Hillary Clinton Takes a Tip From Apple’s Marketing Playbook

How a 2016 Presidential candidate and a tech giant both let the American people do the marketing for them.

Every year or so, from within the soon-to-be circular walls of Apple’s Cupertino, CA headquarters, a new Apple product is announced with pomp and circumstance. It consistently rocks the social media world and is simultaneously covered by every major news outlet while pre-orders start rolling in.

Meanwhile, in her Chappaqua, NY home, Clinton let the rest of the world decide for themselves the details of her 2016 campaign.

Tech Forums and Political Forums Are One and the Same

For what felt like a political eternity, Clinton let the media and the Internet hash out the details of a campaign that wasn’t even confirmed until last Sunday.

Does this process sound familiar?

When the iPhone 6 was released in September 2014, it took only a few months before everyone was speculating about the iPhone 7. What will be new? What will it look like? Price? Release date?

The online world was abuzz with forums discussing what they liked and disliked about the 6 and 6-Plus, and what they hoped would change for the next model. In many ways, there exists a strong parallel between these Apple forums and political forums post-election.

After Obama’s 2012 reelection, the American public knew that there was going to be a whole new race in 2016. The oval office was up for grabs and many Democrats knew right away who they wanted in that seat. The Super PAC “Ready for Hillary” started in January 2013 – just over two months after the election.

Why ‘Anticipation Marketing’ Works

Anticipation marketing is often thought to be all about the build-up, the pressure, the compounding excitement and precedent that all lead up to some sort of long-awaited catharsis. This is true, but only to an extent. There are many other benefits to this form of marketing that are often forgotten. 

Making the people wait for something that they want gives both Clinton and Apple time to listen and observe. A close view of every political commentary and controversial issue, as well as the rise and fall of formerly considered 2016 frontrunners like Chris Christie gave her more insight into the shortcomings of her potential opponents, and even those within her own party.

In this same way, Apple and other tech-companies are always looking to their reviews and seeing what competitors are doing. Do you think the iPhone 6 was created with a bigger screen in some sort of Silicon Valley vacuum with no consideration for the success of the Samsung Galaxy? Absolutely not. Both the successes, as well as the failures, of others allow strategies like Clinton’s and Apple’s to sharpen, perfect, and refine before ever going public.

Furthermore, anticipation marketing takes the legwork out of preliminary marketing campaigns and essentially eliminates the need for anything to “raise awareness.” With the rise of “Ready for Hillary,” roughly three million Americans already decided who they were going to vote for in 2016 in the same way that people decide months ahead of time that they’re going to buy the next Apple upgrade.

These people do the marketing on the front lines of social media, bumper stickers, and word-of-mouth. Every announcement from Apple comes paired with a jump in social media mentions and interactions. Similarly, there’s no doubt in my mind that it was the months of anticipation that led to the explosion of social media interactions with Clinton’s Sunday announcement that annihilated the other candidates’ social media numbers. In a post written by Phillip Bump of the Washington Post, Clinton was described as a “juggernaut” in the context of social media presence.

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All told, this process of anticipation and build-up that’s common in Silicon Valley has finally permeated the political realm. Clinton’s avoidance of details and “cannot confirm or deny” attitude towards the 2016 election left millions of Americans bouncing with expectations and speculation. This campaign has set the stage for what is sure to be a historic election season in 2016.