We analyzed the messaging of Senator Clinton's "Sopranos Spoof" home page in a three part arc and now we turn our attention to Governor Romney's campaign site, also as shown on 23 June 07. This entry is part 2 of the Governor Romney arc.
We're in the middle of a series of three political web site analyses. We'll close this grouping with a meta-analysis of all the sites. I chose these Senator Clinton and Governor Romney simply because that's where the dart landed when I threw it over my shoulder. NextStage Evolution does not endorse any campaign or candidate. Our interest is purely in how campaigns and candidates communicate to different populations.
First, we're not considering the obvious changes to any site. Political sites change every day as things happen in the world. We're not really interested in the candidates' responses to other candidates, political situations or world events. What this and other columns in this series will focus on is how the designs of these websites influence how visitors to the websites think. In other words, how the politicians want you to think when you're thinking about them.
Governor Romney's website communicates a strong, positive view of the world. This is communicated by the color choice, darker colors on top, lighter colors on the bottom and the clear, horizontal separation of the banner menu items. Again, all things in moderation and too much of a good thing isn't necessarily a good thing at all. The consistency of the color motif and menu item separation, combined with the content specific to those regions of the screen, indicate a strong, positive worldview that will only accept and act upon positive or upbeat information. Don't tell Mitt anything that gets in the way of his goals. He either won't hear it or won't pay attention to it.Governor Romney's site also works well with people who are influenced by the promise of future reward and are persuaded by what they see. This is demonstrated by the images on the site, especially the cycling images at the top of the screen and the MittTV flag backdrop image in the bottom right. You can expect the site to work well with people who are persuaded by what they see because Governor Romney is a handsome, photogenic individual. The future, again, is a good thing to promote to a party and a country currently suffering international sticker shock.
(more to follow)
Please contact NextStage for information regarding presentations and trainings on this and other topics.
Links for this post:
- How Politicians Want You to Think - Senator Clinton arc
- How Politicians Want You to Think - Governor Romney arc
- XChange on 20-21 Sept 07
- Society for New Communications Research Annual Research Symposium & Awards Gala on 5-6 Dec 07 in Boston.
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