CLINTON VS. OBAMA - EXPERIENCE VS. CHANGE

By Rishad Tobaccowala

Editor’s Note: An expert in new media and messaging, Rishad Tobaccowala is the CEO of Denuo and Chief Innovation Officer of Publicis Groupe Media. We asked him for his perspective on the messages driving the Democratic primary campaigns.

In today’s increasingly digital world we are all informed as to how “the consumer is in control,” and that we need to identify and align with people’s aspirations if we are to succeed. We celebrate the rise of distributed and consumer-generated content versus a centralized, command-and-control mindset. We live in a world where sterile authority is increasingly trumped by grassroots authenticity.

Last night as I watched the returns from the “Potomac Primaries” (which brought a Barack Obama sweep, extending to eight his unbroken string of victories) and compared the two Democrats’ websites and recent speeches, it became increasingly clear that one of the reasons Obama may be winning is that he is aligned with the digital mindset (the future) while the Hillary Clinton primary campaign is anchored to an analog mindset (the past).

	Obama	Clinton	Difference
Message	Change	Experience	Change is about the voter (buyer), Experience is about the candidate (seller)
Emotion	Hope	Details	People choose with their hearts. America is about Hope. Bill Clinton was about hope.
Change agent	We/You	I/Me	“Yes we can” is about the wisdom of crowds. “Ready on day one” is about a candidate.
Approach	Bottom-up	Top-down	Grassroots re-aggregation of donations and passion, versus bundlers and technocracy.
Media	YouTube	Hallmark Channel	Millions of free views of a Black Eyed Peas video versus a bought and paid-for “town hall.”
Philosophy	Mash-up	Micro-trends	"Differences blur" versus "let's parse and play the differences," a la Mark Penn

While clearly there's more to explain what's happened so far in this wide-open race, it would be interesting to have seen where things would be if Clinton - with all her initial strengths from name recognition and an established base - had advisers and a mindset aligned with what Obama is doing. The Clintons just replaced their web team and they've been raising lots of money online, so the message may be getting through.

As Shakespeare said, “align with the current when it serves or prepare to lose thy ventures.” The digital tsunami, in all its manifestations, is upon us. We must align with its current.