Brrrring... It's Your Favorite Presidential Candidate

Ringtones, wallpapers, text messages; three things that many of us have and use on our cell phones all the time, but until recently, were not associated with political campaigns. Enter Obama Mobile, a site that Barack Obama's campaign introduced earlier this summer as an effort to utilize the power of the cell phone. 

On Obama Mobile, you can get ringtones featuring popular Obama quotes set to music and wallpapers of Senator Obama and his campaign logo. You can even sign up to receive text messages about the campaign and upcoming events. For those who truly live and die by their cell phones, Obama Mobile also offers text updates on specific issues such as healthcare, education and Iraq. 

While Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Mitt Romney have also introduced text message updates, Obama is the only candidate that has an entire page on his website dedicated to mobile technology and is the only candidate that gives people the option to receive issue-specific text messages. With more and more people owning cell phones (especially those under the age of 30), text messages seem like a great way to keep people interested and informed about the campaign. 

The other aspect of Obama Mobile that is particularly interesting to me is its use of ringtones, since, so far, Obama's campaign is the only one to offer them.  I believe that candidate ringtones, if created and marketed properly, could be a great tool for creating buzz and increasing interest in a candidate, especially from people who do not traditionally vote. 

Imagine sitting at a bar and hearing your friends phone ring to the tune of Go Obama (see example below). At first you would probably chuckle to yourself, thinking about how much of a political nerd your friend is, but after that you're probably going to be curious as to what the heck that was. Your friend then has the perfect opportunity to talk to you about Obama and why they support him, which in turn could lead to you becoming interested in Obama and so on.  

Unfortunately, there is currently no real research on the use and effectiveness of political ringtones, though I hope to do some primary research on this emerging medium this spring for my thesis.

Here are few of the ringtones that Obama's campaign is currently offering:

Letter to Obama (Go Obama)

2004 DNC Speech - Hip Hop

2004 DNC Speech - Alternative