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George Clooney is distinctly popular with West Coast American females aged 40-49. East Coasters, on the other hand,

love Sarah Jessica Parker. In the digital age, a person’s behaviour online can determine unique insights into their socio-

economic status, consumer preferences, their political beliefs and indeed, which film star sets their heart racing.

Since the explosion of social media and web marketing in the past decade, and the transition into an internet age that

amplifies messages and voices much further than that ever possible of television or radio, the opportunity for politicians

to capitalise on this new media and the intelligence it provides has continuously grown. It was President Obama who set

the example of what could be achieved online and it was his data-mining efforts in 2012 that provoked these dinners with

George and Sarah, with the intention of courting the votes of his subtly targeted guests.

In this snapshot, FTI Consulting explores the digital environment in the UK, the impression it is leaving on the General

Election campaign and whether the maturing of digital adoption in the UK should be compared to US Presidential

campaigns.

Putting politics on the digital map

Obama set the bar in 2008, in what was widely reported as the ‘Facebook election’.

Targeting 18-29 year old voters, he built a strong presence over social media networking

sites and his own My.BarackObama.com, drawing on consumer marketing innovations to

engage with key demographics to not only disseminate his message, but to quantify,

analyse and exploit the rich data cultivated by his digital campaigning efforts.

The impact was critical. 98% of American Facebook users were friends with an Obama fan

and, supported by the campaign feeding the 24-hour news cycle and 360 degree analysis of

the election, it was impossible to not hear Obama’s message, augmented by cultivated

online advocates. The momentum for online political campaigning was set.

Data and digital: why election campaigns have changed forever

“Big data has matured, digital

culture has been embedded

and for the first time in the UK,

this General Election will point

to the truly critical effect of

data analytics”

Alex Deane, Managing Director of Public

Affairs, FTI Consulting

Data and digital: why election campaigns have changed forever

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The first digital election in Britain

While American presidential hopefuls were leveraging digital media to

activate the electorate in 2008, it has not been until this General Election

in the UK that the campaign efforts by political parties has been

described by digital agencies and politicos alike as truly digital – and just

in time. With 36 million of the population accessing the internet every

day, it is no longer seen to be an innovation, but a necessity to engage

with voters online.

461 MPs are now on Twitter. The Conservatives are reportedly spending

over £100,000 a month on social media engagement. The Labour Party

has hired Matthew McGregor of Blue State Digital and David Axelrod,

masterminds behind Obama’s campaign.

As politicians use digital to bolster their pursuit for votes, their campaign

teams must consider the impact of social media for reaching the

electorate, calling voters to action, understanding the intelligence offered

by data analytics and measuring their performance in the polls.

With 36 million of the population accessing the Internet

everyday, it is no longer seen to be an innovation, but a

necessity to engage with voters online.

A megaphone or just noise?

The fundamental advantage of social media over broadcast media and

newspapers is that it enables politicians to foster dialogue with the

electorate. Facebook’s Government and Politics Specialist Elizabeth

Linder says that this is the first “conversational election” in the UK,

arguing that it’s not the presence online that matters, but what is done

with it. The combined reach of social media is far larger than that of

broadcast or newspaper media, but this can mean there is more noise to

cut through. Successfully landing a message with the right audience, in

the right way and with the desired effect can be harder than it might

seem.

The increase in social-led campaigning employing social media optimised

images and user-generated content is evident by all the parties,

especially the Conservatives. Whether it’s the sharp advertising of David

Cameron’s ‘long term economic plan’ on YouTube or the string of Vines

pushed by the Labour Party on the #labourdoorstep, it is fair to say that

much of the campaign is being fought online. In 1997, it was ‘The Sun

wot won it’ for Blair. This time it might be down to the online media

giants, but that depends on how effective these messages are.

Social media is useful for disseminating policy, speeches and real-time

news, but there is a danger that these messages only access people in

disparate bubbles and end up preaching to the converted. Harnessing

the power of social media lies in building advocates, which has not been

seen on a comparable scale to Obama’s success by any of the parties.

Outside influence

Businesses, charities and other organisations have been digitally

omnipresent too. Publishing manifestos of asks, responses to campaign

developments and innovative ways to engage their own stakeholders in

the election, it is true that much of the conversation is being led by these

voices.

The King's Fund for example, a health and social care focused think tank

has employed search engine optimisation techniques to ensure that they

list above almost every search result concerning the election. Its election

tracker tool, a digital roadmap of the political parties health

commitments has given it the leading voice, occupying space to ensure

its messages are heard. This is an example of the hardline to the

electorate offered by smart digital planning and demonstrates how future

campaigns might seek to target and influence stakeholders.

The role of celebrities in electioneering in the US is well established:

Obama on-sided Oprah, Beyoncé and a contingent of other influencers

including the aforementioned dinner hosts to endorse his political

message. In the UK, social media has become a space where celebrities

have been able to drive interest, as we have seen during the 2015

election with Russell Brand hosting an ‘online only’ interview with Ed

Miliband. Demonstrably, politicians are increasingly pressed into a corner

by the influence of social media campaigners and this has escalated

during this election campaign. While Miliband’s party may benefit from

the increased attention around his interview with a political provocateur,

this pressure to have a digital presence can present obvious dangers for

politicians who may not always be au fait with some of the necessary

subtleties.

New political science

It is not news that political parties use data to strategise their campaigns

and understand voter behaviour, but the science has matured since

2010. The parties have all developed their own analytical engines based

on the Mosaic database, but are still behind the curve on maximising the

data’s potential if compared to the retail industry, or say, Obama’s

landmark 2012 campaign.

Data use by the parties is more sophisticated; the ability to profile voters

with greater detail has been enabled by developments of voter

identification software that allows greater finesse in crafting targeted

messages. This is complimented by the host of marginal tools available

for use: YouGov Profiles, vote-matching software plugged into social

media sites and the combination of polls, exampled by UK Polling Report.

The path is being laid by applications of ‘big data’, such as the Tata

Consultancy Services ElectUK app, which crunches Twitter’s data to

analyse sentiment towards issues, politicians and parties. A collaboration

between Demos and the Text Analytics Group at the University of Sussex

to form The Centre for the Analysis of Social Media is another example of

the developing influence of data on the political landscape, with analysis

of campaign performance churned out from social media data.

Weaving the use of digital tools and using data to mobilise voters will

have a critical effect on the outcome of the election. The parties can

identify swing voters with greater ease, target their advertising and focus

their resources but it is true at this time that no political organisation in

the UK has anywhere near the monetary or technical resource to match

the sophistication of the Obama micro-targeting campaigns. Challenges

to this type of precision include funding, which pales in comparison to the

funds deployed in the US, and data protection legislation in the European

Union, which is considerably more restrictive than the US, where every

voter was identifiable and analysable by political strategists.

Data and digital: why election campaigns have changed forever

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Evolving digital culture

We are only beginning to see how digital tools are being used politically in

the UK; the territory is still new. While the technology continues to

develop and the bank of data is becomes richer, political strategists and

other interested parties must become smarter in applying this data to

connect with individual voters.

While this general election is proving to be the most data-heavy the UK

has ever seen, there is still some way to go before the richness of data

matches that of the US.

In a constitutional and regulatory environment distinctly different from

the American political scene, the direction in which data-driven

campaigning develops is also a question for consideration; the

campaigns are far less focused on party fundraising because of British

legal restrictions on party financing, so nuances will become apparent as

digital politics evolves.

John Gusman

+44 (0)203 727 1723 John.Gusman@fticonsulting.com

About FTI Consulting

FTI Consulting LLP. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organisations protect and enhance enterprise value in an

increasingly complex legal, regulatory and economic environment. FTI Consulting professionals, who are located in all major business

centres throughout the world, work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges in areas

such as investigations, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues, reputation management and restructuring.

CRITICAL THINKING

AT THE CRITICAL TIME™

www.fticonsulting.com ©2015 FTI Consulting LLP. All rights reserved.

This general election campaign has proved the appetite for,

and the possibilities presented by big data and digital

strategy. The nature of the political conversation has been

changed in the UK and the developing UK digital culture will

drive the political parties, the Government post-7 May and

other stakeholders to capitalise on innovation in this space

to provide robust, precise and rich digital tools to augment

traditional campaigning techniques.