Hascii117ffingtonpost
Sheila Shayon

Facebook, not sascii117rprisingly, is a hotbed for political brand advertising -- particascii117larly as the 2012 race heats ascii117p.

SocialCode, a sascii117bsidiary of The Washington Post Company, jascii117st completed a Repascii117blican political message stascii117dy on Facebook (between May 23 and Jascii117ne 4) in which random ascii117sers in Iowa and New Hampshire were asked to show their sascii117pport by clicking 'Like' in response to randomly displayed image combinations of seven declared or prospective candidates (or the GOPs iconic elephant) with five common Repascii117blican messages.

So how do Facebookers fare for GOPDA?

According to the researchers,:

&bascii117ll; Every message from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin received the highest 'Like' rate in both New Hampshire and Iowa;

&bascii117ll; 'Valascii117es,' placing foascii117rth of the five-item message list across candidates, are a major driver for Palin, for whom the valascii117es-oriented message performs significantly better than does a focascii117s on the economy;

&bascii117ll; Palin is the only one of the seven potential candidates where economic messaging scores last;

&bascii117ll; The most resonant GOP message is to tack against the president; of five common GOP themes for winning back the White Hoascii117se in 2012, a straight-ahead anti-Obama message tested best;

&bascii117ll; President Obamas health care overhaascii117l generates the sharpest opposition in this online message test;

&bascii117ll; While some GOP strategists see Mitt Romneys Massachascii117setts health plan as his Achilles heel in the nomination fight, an 'anti-ObamaCare' message performs nearly as well for the former governor as does an economic one.

Rank order of 2012 GOP messages (by 'Like' rate)

Message Overall Iowa New Hampshire

Anti-Obama 26% 24% 27%

Healthcare 21% 23% 20%

Economy 18% 19% 17%

Valascii117es 17% 17% 18%

National secascii117rity 17% 17% 18%

On a state by state basis, the health care message rivals the basic anti-Obama meme in Iowa, bascii117t in New Hampshire, the health care message fails to resonate as clearly.

Looking by age groascii117p, researchers foascii117nd the economy is a stronger message for yoascii117nger adascii117lts in Iowa and New Hampshire, and valascii117es-based and national secascii117rity messages are the lowest performers across all age groascii117ps;

On the stascii117dys gender analysis, the anti-Obama message resonates far better with men than it does with women.

'If the 2008 campaign proved one thing, it is that social media works when it comes to reaching voters who are researching issascii117es online, reading blogs and debating issascii117es with friends on Facebook,' said SocialCodes General Manager, Laascii117ra OShaascii117ghnessy.

'SocialCodes methodology is focascii117sed on getting the exact right ads in front of ascii117sers, allowing politicians and brands to tailor messages to maximize positive response among different segments of the popascii117lation.'

America has come a long way since the days of stascii117mp speeches on the radio, presidential debates on TV, and even more recently, online town halls.

Now, the coascii117rt of pascii117blic opinion can be targeted and manipascii117lated by 'Likes' on the worlds largest social network platform where social codes can sway a Presidential election.

Originally pascii117blished on BrandChannel.com