Blue State Digital

Blue State Digital is a digital strategy and technology firm that specializes in online fundraising, advocacy, social networking, and constituency development. It was founded by former staffers of Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign and provided digital strategy and technology services for the 2008 and 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaigns. The company is led by the one remaining co-founder, Joe Rospars (CEO). Co-founder Jascha Franklin-Hodge (former CTO) left in July 2014 to become the Chief Information Officer for the City of Boston.[1][2]

Blue State Digital
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryConsulting
Founded2004
FoundersJascha Franklin-Hodge, Clay Johnson (technologist), Joe Rospars, Ben Self
HeadquartersNew York, NY, United States
Washington, D.C., United States
Key people
Joe Rospars, founding partner and Chief Executive Officer
ParentWPP
Websitewww.bluestate.co

Blue State Digital has offices in New York City, Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and London. In December 2010, Blue State Digital was acquired by WPP.[3]

History

Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign pioneered new applications of new media to engage voters and raise campaign funds. In 2004, four former Dean staffers—Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Clay Johnson, Joe Rospars, and Ben Self—founded Blue State Digital[4] to improve technology solutions for political campaigns and provide online strategic services to complement the technology platform. The company launched with offices in Washington, DC, and Boston.

The following year, Thomas Gensemer joined Blue State Digital from America Coming Together, a Democratic-allied advocacy organization, to serve as managing partner.

Blue State Digital's earliest clients included Ted Kennedy's Senate campaign,[5] the Communications Workers of America,[6] the Democratic National Committee (chaired by Howard Dean), Harry Reid,[7] and AT&T.[8]

In 2007, Barack Obama's nascent presidential campaign recruited Blue State Digital to lead its digital efforts.[9][3] Blue State Digital provided technology services—including web hosting, online fundraising tools, and a custom social networking platform—while Rospars built and led the campaign's internal new media strategy team. Over the course of the campaign, this team raised more than $500 million, mobilized millions of volunteers, and built an online community of 13 million supporters.[10]

Blue State Digital grew rapidly after the Obama campaign, opening offices in New York, Los Angeles, and London. It also grew its client base, working with clients like the American Red Cross,[11] United Way, Carnegie Hall,[12] and Vogue Magazine.[13] The company is identified with its fundraising service and has supported the efforts of the United Nations Refugee Agency in the United Kingdom[14] as well as the charity organization Tommy's.[15]

On December 30, 2010, Blue State Digital announced that they had been wholly acquired by WPP Digital.[16]

Blue State Digital employees at the Brooklyn office started process of forming a union with CODE-CWA in September 2020, at a time when less than 5% of WPP employees (its parent company) are unionized, with the majority of them in Europe.[17][18][19]

Services

Blue State Digital provides both strategic and technology services. Blue State Digital is also a full-service digital agency that develops and executes multiplatform engagement campaigns. Its strategic offerings include strategy, design, production, content strategy, digital communications, video, analytics, and online advertising.[20]

The BSD Tools are an online platform that integrates constituent databases, email management, online fundraising, content management, social networking, and web analytics.[21]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Meet Our Leadership | Blue State Digital". Archived from the original on 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  2. Jascha Franklin-Hodge. "Jascha Franklin-Hodge". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  3. Rao, Leena (December 30, 2010). "WPP Buys Obama's Campaign Agency Blue State Digital". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  4. "WPP Digital acquires Blue State Digital, LLC". Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  5. "Blue State Digital Takes Over the World". TechPresident.
  6. "WPP Adds Blue State Digital to Media Empire". MediaDailyNews.
  7. "Salesforce: trouble for Blue State Digital? Don't bank on it". Jarret House North.
  8. "Obama's Secret Weapon". Bloomberg Business Week. Archived from the original on 2008-06-28.
  9. Rolfe, Mark. "GetUp's brand of in-your-face activism is winning elections – and making enemies". The Conversation. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  10. Talbot, David (8 January 2009). "The Geeks Behind Obama's Web Strategy". Boston.com.
  11. "Blue State Digital Takes Over the World". TechPresident.
  12. "Web fundraiser that aided Obama acquired". Crain's New York.
  13. Adams, Russell (23 November 2009). "Wall Street Journal: Vogue Sees Web Lessons in Obama's Campaign". Wall Street Journal.
  14. Watson, Imogen (September 16, 2019). "The UN Refugee Agency appoints Blue State to catalyse digital fundraising efforts". The Drum. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  15. Johnson, Mark (2019-06-17). "Tommy's appoints Blue State Digital for fundraising campaign". Prolific London. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  16. "WPP Digital Acquires Blue State Digital, LLC". Archived from the original on 2012-12-28. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  17. "In What Would Be A First For The Ad Industry, WPP-Owned Blue State Said It Was Forming A Union". Portside. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  18. Coffee, Patrick. "WPP-owned ad firm Blue State is forming a union in a first for the industry". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  19. Miller, Sean (October 21, 2020). "Employees At Democratic Firm Blue State Unionized By CODE-CWA". Campaigns and Elections. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  20. "Services | Blue State Digital". Archived from the original on 2012-05-12. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  21. "View Features | BSD Tools". Archived from the original on 2012-05-27. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
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