Clinton campaign using Pokémon Go to catch voters in Ohio
CINCINNATI — When it comes to Pokémon Go, some players are looking to catch something a little more important than Pikachu and friends.
They’re trying to catch voters.
At least, that’s how Hillary Clinton’s Ohio campaign volunteers and staffers are using the game after its meteoric rise following its launch and its subsequent success with millennials – the campaign’s target demographic.
The game, which launched July 6, is a free-to-play, location-based, augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic that lets players explore their neighborhood catching Pokemon in the real world, visiting Pokestops and Gyms along the way on a quest to become a Pokemon Master.
It is at Pokestops that users obtain items like Pokeballs, which are used to capture Pokémon, and at Gyms that players are able to train and fight their Pokémon. It is also at Pokestops and Gyms where the Clinton campaign staffers are setting up shop.
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Following the game’s official release in the United States, the Clinton Ohio campaign over the weekend fanned out from Cuyahoga to Athens to seek out players in their communities to register them to vote, according to Laura Zapata, press secretary for Hillary for America, Ohio.
“We see this strategy as a great opportunity to reach millennial voters … who may not have yet registered to vote or may have supported Bernie in the primary, but are uniting behind Hillary after his endorsement,” Zapata said in an email to The Enquirer.
This isn’t the Clinton campaign’s first time targeting millennials through social media. During Donald Trump’s rally in Sharonville, Ohio, last week, the campaign bought a Snapchat filter that read “Donald Trump: Making China Great Again,” which was seen as an attack ad on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s campaign slogan.
More recently, the Clinton campaign bought a celebratory Snapchat filter that could be accessed at Sanders' endorsement event Tuesday in New Hampshire.
In terms of social media outlets, the campaign also has its own Snapchat, where supporters can view 10-second glimpses of the presumptive Democratic nominee’s life on the campaign trail; its own Pinterest account, where Clinton posts fun fashions, photos and inspirational quotes; as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts, which are seen by 4.3 million and 7.37 million people a day, respectively.
But, while millions can see what Clinton is doing and saying on a day-to-day basis, many younger voters may not know about or understand her platform, which makes voter outreach that much more effective to the campaign.
"This voter registration strategy has been an effective way of reaching voters where they are," Zapata said in an email, explaining why the campaign has started to use Pokémon Go as an outreach tool targeting young voters.
The campaign plans to hold more Pokémon-related events throughout the state this week and weekend.