Talbot Digital

A Golden Night

TD Squad — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:41:00 +0000

This month Talbot Digital was honored with four Gold awards at the 2013 Pollies. We’re extremely proud to deliver winning results for our clients, all the honor and success really belongs to them.

We’re blessed to work everyday with outstanding clients whose mission is something that we all support as individuals and citizens. Not everyone gets to spend their days working on jobs that they cherish – we consider ourselves very fortunate to work on projects that we believe in.

Thank you to all of our clients and partners who made 2012 such a successful year.

MORE INFO:

Talbot Digital won top honors for campaigns including Question 7 in Maryland and the 2012 Mexican presidential election. The Question 7 campaign team and consultants won the prestigious Campaign Excellence Award for best overall ballot initiative.

You can read the full press release on our victorious night at the Pollies here:
http://talbotdigital.com/press/best-of-the-best-at-the-oscars-of-politics/

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Dispatches from Manila: Introduction

TD Squad — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:06:19 +0000

This month Chris has been on a speaking tour in the Philippines, discussing digital media with the nation’s political leaders, journalists, TV stations, and bloggers. Below he shares some of his insights from those conversations and trainings:

They say the traffic in Manila is the worst in the world. I’ve spent 6 days in the Philippine capital on a speaking tour with the US State Department, so I can say this is true: from 8 in the morning til 10 o’clock at night, be ready to sit stock still for much of your journey through Manila’s weaving urban highways and narrow by-streets. It’s not acrimonious, just slow. Drivers won’t betray any flashes of frustration or real anger, and the colorful, custom artwork adorning the Jeepneys (along with the driver’s music of choice) lends an overall sense of amicability to the inefficient progress. My trusty guide from the Embassy summed it up thus: “Everyone is always happy to change lanes, even though we aren’t going anywhere.”

If the Manila traffic is an easy metaphor for standard Filipino politics, it stands in stark contrast to the nation’s dynamic social media landscape. Forget Jeepneys – no jetliner could keep pace with the Philippines’ explosion of access and activity online. While just 32 million of the 90 million+ citizens have web access, Google expects that number to double within 3 years – an important factor in their recent decision to open a Manila office.

The rise of social media here is due in large part to the onward march of smartphones into the daily lives of millions. At 111% penetration, there are now more mobile phones in the Philippines than there are Filipinos.

Combine mobile web access with the opinionated culture and you will start to understand why nearly all web-connected Filipinos have accounts on social networks. The young bloggers, journalists, and activists that I met in Manila showed off an intuitive sense for the conversational, dialogue-driven realm of digital – good representatives of what locals like to call “The Social Media Capital of the World.”

It isn’t just young people either – legacy leadership is starting to pay attention. Based on my discussions, all the major traditional news organizations are working hard to understand the value and opportunity that digital media represents (this was true for reporters and business leaders alike). Crucially, the national election commission (COMELEC) is also beginning to invest in digital tools to improve voter access and election accountability – even if they are taking cautious first steps.

Over the next few days I’ll share more thoughts and insights from my time in the Philippines, including a closer look at the role of social media in the upcoming May elections.

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A Rising Political Star…

TD Squad — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 20:36:53 +0000

Congrats to President and founder Chris Talbot for winning a 2012 Rising Stars award from Campaigns & Elections. Full article is here, some highlights:

Chris Talbot is often the youngest person in the room when he gets to a strategy meeting. Recently, he was brought in by the State Department to help with outreach and democracy building in Latin America…. “Abroad there’s this energy, but there’s not a strategic approach. It’s very nascent. We think we can work with the people trying to build these movements.”

The recognition puts Chris in good company: Since 1988, C&E has recognized up-and-coming political professionals who have made an early mark on the campaign world with this award. Rising Stars have gone on to serve at the highest levels of government and political consulting. Among the inaugural class: David Axelrod, James Carville, Alex Castellanos and Mike Murphy.

Congratulations Chris!

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Tough Ad Hits Walker

TD Squad — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:03:37 +0000

Check out this recent spot for Greater Wisconsin, holding Scott Walker accountable for Wisconsin’s dead last rating on jobs:

This is the first major ad to go up in the fight to remove Governor Walker from office this summer.

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Gearing Up for the Pollies

TD Squad — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 03:59:25 +0000

The 2012 Pollie Awards are less than two weeks away in Austin. The team here is helping the AAPC bring some new blood to the annual event for political consulting pros. We’re excited that this year’s Pollies will offer a full track of breakout sessions that focus on the impact of new media and technologies in politics. A few of the topics we’ll tackle with experts in the field:

Persuasion - Most campaign resources go into persuasive messaging. How should online advertising be part of the media mix? Learn how pre-roll ads, in-banner video, rich media, and precision targeting are helping to support persuasion efforts – and providing new options for consultants who want to win.

Fundraising - Barack Obama and John McCain raised ¾ of a billion dollars from online donors, but campaigns at every level can successfully leverage online fundraising. Learn the latest trends and techniques from those pioneering online fundraising best practices for local, regional, and statewide campaigns.

GOTV - In the final hours of an election, digital media is the most frequent contact point with voters. Digital tools help you deliver the GOTV message directly and can aid in-the-field organizers and supporters. Don’t miss an opportunity to learn how you can push your vote total higher with online and mobile GOTV programs in the final 72 hours.

And here’s a preview of just a few of the top digital strategists who are on the agenda:

Eli Pariser, MoveOn

Peter Greenberger, Twitter

Andrew Roos, Google

Kate Kaye, ClickZ

Rich Masterson, CampaignGrid

Mike Alm, Strategic Fundraising

Amy Barth, YouTube

Roger Stone, Advocacy Data

John Hlinko, Left Action

Want to see us in Austin? Hurry up and register now.

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Digital Politics in Brazil

TD Squad — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 01:27:10 +0000

This month founder Chris Talbot had the chance to visit Brazil and meet with various government and political organizations. Below he shares some notes from the trip:

Tip O’Neill said all politics is local. Anyone who abides by that maxim should consider political work in Brazil and make the necessary voyage to the field: what an amazing country. There is great enthusiasm springing from the concrete jungle of São Paulo and optimism on the beach in Rio (host of the 2016 Olympic Games). The wonderful lifestyle and culture combined with an ambitious economic project makes Brazil an interesting global destination on many levels, and the political opportunities are growing. Processes, funding, opacity, and a web of arcane (often vague) media laws make the political and government relations world a veritable Wild West in comparison to the US. Some highlights:

Digital is becoming a basic part of campaigning in Brazil, though there is a wide range of quality and investment.
Mobile is huge: there are more mobile numbers in Brazil than there are people. This is a bit misleading though, in that most numbers are prepaid, and many individuals have multiple phones. Our maid in São Paulo had two phones!
Facebook has won: it recently passed Orkut in usership and will be the dominant social network in Brazil going forward. The catch phrase in Ipanema? “Face-y-book me!”
In general Brazilian politics and campaigns are laden with corruption and behind-the-scenes dealings.
Campaigns cost money. Brazilian political campaigns and parties spend aggressively to win, hiring many staff and consultants. There are no “volunteers” in these campaigns, everyone gets paid.
Brazilian laws on media make it literally impossible for campaigns to invest in online advertising (the same is true for certain Brazilian public sector promotional campaigns that the government runs). Advertising in traditional media outlets is extensive and required.

There are some very smart digital consultants on the ground in São Paulo and Brasília… they are making strides to bring Brazil into the 21st century of political marketing, but there’s a long way to go.

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Obama Gets Facebook Timeline

TD Squad — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:25:45 +0000

This week President Obama updated his Facebook: he enabled the new Timeline design Facebook has been rolling out since last year. There’s a winking mug with a picture of the President’s birth certificate, a nice dig at the Birthers. But the best part of the page is the latest iteration of a striking graph on job growth the Obama team has been trotting out at every opportunity: it’s the cover photo. Alex Fitzpatrick at Mashable:

Visitors to Obama’s Timeline are greeted with a smiling photo of the president alongside his cover photo, a graph often shared by Obama supporters that highlights the president’s job creation record. Putting that chart in such a prominent position makes sense, given Obama’s apparent strategy of running for re-election on an “America is back” platform of optimism about the country’s economic recovery…. Clearly, Obama’s digital team got the most out of Facebook Timeline’s graphics-friendly format.

Here’s the link to the full article.

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Lessons in Website Domains

TD Squad — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:47:32 +0000

For the latest example of a website owned by someone other than who you think, check out… NewtGingrich.com. You may recall Jon Huntsman had a similar issue earlier this year…

Update: American Bridge is now forwarding this URL to another not-so-conservative post on Gingrich…

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Back from Istanbul

TD Squad — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:49:46 +0000

We had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few days in Istanbul this month with other members of the International Association of Political Consultants. As always the IAPC annual conference proved to be a great event full of stories, insights, and unique observations from political operatives around the globe.

Of note: the growing interest from the whole group about social media and how it can impact elections. This was a change. Previously interest has mostly been confined to operatives in North America, Europe, and select parts of South America. No doubt the Arab Spring did much to arouse interest from further global quarters.

AP Story Tracks Digital Rise

TD Squad — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:04:22 +0000

A nice story from Beth Fouhy at AP on the rising influence of digital media in political campaigns, with a focus on advertising – posted at RealClearPolitics. Chris Talbot quoted.