February 25, 2008
SMS Changes Voters’ Behaviors and Attitudes
Company: Limbo
Objectives
· Drive awareness of candidates’ 2008 primary campaigns
· Change voting intentions
· Drive traffic to WAP sites
Execution
In January 2008, Limbo ran SMS advertising campaigns for leading Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, delivering over one million SMS impressions across the two campaigns
Results
The results suggest that SMS advertising provides a powerful tool for candidates to change consumer attitudes and voting behavior. The campaigns achieved 53 percent awareness, in line with other SMS programs, but higher than might be expected from traditional forms of media. The overall impact was considerable with 28 percent altering their voting intentions.
· Change in voting intention: Six percent )6%) of those surveyed after the campaigns said that the advertising had changed their voting intentions significantly. This was highest for men at seven percent )7%), those aged 35+ at seven percent )7%), and for African Americans at nine percent )9%). An additional 22 percent )22%) said their intentions had been changed a little.
· Change in perception of the candidate: Fourteen percent )14%) said that their perceptions of the candidate was now more positive than before seeing the campaign, with only four percent )4%) saying it was now more negative, a net 10 percent )10%) increase in positive perception. Barack Obama saw the biggest uplift, with a net gain of 16 percent )16%).
As well as changing impressions of the candidates, the campaigns also functioned to drive greater interaction with the candidate across other paid and non-paid media:
· Thirty-seven percent )37%) paid more attention to news coverage about the candidate
· Twelve percent )12%) became more aware of other marketing for the candidate
· Seven percent )7%) visited the candidate’s website with a further 24 percent )24%) intending to do so in the future
· Five percent )5%) visited the candidate’s mobile Internet site with a further nine percent )9%) intending to do so in the future
As SMS is a very direct medium, Limbo also asked recipients of the campaign how happy they were to see the candidates advertised through the Limbo service. Fifty-six percent )56%) of people said they were happy, and only 13 percent )13%) said they would have preferred not to see SMS advertising from political candidates. Men were more comfortable than women to receive the campaigns, and the 25-34 year age bracket was most happy.
