(Disclosure: I received several emails after my last post. I am not involved with Christie's campaign. I've never spoken with them. I do want Corzine to lose and I AM NOT advocating that Daggett should drop out).
Chris Daggett's campaign isn't viable unless he can get into the mid-30s as I wrote last week. Yes I get that The Star Ledger just endorsed him for Governor and Google Trends' finally has a pulse.
It doesn't matter. He has no online marketing. The website isn't ready for prime time, it looks he had a cousin build it for him on a WordPress template. There are no Google ads trying to direct people looking for information on him. I've seen no display ads, his Facebook fans are about 10% of his competitors and his YouTube page has little subscribers, little views, and really looks like it is a page dedicated for Halloween. There are no Facebook widgets to grab.
This isn't an insurgent campaign. There is little evidence to suggest that. If this campaign had a chance they would have been employing modern internet marketing techniques, however, I can't find a single piece of evidence that the Daggett campaign even noticed what happened in the 2008 election. Yes Daggett is receiving matching funds and this allows him to be in the debates which he has dominated so far. However, did anyone stop to ask besides paying his staff and buying political signs what he plans to do with the rest of the money?
Clearly it isn't to invest in modern marketing techniques. I've heard there was a live TV commercial floating around, but I haven't seen it live. One has to ask why on earth would they run TV ads in this market? How many GRPs could they actually buy? Could it even make a dent in your viewing habits if it could even cut through the Corzine buy? Does anyone want to bet me there will be a horrible waste of direct mail coming your way to a mailbox near you or annoying robo calls to your home phone?
If this was really an insurgent campaign someone there would have used online to network properly and market his plan. Maybe if Daggett had started ANYTHING online months ago they would have actually been viable. Unfortunately for them they didn't and they will end up being nothing more than the General Election's version of the Steve Lonegan campaign which also failed any semblance of a modern marketing plan.
At this point from my cheap seats in Long Valley, NJ Daggett isn't viable. I get that some people are disappointed with the Christie campaign and hate Jon Corzine. However, NJ needs to get rid of Corzine first and Daggett can't do it. I get the idea of a protest vote. I really do. This isn't the year for a protest vote.
PardonMyFrench,
Eric
P.S. Here's an interesting and short article from the Nation Review called Chris Daggett, Jon Corzine's Bodyguard.
P.P.S Please read the comments for a response from the Daggett campaign.
Hi Eric,
I work for the DFG campaign. I'm sorry you do not feel this is an insurgent campaign; with all the support we've had, the huge volunteer base we've had following, and the large number of people who have told us they too are sick of politics are usual, I feel what you are saying is just not true. We have spoken with thousands of NJ voters, and most seem to agree that it is time for NJ to have an independent leader. With the budget and funds we have had, we have done the best that we could to be present in NJ. From our research, we have discovered that NJ voters are primarily reachable via TV and other media -- not internet -- and that is why we have focused our efforts where we have. I can imagine you have strong opinions as to how we should be using our money, but actually the media company who has led every successful independent in this country is spearheading our efforts, so we are deferring to the experts.
However, instead of forming your opinion of Daggett based of how he has spent his campaign money, I would urge you to look at how he has address the very serious current issues in NJ, and how his leadership might make a difference in this state. Daggett is the only candidate of the 3 addressing the issues, the only one who has put forth formal plans to fix them, and also has more government experience than Christie (by far), and more than Corzine did before he was elected.
The last Quinnipiac poll shows that Daggett has a 75% conversion rate -- that means that 75% of the people who get Daggett's message choose to vote for him. That was BEFORE he was declared the winner of the first debate, and BEFORE his endorsement from The Star Ledger. Knowing how often his plan, win of the debates, and endorsement stories circulated, I'm sure you can do the math and figure out that his numbers are probably sky high at this point.
This election -- vote FOR someone, not against someone. Christie has just admitted that his tax plan is EXACTLY the same as Corzine (except his includes a tax relief to the highest income bracket). So, I'm not sure I really see what difference it would make to have either Christie or Corzine in office. On top of that, we have a Democratic legislation right now, so I'm not sure what Christie would possibly be able to accomplish, also considering he has absolutely no career of bringing anyone together.
Fact remains the same -- no matter who is in office, Democrats or Republicans, NOTHING CHANGES. Daggett has an entire career of working across party lines. Isn't it time to have someone in office who can finally change things? Forget the odds -- just vote Daggett. From speaking to voters on the street, I have full confidence Daggett is going to win in a landslide, regardless of what the polls are saying (which p.s., are influenced by the parties so are often skewed). I hope you choose to help make a difference this year and vote independent for Chris Daggett.
Posted by: Ali | October 12, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Ali,
Thanks for you comments they are very respectful and honest.
I won't argue with you on Daggett's message. I think he has been very direct and honest on how he would fix NJ. However, as I wrote above we need to get rid of Corzine first and you are running out of time to beat him. I'm voting today BTW and so is my wife.
You are correct that NJ is an independent state. The polling data looks right, but the media strategy is wrong and has been wrong for a while.
Regarding your media company, they ARE wrong. Anyone who tells a modern political campaign that NJ is not online or the way to reach NJ voters isn't online but through TV and other media is just plain wrong especially for an insurgent campaign with no real budget. Sorry.
You can read through my site especially my political posts as well as my campaign 2008 recount for some short term advice. It is free so what do you have to lose?
Eric
Posted by: PardonMyFrench | October 12, 2009 at 11:10 AM
What google trends are you using.
Trends: My query chris daggett, jon corzine, chris christie month october, rank by Daggett
Gives Daggett a 1.0, Corzine 1.16 times the traffic as Chris Daggett and Chris Christie 2.64 percent
Google insights actual puts Daggett and corzine flip flopping over the last month with Christie getting about twice the search volume, ironically from the search term "corzine"
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=chris%20daggett%2C%20chris%20christie%2C%20jon%20corzine&date=today%201-m&cmpt=q.
Today's insight Daggett 32, Christie 82, Corzine 23.
And don't look at historical data from google, because their trends are a lagging indicator. Why? It can take 3-6 months before google start including a sites content in their results and even longer to give credit for backlinks, which affects page rank, etc.
Posted by: Alexander Higgins | October 12, 2009 at 10:32 PM
Alexander, you are correct with your comment. That's why I use Insight for Search http://www.google.com/insights/search/#geo=US&gprop=news&date=today+7-d&cmpt=q
because I can drill down better for search trends. Google Trends is really just good for really hot items or if they are not hot, as a trailing indicator as you wrote in your post. Either way, Daggett has a pulse, but as I wrote he is not viable.
Eric
Posted by: PardonMyFrench | October 12, 2009 at 11:30 PM
Daggett Breaks 20% in latest Poll. He will have a Major impact on an election.
The 20% threshold represents a pyschological barrier and breaking that barrier gives Daggett a chance to win the election.
http://njelection.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/daggett-breaks-20-in-latest-poll-will-have-major-impact-on-race/
Posted by: Alexander Higgins | October 22, 2009 at 02:22 PM
Alexander,
He was already having a major impact - before this post I wrote the race was really between Christie and Daggett.
I stand by most post - Daggett has no online strategy and started too late. Read Ali Daggett's comments that confirms my post - "we have discovered that NJ voters are primarily reachable via TV and other media -- not internet".
Good luck with your candidate. I've already voted.
Eric
Posted by: PardonMyFrench | October 22, 2009 at 02:38 PM
We just saw in Massachusetts (Brown vs. Coakley) the power of the internet for motivating people to get out and vote. He had ads absolutely everywhere and, judging by his huge victory, they paid off. I think this election proved that a significant digital element should be a component of all campaigns moving forward.
Posted by: Online Marketing | March 24, 2010 at 04:07 PM
It's true - there's no way you can launch a successful political campaign without online marketing. Howard Dean raised more money than anyone in his time in 2004 though ultimately lost (through no fault in his digital efforts - it was his policies and his t.v. persona that did him in). Barack Obama got more money than any other primary candidate on the back of small donors through online marketing. He even got an iPhone app. There is no escaping this and, as with product marketing, online marketing has the best return on investment.
Posted by: Online Marketing | August 25, 2010 at 05:26 PM