the onslaught of questions from my Boomer Boss.
Thanks everyone for the feedback! Speaking of feedback, another loyal reader who shall go unnamed reached out to answer my other question about why no one thinks it’s important to measure follower growth (see the One Question from 7/23). Here’s what “ze” (my assigned pronoun for this person) wrote:
Followers is a vanity metric. Unique reach or impressions or engagements is a real thing, but followers is just a leading metric of those things (if that).
For example, my son (13) runs a youtube channel where he publishes a short video every day. He has ~900 subscribers, and relentlessly follows his subscriber growth per day. But his videos get 2-5k views each time, and almost none of the views come from subscribers! It’s all algorithmic discovery! So what he should be focused on is trying to understand how to better generate algorithmic views… not followers.
I think that’s how it is on most platforms. Who cares how many linkedin followers you have — it’s all about the engagements, right?
I see you, and I hear you.
This week’s One Question is about reaching voters. I’m sure everyone at least skimmed this Semafor article about our fragmented media environment. I won’t rehash the whole thing (I can only write so many words a week!) but to sum it up: “2024 is shaping as the first election of the age of fragmentation.” Candidates are everywhere, all the time, trying to reach voters. It’s not just cable news and Facebook; it’s The Daily Wire and Megyn Kelly and Ruthless and Honestly with Bari Weiss and the Christian Broadcast Network and so, so, so, so much more. So let’s chat: What are YOU doing to get outside the conservative echo chamber and reach new voters? I’m not asking you to give away any secret sauce…but I am curious. Is this something you’re thinking about as digital strategists, and if so, how do you plan to execute?
Who’s Doing What
--New in NH
I love a good logo/brand refresh in the political space. We don’t see them - or talk about them - very often when it’s not on the presidential level. But! Thanks to Kelly Ayotte, we’ve got a good one to discuss. Ayotte, who was a Senator from New Hampshire until she was defeated by Democrat Maggie Hassan in 2016, is now running for Governor of the Granite State. I really like how she’s updated her logo. It’s very similar to what she used for her Senate campaign so voters WILL recognize it. That said, it’s got some nice modern updates: the blue and green are brighter. The “Ayotte” and “Governor” have been switched into a block, sans serif font. I could still do without the tree in the middle of the state on the left, but overall this is a well-done logo refresh.
--Save Our Youth
I don’t usually go heavy in Doomscroll, but this ad from Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, highlighting the dangers of social media, tugged at my heartstrings this week. It’s part of a larger ad blitz the governor is running to ramp up awareness around social media and kids. The libertarian in me is very much against the government stepping in to regulate social media use, but I don’t see any problem with running awareness campaigns that encourage parents to play an active role in monitoring this stuff. It kind of makes sense too, as the Republican Party has embraced a broader anti-Big Tech agenda lately. Also, shout-out to whoever crafted this eleventy-million-word tweet. I loathe long, wordy tweets, but this one is an exception. If you’re gonna do it, break it down into bullets. Make it easy to digest. Kthx.
--Brutal Ad Alert
Raise your hand if you’ve seen this ad in Kentucky from Club for Growth Action. WOW. It’s brutal. These ads are becoming more and more ubiquitous with each and every election cycle. You know the formula, they basically write themselves: “So-and-so governor released criminals early who then went back out into the street and committed more heinous crimes.” I don’t know that I could say one example in particular swung an election, but they’re pretty effective at building the larger narrative that Democrats are anti-police, soft-on-crime, and too woke to care about innocent victims. The theme is also hit on in this spot from RGA-affiliated Kentucky Values. Aside from the cringey landing page (WHY?!?), the ad is good and mentions Beshear released 1,700 criminals early.
--Let’s Move
I’m getting a kick out of these ads from the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development. Like, at first I thought they were a little cringey? If you have to run ads to beg people to move to your state…? But now I’ve changed my tune, and while I can’t exactly put my finger on why, I’m endorsing these. You heard it here first, folks. South Dakota isn’t the first state to run ads about how awesome it is (Hello, Pure Michigan!), but I’ve never seen anything quite like a sitting governor dressing up like a plumber. So: points for creativity. They’re several weeks into the campaign, but they spent about $30,000 on Facebook last week so it’s still going strong.
Merch Shout-out
It’s been a while since I’ve done merch shout-out, but never fear. Babydog is here!! Jim Justice released some new mech this week and I am VERY into it. Can we just send Babydog to the Senate? Get your merch here.
2024 Roundup
Semafor did a deep-ish dive into the DeSantis meme machine. Read it here.
Stand for America released a new pro-Nikki Haley ad. Watch it here.
Speaking of Super PACs, Never Back Down released a new DeSantis spot. Watch it here.
Mike Pence released some new merch playing off Trump calling him “too honest”. Get yours here.
More PAC action! Trust in the Mission PAC put out a new pro-Tim Scott ad. Watch it here.
Vivek Ramaswamy showed up at the courthouse in D.C. where Trump was being arraigned…and made all of the content. See one video here. He also had this sick burn.
Ron DeSantis challenged California Gov. Gavin Newsom to a debate, and then the DeSantis War Room put out a video on Twitter taunting the liberal gov. See it here.
Who’s Spending Where
What was that? The top conservative spender on Facebook ads this last week was Sound of Freedom Movie?? Why yes - coming in at just under $800,000 - it’s true! Shocker. Second place goes to SOS America PAC which spent about $376,000 on ads mostly hawking gift cards to try and get Frances Suarez on the debate stage. Protect Women Ohio spent $141,000 on ads around ads urging people to vote yes on Issue 1. Fourth and fifth place go to Americans for Prosperity ($105,000) and PragerU ($91,000).
Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee was the top conservative spender on Google last week, with $107,000. Honestly, who could have predicted that? Second place goes to Vivek 2024, which spent about $63,000 on lots and lots of search ads directing people to WinRed. Hurd for America (!!) spent about $62,000 on lots and lots of search ads directing people to willbhurd.com (not WinRed), which got a major overhaul since his campaign launch. Also: welcome to the top 5, Will! Protect Our Constitution (Ohio Issue 1) and Committed to America PAC (pro-Pence) round out the top 5 with $58,000 and $51,000, respectively.
P2P
Industry Watch
LOTS of news in the industry this week, so I’m just going to include a few that I bookmarked:
WSJ: Facebook Bowed To White Hoouse Pressure, Removed COVID Posts File this under “I’m really getting sick and tired of seeing this headlines and NOT seeing any heads roll as a result.”
Marketing Brew: YouTube wants us to pretend it’s just like TikTok - kind of.
The Messenger: more hand-wringing over the state of the GOP small-dollar donor wars.
The Grapevine
Shot. Chaser. Chaser Part Deux. I have no dog in this fight, but I don’t mind watching it from the sidelines!
The Leadership is offering a new course on how to engage audiences on social media platforms not named Facebook and Twitter.
StackAdapt is hosting a Rooftop Happy Hour in DC this week and you’re all cordially invited! Get the deets and RSVP here.
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Tips for getting through the month of August? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
This, from Townhall I read..with interest:
As a growing number of Americans believe President Biden is too old for a second term in office, White House allies are employing a desperate strategy to convince voters that the President is fit enough to serve:
They are photoshopping Biden’s pictures.
Their efforts appear to be part of a months-long campaign to sway the 68% of voters who think Biden is too old for a second term.
Since Biden launched his re-election campaign on April 25, White House allies have shared the same four digitally altered photos of Biden repeatedly—without acknowledging that the photos have been edited. One edited photo even retained its original Getty Images watermark, adding to its supposed authenticity.
Here’s my take: There’s retouching, and then there’s photoshopping. This appears to be the latter and it’s no bueno! Don’t photoshop photos of your candidate! There’s no upside. You will get caught and it will make you look bad. Honestly, Biden aside, if age is an issue I say just lean into it. You know who else is really old and doesn’t try to pretend that he isn’t? Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. And he’s a GD national treasure.
From the other side of the tracks:
This interview with Bluestone Lane’s CEO caught my eye for a couple reasons. First, I appreciate the embrace of the suburbs. Points on the scoreboard! Second, this quote jumped out:
Part of the thesis behind Bluestone is customer service from Down Under. “If you have a coffee shop or a cafe in Australia that has the best coffee, but if they deliver it in a way that is cold and impersonal and obnoxious, Australians will boycott it,” Stone said.
Customer service is something we don’t think about NEARLY ENOUGH in politics and we absolutely should. Think about it…if a voter is interested in your candidate but gets the cold shoulder from the campaign or has a negative interaction, you can pretty much kiss that vote goodbye…amirite? Every instance of voter contact should be done through the prism of good, quality customer service. I know what you’re thinking. ::Thanks, Amanda, for giving me something else to stress about when it comes to my digital strategy!:: Sorry? I’m right there with you!
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!