Kitzhaber For Governor 2010 - A Recap

I have to admit that when
we started the campaign, social media was new to me,
but I quickly realized that this was an incredibly
powerful way to interact with Oregonians.
Instead of talking at voters, I was able to talk with them on a
scale that just wasn't possible before.
At Winning Mark, we're probably
best known for cutting-edge direct mail, but our video
production and Web campaigning has been getting a lot
of notice lately.
A great example of how those two worlds come
together was the work that we did for Governor John
Kitzhaber.
What was really exiting was how we integrated those elements
with every aspect of the campaign, both off-line and online.
Everything we did was repeated and amplified across multiple platforms,
and that gave our messaging a reach and a depth that
really set a new standard.
I oppose oil drilling
because it's the wrong thing to do for Oregon, but also
because of my experience with the New Carissa.
And if you can't do that in Oregon, you can't
do that anywhere in the United States, and that is
exactly what we're going to do here in the state of
Oregon.
He spent his life fighting for the
people of Oregon.
That's why you need him again.
So increasingly, social media is how people interact.
If you're not in that arena in
the campaign, you're not campaigning.
Used strategically, the power of these tools
is amazing, and without question, rich media content,
especially video, is an incredibly effective way to
move your message online.
Thats why Winning Mark launched Winning Mark Video, which is specifically
geared towards providing high-quality, low-cost video
which is tailored for online campaigning.
My name is Trent Lutz, and I'm
working with the Kitzhaber 2010 team at the Portland
headquarters.
I work with other Kitzhaber staffers and volunteers in order to get supporters knocking on doors
and making phone calls.
I want to tell you that
your engagement in this kind of process is creating a
light at the end of the tunnel.
This is, I think, a very exciting day, and
it's an opportunity, I think, of things to come, how
we're going to connect this state together through
modern technology.
Anyway, here we are on, actually, the end of
election day, and I apparently have 22,000 Facebook
friends, and I want to thank each and every one of you
for the tremendous work.
Here's how to change your
profile pic to "I Voted Kitz" in about 30 seconds.
First, go to the John Kitzhaber Facebook page
and click on "Photos."
Hey, Morgan, I understand
you asked this question on Twitter.
I'm afraid I can't answer it in 140 characters, but I'll take a try.
Voter turnout is key.
Please remember to get your ballots in by November 2nd.
Online video also opens up great
new opportunities for rapid response.
So for example, when we had a heads-up that
our opponent was about to release his jobs plan, we
were not only able to respond within minutes, but our
response was carried throughout social media, our
Website, and straight into the traditional media.
And we simply can't
afford to do that, not in the middle of a recession.
Former Oregon governor John
Kitzhaber spent the day canvassing the streets in
Beaverton with his volunteers.
In fact, our video helped create
good stories on broadcast news that probably wouldn't
have been run otherwise.
As well as sharing it on our own network, we
developed a strategy of distributing video press
releases that not only got picked up, but was used as
the actual video for the story.
On his Facebook page today,
he writes, "This is a very important election, and no
one should sit on the sidelines.
Finally, online video provided a
real turning point for the campaign.
It doesn't make sense that our
waitresses are getting tips plus the highest minimum
wage in the country.
When the video of our opponent
criticizing the minimum wage surfaced, we used it to
capture on-the-street reactions, and that video went
viral, pushing the issue to the national stage.
It became the defining moment of the campaign.
Chris Dudley also has a problem with waitresses.
In Oregon, the gubernatorial
candidate made headlines when he said it doesn't make
sense that our waitresses are getting tips plus the
highest minimum wage in the country.
Winning Mark's video content ran
the gamut from a live webcast of President Obama's
campaign rally for John, to video press releases, to
Webinars and online town halls, every way to engage,
communicate, and mobilize that you can imagine.
But our favorite video, that came after the
campaign.
We will escort
Governor-elect Kitzhaber to the rostrum.
There's no question that
the way we integrated social media and online video
with the rest of the campaign was key to our victory,
and it's an important piece of how we're governing as
well.
It helped change the campaign, and it's helping change Oregon.