With interactive media firing on all cylinders, the 2008 presidential campaign has become a digital communication machine representing the future of the connected agency. From developing online community groups and issue-oriented websites to Facebook and MySpace efforts to conducting virtual town hall meetings and attending blogger conventions, the campaigns are acting like the new agency model, exemplifying integrated cross-media marketing.

The digital efforts are working well with voters, as evinced by the Obama Girl and Hillary Clinton fan videos on YouTube. These UGC "campaigns" are truly user-generated -- not the result of contests -- and have helped move these political races from campaigns to conversations. But the campaigns have done much more than inspire a few hundred UGC videos.

Interactive banner ads have made a very big impact, with millions of impressions raising millions of dollars. Although the Romney campaign was the first to use interactive streaming video format, Obama's display ads received 65 million ad impressions both in October and November, according to Nielsen Online AdRelevance. The interactive video-enabled homepage takeover display ads the Obama campaign ran in March through local media giant Centro caused such a stir that industry analysts wondered whether the ads caused endorsement confusion on the part of website users.

The campaigns have moved their marketing message to the next stage -- engaging and communicating with voters at every level. In case you are thinking national brands cannot afford integrated online campaigns on this scale, less than one percent of the estimated $1.5 billion advertising dollars spent by all presidential candidates this year will go to online advertising -- something to consider next year when your brand is considering buying one 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.