Tangled Up in the Web
of Political Campaigning
Experts rate the plusses and minuses of gubernatorial candidates’ Internet sites by Ari B. Adler
October 16, 2009The early votes are in — and there’s no clear leader among the websites for Michigan’s gubernatorial candidates.
Reviewed in early September by professionals with a wide range of political, advertising and digital media backgrounds, the websites for Mike Bouchard, John Cherry, Mike Cox, Tom George, Pete Hoekstra, Alma Wheeler Smith and Rick Snyder each had good and bad features depending on various perspectives.
“Clean, concise, bold” is one review for Snyder’s website, while the Flash-enabled site cost the candidate at least one fan.
“Possibly my favorite site — a very ‘Obama-ish’ feel,” was used to describe Cherry’s site, but it had another reviewer mark it down for being “Way too busy.”
One thing all the candidates have figured out is that they need to be online, especially during the primary season, said Trevor Thrall, assistant professor of political science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
“A great website will not help a candidate who is not making people excited. But once a candidate is making waves, the web can really help build the momentum and amplify the effects in terms of mobilizing people to donate money, show up at rallies and vote,” Thrall said. “None of these effects is very important in determining vote choice between Republican and Democrat, but it can be key in determining who gets people’s attention and money during the primaries.”
Andy Corner, an advertising instructor at Michigan State University in East Lansing, applauded all the candidates for having sites that were clean, attractive and relatively easy to navigate. But Corner, who said he tried to look at the sites as a “typical voter,” added that positioning the request for donations front and center made it look like “all they are really interested in is my check.”
Corner’s exception was Snyder’s site, which he said, “looked less like a political fundraising mechanism and more like a source of information than any of the others. The site is a bit copy-heavy, which is common to most of them, and his font is a bit small, but overall I liked his set-up. It feels more like a news site than a political site.”
Cox’s site, on the other hand, “is clearly that of a politician,” Corner said. “He, along with others, claims to have a unique vision for helping Michigan emerge from its economic funk, but his site screams ‘politics as usual.’”
The news-site feel of Snyder’s site could be a detriment to the candidate, according to Ari Herzog, an online media strategist and principal at Ari Herzog & Associates in Newburyport, Mass. who also is a candidate for office in his hometown.
“Why focus on the news stories?” Herzog asked. “Why not focus on one story or one news release and ask supporters to click within for more?”
Herzog also thought Cherry’s site offered too much all at once for visitors.
“I don’t know what to click on,” he said. “A link to contribute or volunteer…the news…watch a video? There are too many options.”
Snyder’s site received a nod of approval from Bob Kolt, CEO/president of Kolt Communications in Okemos.
“He has interactive features to engage viewers and uses social media on the site, all well done,” Kolt said. “I would give him a B+.”
Bouchard received a slightly higher A- grade from Kolt for the large text and graphics, as well as “Mike TV,” a sort of mini YouTube channel operated through the video sharing site Vimeo. Kolt’s best score was given to Cherry’s site for its “Good social networking opportunities and crisp writing.”
Bouchard and Smith received high marks from Herzog, but Smith got top billing for “her KISS [Keep It Simple Stupid] design and layout that would appeal to all ages — I think that’s key.”
Another advertising professor at MSU, Dr. Bruce Vanden Bergh, said most of the sites didn’t do much for him in terms of design or attractiveness.
“I cast my vote for Alma Wheeler Smith’s look — it is dynamic,” Vanden Bergh said. “Tom George’s logo is just corny. John Cherry’s is OK; [Snyder’s] is too literal with the arrow pointing upward. The others are just forgettable.”
Kolt disagreed, saying Hoekstra’s website, for example, has an “eye-catching design.”
“Lots of photos and a prominent social networking feature are good ideas,” Kolt added.
While there was no clear winner in the website review, the one candidate definitely trailing the pack was Tom George.
“His site is pretty weak, it’s not nearly as deep or detailed as his competitors’,” Corner said.
Kolt said he thought George’s site was “out of touch,” with its top hat logo and avant-garde font — and its colors don’t help either.
“Tom George’s logo is goofy, the top hat makes the site look clownish,” Kolt said. “The yellow and red colors kind of remind me of McDonald’s. If he wants to be a serious candidate he needs a seriously better website.”
The most caustic appraisal of all the sites came from Henry Brimmer, assistant professor of advertising at MSU, who also is a self-proclaimed “prissy graphic designer.”
“I hate them all!” Brimmer said. “They are all designed around templates so they are all the same old, same old.”
Brimmer did give a couple of points to Smith’s site for its “uncluttered look,” but that’s about it.
“Alma? Alma who?” Brimmer asked. “And I hate the script [font] — so pretend personal.”
Her contenders didn’t fair much better.
“Cherry has leaves, another one a top hat, then a bicycle race — what’s all of that to me?”
Whether they draw accolades or attacks for their websites, Michigan’s gubernatorial candidates all seem to be taking ideas from President Barack Obama’s campaign playbook, according to Thrall.
“I think everyone has figured out the web matters and, thanks to the Obama campaign, is using pretty much the same template to use the web for political mobilization,” Thrall said.
Thrall also noted that for the early adopters, the Internet is playing a role that TV claimed early on.
“It was a big boon for the first few people to discover it, but once everyone has gotten on the bandwagon it’s not going to determine outcomes as much as it will structure the way we conduct campaigns.”
Who’s behind the curtain?
The website designs ran the gamut, reflective, in part, of the different designers who were tapped to help out. Just who is pulling the levers behind the web curtain isn’t always disclosed, however.Bouchard’s site doesn’t give credit to any particular designer, and neither does Cherry’s or Hoekstra’s.
Cox’s site says it was developed by TCV Media out of North Carolina, but doesn’t say whether it’s hosted there or on Michigan servers. George’s site was produced by Inspiration Webworks, a company operated by Bill Carney, who is the new media specialist in the Michigan Senate Majority Communications Office.
Alma Wheeler-Smith’s designer also isn’t readily apparent. Her sitemap was developed using a free Google service and her fundraising is powered by Click & Pledge. And Snyder’s site doesn’t offer credit to any developers in particular, but does make note that it is “Proudly hosted in Michigan” — complete with a tiny thumbnail picture of the state’s flag.
Addendum
by Ari B. Adler
November 7, 2009Dome inadvertently left one declared gubernatorial candidate out of its review of the candidates’ websites.
John Freeman, a former state representative, has a site at www.johnfreeman.org. According to the candidate, it is “in its embryonic stages” and due to be overhauled within a few months.
Freeman does, indeed have the most rudimentary of all the candidates’ websites, as it is primarily a blog site with various pages.
Not all of Dome’s reviewers weighed in on the site, but that may be to Freeman’s advantage. Those that did were not impressed with how the candidate has started out.
Henry Brimmer, an assistant professor of advertising at Michigan State University, was the most critical, summing up his review with “Ouch! Ouch!”Andy Corner, an advertising instructor at MSU, said Freeman’s site was bare bones, direct and without too many bells and whistles.
“He most certainly does not come across as a typical politician,” Corner said. “As far as the site overall, it’s easy to navigate, but doesn’t have too much content. His message is hard to find, but once found seems reasonable and middle-of-the-road.”
As with the other sites, Dome tried to determine who designed the site and where it was hosted, but — as we found with many other sites — that’s no easy task. Nothing on the site credits a designer or a host, the site noting only that everything is copyrighted by Freeman.
Here come the judges
A variety of professionals with a wide range of political, advertising and digital media backgrounds were asked to evaluate the candidate websites. Those weighing in with their opinion were:Henry Brimmer, an assistant professor in the Michigan State University College of Communications Arts & Sciences. Brimmer received his master’s degree in graphic design from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, a bachelor’s in fine arts from Sonoma State University in California, and a bachelor’s in economics from the University of California-Berkeley.
Andy Corner, APR, an instructor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing at Michigan State University and president of Cornerstone Public Relations, a Michigan-based public relations firm. He holds a master’s degree in public relations management and a bachelor’s degree in communication from Michigan State University.
Ari Herzog, an online media strategist and principal at Ari Herzog & Associates in Newburyport, Mass. who also is a candidate for city council in Newburyport. Herzog holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Worcester State College in Massachusetts and a master’s in public administration from the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University in Boston.
Bob Kolt, an instructor of media relations in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Retailing at Michigan State University and the CEO/president of Kolt Communications, Inc. in Okemos. Kolt holds a master’s in communication from MSU and a bachelor’s from Central Michigan University in broadcast/cinematic arts and journalism.Dr. Trevor Thrall, an associate professor of political science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Thrall earned his bachelor’s in political science from the University of Michigan, and his master’s and Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Thrall is the director of the Master’s in Public Policy and Master’s in Public Administration program for the U of M-Dearborn.
Dr. Bruce Vanden Bergh, a professor in the Department of Advertising at Michigan State University. A former president of the American Academy of Advertising, Vanden Bergh also has served on accreditation teams for the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism & Mass Communications. He holds a Ph.D. in communications from the University of Tennessee, a master’s in advertising from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s in journalism from Rutgers University.
Ari B. Adler is a professional communicator with experience as a newspaper reporter and editor as well as a government and corporate spokesperson. He is the communications administrator for Delta Dental of Michigan and an adjunct instructor at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. You can follow him on Twitter at @aribadler.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Gerald Wozniak // Oct 19, 2009 at 3:13 pm
What about John Freeman? If Alma is mentioned, surely someone polling higher than her should be.
2 Julie Candler // Oct 20, 2009 at 9:38 am
You omitted a candidate who is working hard for the nomination and has the credentials to make a good run.
3 Ari Adler // Oct 23, 2009 at 6:05 am
There was a regretful oversight made in leaving John Freeman out of the article. We are working on rectifying that.
~ Ari B. Adler
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