Are Millennials engaged in this election? Opinions are divided (see earlier blogpost and comments). But whether they care or not, getting out the vote is a marketing issue — and a marketing opportunity for those interested in reaching Millennials.
First there was Rock the Vote; now there is Shop the Vote. Shop the Vote is a partnership between the filmmaker who brought us “18 in ’08“, a documentary that provides a picture of this year’s 18-year olds and why they should care about this election. I haven’t seen the film, but would like to. A 6-minute CNN video (accessible from the home page, with film creator, David Burstein, yielded a great quote representing the message of the file: “I understand your cynicism.” 18 in ’08′s web site is worth visiting. It describes its missions as a “peer to peer youth voter engagement and mobilization organizationsing the film as a voter registration vehicle.” The site is comprehensive and engaging, a great example of Millennials talking to Millennials.
The other partner in Shop the Vote is Access 360 Media, which describes itself as “a premier multi-platform media network that connects to more than 173MM young adult (P12-34) consumers each month in the places and through the communication channels that matter most to them: In-store, Online and Mobile.” In-store partners include Journey and FYE.
A visit to Shopthevote.org provides many opportunities to get involved in the election:
Links to Obama and McCain campaign web sites
Download mobile media wallpaper and signups for election news delivered to your cell phone
Register to vote
Participate in a poll
Upload videos
The main purpose of the site, no doubt, is capturing email and mobile numbers in exchange for debate alerts and other relevant content — and presumably ad messages. It’s not clear how successful this effort has been, or will be. But as a creative approach to engaging Millennials in the election — and exploiting a marketing opportunity at the same time — I admit it is impressive.
