Ok, so I WAS going to blog on one of my favorite topics - the desperate survival tactics of Starbucks, most recently with their new and surprisingly successful Oatmeal product launch. BUT, I decided to table this rant for a more timely and irresistible topic: JOE THE PLUMBER.

“Joe” (actually Samuel J. Wurzelbacher - whose personal story has taken an interesting political/media twist) took center stage at the third and final presidential debate when Obama referenced a conversation he had with Joe about his small business and the taxes he might face under Obama’s tax plan.

Right, so what does this have to do with interactive marketing?

Well, perhaps not surprisingly, Joe the Plumber has fueled yet another opportunistic marketing frenzy. Shortly after the debate, there was a lively bidding war on Joe the Plumber keywords. According to a recent ClickZ article, regional plumbing company Mr. Rooter topped the sponsored listings on Yahoo with “Joe Plumber.”  Cafe Press also joined the madness with a “Joe the Plumber” T-shirt. (Of course. Nothing these days escapes the grip of the screen print tee.)

ClickZ also reported: “Over at Google, the Obama-Biden campaign purchased the keywords that link to a Web site that includes a calculator.” Here taxpayers can use the microsite to calculate the personal impact of Obama’s tax plan by simply entering their salary.

And this is where opportunistic marketing meets interactive best practices.

The Obama-Biden campaign didn’t just purchase the keywords and walk away. They approached this like seasoned online marketers. They linked them to a relevant destination: a microsite that addresses the very topic that surrounded the idea of Joe the Plumber: how each candidates tax plan will impact small businesses and individuals. If McCain’s camp doesn’t respond, Obama will end up with the final word on this topic.

Purely looking at the marketing play here - this was a very smart reaction on the part of the Obama camp. Online has been a very good friend to this campaign. And make no mistake, it has happened very deliberately by a group of extemely savvy digital and social media marketers.