Development Seed Blog

Obama Tests Out Political Ringtones

One of the pieces of tech advice I’ve heard over and over again in the past few months is that if political candidates want to engage younger voters they need to do it on their turf and in their language. This is good advice, and in many ways it seems to be sinking in. But unfortunately it hasn’t translated to all new mediums.

On the face of it, Barack Obama’s new ringtones are fantastic and a smart new medium to experiment with. Last year ringtones became a $500 million industry in the United States. Statistically, last year almost half of all ringtone downloaders were under 25, according to a study by the NPD Group. Of downloaders, 22% of downloaders were between 18 and 24 years old and 26% were between the ages of 13 and 17. The latter group may not help your get out the vote efforts but can be great for building momentum.

Now go listen to the ringtones Barack Obama’s campaign put out. What self respecting kid (or young adult) is going to put these on their phone? The ringtones themselves have many merits, but they’re just not catchy or… fun.

Obama’s campaign is the first to put out official candidate ringtones, and I think it’s a great idea. However, these ringtones, and I’m willing to venture no ringtones that candidates put out, will be the fast moving, viral type that has made political ringtones so sexy. Instead they serve a different purpose and are a more modern version of the classic campaign button or bumper sticker. While I have my doubts that this type of ringtone will be able to beat out the latest hit song for placement on teenager’s cell phones, that may not matter. A lot has changed for ringtones in the past year.

I spent last week at the beach with my entire family and everyone older than seven had a customized ringtone for their cell phone (and those younger would have had one if they owned a phone). My sister-in-law’s phone rings to a new Shins song. My older sister’s phone (I can’t believe I’m admitting this) plays the Pussycat Doll’s “Flirt” when her husband calls. Even my mom, who does her best to avoid gadgets of all types, has a customized ringtone. So it makes sense that political candidates are eyeing them as a new outreach tool, and it is a smart move.

There are seven different Obama ringtones that you can download for free. All include Obama quotes on major issues like the war in Iraq and healthcare and are mixed with music, which is essential in creating a functional ringtone because it makes it much easier to hear. I was surprised, though, that not all of the ringtones include his name. The ones that do will surely have a larger impact on the people who overhear the ringtones.

In tune with the vibe from Obama’s campaign, he’s asking his supporters for suggestions and input for new ringtones and wallpapers. His website also credits the creators of the current mobile content, which is nice to see. It will be interesting to see what his campaign does with any suggestions or submissions – if they keep creating and posting new ringtones and wallpapers or if the statement is intended more to create the appearance of user generated content (obviously, cost is also an issue here).

He’ll no doubt get some interesting feedback. His supporters were creating ringtones and other viral content before he was. Nueva Vista Media created and made available a reggaeton song - Como Se Dice? Como Se Llama? OBAMA! OBAMA! - as a ringtone as part of its Latino voter outreach campaign. Contrary to the official ringtones that Obama has put out, ringtones created by supporters have a huge potential to attract attention and spark conversations, mostly because they have the freedom to have more fun with it. I’ve Got a Crush on Obama is the perfect example of this happening in a different medium - YouTube. The faux music video has been viewed more than two million times on YouTube, has received mainstream press coverage, and has been turned into a ringtone.

Of course ringtones are also a great medium for keeping a major indiscretion or political gaffe alive. In 2004 a ringtone of a recorded message of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo discussing rigging the election with an election official was downloaded more than one million times. Two popular U.S. political ringtones drum up George Allen’s racism with his infamous “Macaca” quote, and President Bush’s ineptitude during Hurricane Katrina by calling attention his statement “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job” regarding the handling of the disaster. The latter two ringtones are available on a new political ringtones website Ringtones08.com. It will be interesting to see if ringtones like these come into play this election season.

Obama’s new ringtones won’t change the outcome of the election, but they could be a lot of fun for his supporters. They’re a more fun way to show whose camp you’re in than a button, that’s for sure. Another big bonus is that ringtones are great for garnering media attention. Jon Stewart featured the ringtones on The Daily Show last week (watch it here), and the campaign says that their downloads doubled after the show.

Now as for ringtones for the youth? I only hope that 527’s and politicians hit up their star powered backers for a donation of a quick song that may not have anything to do with the campaign, but would be a great value added for younger supporters.