Election Day 2006, whoever has the best data wins?

It’s election day 2006 and wer’re expecting quite a battle. Control of congress hangs in the balance, and both parties are pulling out all the stops.

On the surface of things, this election looks like any other here in Indiana. There has been a constant stream of negative ads onTV and we have seen several visits from the President and first lady, who fly through to lend support to their candidates. All this is to be expected. It is business as usual in politics today.

But there’s something going on under the surface that is more interesting (to me) and perhaps more powerful than any other strategy or tactic employed in the political wars.

The parties are using database marketing to uncover microtargets, small niches of people who may be emotionally charged by a particular issue. Both policital parties realize that the margin of error is slim. One-percent may be the difference between victory and defeat, and more than ever before, they’re putting their efforts into database marketing.

Battle of the mega-databases

In one corner, we have “Voter Vault,” the GOP’s national database of voter demographics and lifestyle data. In the other corner, the Democrats trot out “Demzilla,” a treasure trove rich with consumer information. Both databases will use predictive modelling to produce targeted marketing efforts aimed to activate voters and sway them to one side or the other.

The use of database marketing techniques in political campaigns is a growing trend which gained renewed focus in the 2004 elections, where Karl Rove’s strategy gained national attention.

In a competitive market, little things make a bigger difference

Anymore it seems that our two party system is inadquate in the face of the volume of issues swirling in our public conciousness. Voters have access to so much information about so many different things it makes it diffucult to pick one thing (i.e. “it’s the economy stupid”) that will activate every voter, or even the majority of voters. While voting along party lines is still wide-spread, it’s likely to wane as voters become aware of information about their parties and their candidates.

To their credit, the political parties seem to have realized that people vote as much on single issues as they do along party lines. Identify the key issue for a person, or a group of people, and you may win their vote.

For the record, I’m not saying I LIKE what the pols are doing here, I’m simply saying it’s SMART, if you’re in the business of getting elected.

Over time the parties are developing massive, national databases that provide insight into national trends as well as local anomolies. These data warehouses have to power to unlock massive potential political influence as well as purchasing power. In fact, through data analysis the pols have learned that there’s a connection between what consumers choose in the grocery aisle and how they vote on election day.

I hate to say it, but I think the NFL could learn something from American political parties.

The NFL inspires unity. Look around the RCA Dome after the Colts score a touchdown and you’ll see 60,000 unified humans. Most of these fans have never met eachother before, but for 3 hours on Sunday, they are kin. And when the Colts do well, they’re high-fiving eachother as if they were twins, separated at birth. Everyone is happy and all for the same reasons. We all agree. We all get along.

But watch these same 60,000 fans as they’re exiting the Dome, and the unity begins to fade. You’ll see old, young, tall, short, rich, not-so-rich, etc. Perhpas more importatly (to sponsors), you’ll see people at different life stages, considering different purchases and with wide ranging purchasing power.

The farther you dig into the data, the more you realize that while united in spirt, Colts fans are very different from one another. I believe we need to understand these differences, as the pols have begun to do, if we hope to maximize fan loyalty and the revenue opportunities that come with it. In fact, if we can forget (for a minute) our massive popularity and look at the competive forces mounting all around us, I think we might start storing up food (data) for winter.

Fantasy football, video games, social networks, Xgames…all these things are relatively new on the scene, and each is a different battle front in the war for consumer’s attention and affection. As participation media grows in power, our TV oriented (passive) product may start to lose some relevance, at least for younger consumers.

I believe the NFL and its clubs should be working together more closely than ever before. Each club has the power to collect data. Each team represents a potential test market.

Here in Indianapolis, we’re focusing all our efforts on building a database of demographics, psychographics, behaviorial and survey data. As we continue developing Colts.com and MyColts.net, we are watching for opportunities to create content sections built around sub-interest categories that will give fans what they want while offering specific sponsors relevant reasons for being in the (content) mix. Since our primary audience is heavily young and male, it might make sense to start with an automotive content section, for example.

But beyond the Colts, I’d like to see the NFL set out to build its own version of “Voter Vault,” and use this data to help teams and sponsors get better ROI.

The building of this database will require cooperation between the league and its 32 franchises. Working in a coordinated effort with its member clubs, the National Football Leaugue could position itself as the most powerful database marketing machine in the world. But this would require a major shift in strategy, so I doubt it will happen any time soon.

Ironically, politics could prevent the NFL from leveraging fan data to its fullest

I am fairly new around here, and I’m certainly not an expert on all things NFL. Smarter people than I are responsible for brining the league to its present status, for which I’m thankful. That being said, I believe its fair to say that, just like any other organization on the planet, the NFL has its own version of (internal) politics. In the fray are owners, players, unions, league officials, team representatives and sponsors. You’ve got small market teams and large market teams. You’ve got any number of unique needs and micro-agendas. With all of this in play, it’s sometimes difficult to get everyone to agree. Such division would reduce the likelihood of a league-wide data strategy becoming a priority.

And human nature may be an even stronger force than politics when it comes to maintaining status quo. As the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” We are number 1! We don’t NEED to change. Unlike the political parties which are scratching and clawing for 1% of the vote, the NFL commands a huge lead over its rivals competing for sports-entertainment dollars. Database marketing is hard work and would require cooperation and buy-in from multiple stakeholders. It’s easier to continue doing what we’ve always done, which is to create mega deals with TV networks, and expect that fans and sponsors will simply buy what we’re selling.

As I mentioned above, I’m new to this league so I’m still filled with youthful exuberance and (perhaps misguided) optimism. I am trying to help improve communication between the teams and with the League office so that we can learn from eachother and work toward achieving even more success in the future.