First there was MyBO. Then came the VP announcement via txt, followed by the Obama iPhone app (iTunes link). And now?

This screenshot is from Burnout: Paradise for the Xbox 360 and, yes, it is an official ad buy from the Obama campaign. (So far, it’s the only in-game ad that has surfaced, but I’ve got to think there are more. If you see any, email me at michael.dyer at hhcc dot com) It’s an open secret that Obama is relying heavily on the under-30 set in the general election, just as he did in the primaries. Thing is, it’s also a cohort that is notoriously bad at actually voting, hence the campaign’s novel—and varied—approaches to reaching them.

The ad’s early voting message raises several interesting questions. First of all, early voting is an option for only about 30% of the electorate, so is this in-game buy targeted? If so, to what extent? Are they targeting down to the console, based on age, location and other demo information gamers have to supply? Does the campaign have control over which games they appear in? I imagine an Obama ad appearing in a Grand Theft Auto title would be problematic, so what criteria is used for selecting games? Are racing gamers are more likely to vote? I also wonder if that data even exists.

Point is, we don’t know a lot about this ad buy, just like we don’t know much about the effectiveness of a lot of what the Obama campaign is doing, mostly because it’s the first time much of this has been applied in a political context. That said, it’s great to see campaigns using emerging technology and advertising platforms to enfranchise voters. Aside from the eventual and ultimate metric of votes cast, these strategies will undoubtedly kick out plenty of data, which we’ll eventually review to determine if it was effective. So stay tuned…

A side note: a little digging revealed that Obama’s isn’t the first example of a campaign opting for an in-game presence. In 2006, Virgina ex-Governor Mark Warner held a press conference in Second Life. I was unable to find any sort of data on whether it was a success, but here’s coverage of the event on an SL blog.