As someone who has dedicated their whole professional career to marketing and understanding the power of the internet, I had a huge reckoning last week when I watched one of the best run marketing campaigns, Kamala HQ, not end up moving the needle at all when it came to voting for a President.
Not only did Kamala Harris lose the electoral college, but for the first time in Donald Trump’s three elections, he won the popular vote, as well. Kamala Harris put tons of effort into her marketing and her “Kamala HQ” TikTok account gained over 5 million followers in less than 3 months. She broke the internet with phrases like “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” and Charli XCX tweeting that “kamala is brat”.
It seems maybe the lesson here is that Kamala Harris focused on short-form marketing while Donald Trump focused on long-form marketing. He appeared on dozens of podcasts, some that lasted over 3 hours, while Harris went viral using trending sounds on TikTok and posting YouTube Shorts with Jennifer Lopez.
Was the “Kamala HQ” social accounts an example of “empty marketing”? Proof that just because you go viral doesn’t mean you are moving the needle?
In today’s episode of “Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe”, we will be talking about the brilliant marketing campaign ran by Kamala Harris that did not end up helping her win the election, at all.
Topics + Time Stamps:
The Power of Speech & Marketing - 0:00
Why Americans love an “underdog” - 5:10
Why celebrity endorsements from Taylor Swift, Beyonce, etc didn’t move the needle - 13:00
Why Trump embraced podcasts - 16:57
Why the right side is better at gaining popular podcasts and influencers as talking heads - 24:58
Why the top podcasts in the US are right wing - 27:30
Why the left side pushes out influencers - 31:30
The political paradox that influencers like Drew Afualo and Brittany Broski have faced - 33:22
Why America was put off by Kamala HQ being run like a fan account - 44:00
The extended episode begins at 24:58 and is only for paying members of the Substack. You can become a member for $9-a-month at cocomocoe.substack.com
Reference Links:
Colin & Samir: “How YouTube Podcasts Predicted the 2024 Election”
“Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe” is a marketing podcast that covers internet and pop culture but from a branding angle. Coco Mocoe is a trend forecaster and marketing expert who loves diving deep into why things go viral on the internet and how you can apply that to your own brand or creator journey.
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