Report: Orange's digital election analysis Tweet

The report: A little more conversation, a little more action: Orange’s digital election analysis launched this week at a cross-Party debate in the Houses of Parliament. The report is the first detailed analysis of the use of technology in the 2010 General Election campaign. It was written by blogger and political online commentator Anthony Painter.

The report finds that:

* The Conservative Party created a corporate-style direct marketing electronic campaign, using its financial resources and smart, well-targeted techniques to contact potential voters and drive interest in things like its WebCameron videos, which received a million hits

* There was a massive surge of online interest in the Liberal Democrats after Nick Clegg’s performance in the TV debates but the party was unable to take advantage of this – they were unable to turn an independent Facebook group with 160,000 members into new activists and party members

* The election also saw independent activity online start to change the debate: the MyDavidCameron spoof site ruined the Conservatives’ poster campaign

* Also a number of individual candidates, particularly Lynne Featherstone MP of the Liberal Democrats, made this the first election where candidate websites fully utilised social media to campaign and communicate about local issues

Accompanying the launch of the report, Orange is also announcing the winners of its Digital Election Awards for best use of technology in the campaign. An independent panel of leading bloggers and digital commentators, including Rory-Cellan Jones, BBC Digital Election Correspondent, and blogger Guido Fawkes, decided the winners. These are as follows:

* Award for best use of digital campaigning by a political party: The Conservative Party for its integrated, strategically focused digital marketing campaign, with clear successes such as one million hits for WebCameron

* Award for best use of digital campaigning by a candidate: Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, who the judges felt had built up a strong social media presence through long-term hard work

* Award for best independent use of digital media: TheStraightChoice.org, uploading literature in real time

* Award for funniest use of digital media: Clifford Singer for MyDavidCameron.com, which effectively destroyed the positive poster campaign

* Raspberry Award for digital campaigning techniques: The Labour Party for the Ashes-to-Ashes inspired poster depicting David Cameron as Gene Hunt. It backfired faster than an Audi Quattro as the Conservatives turned the poster’s comparison into a positive.

To view the entire report please download the attached document.

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