Thomas Gensemer, managing partner of Blue State Digital, spoke to an audience made up of Labour and Conservative MPs about how a variety of organisations could use the principles applied in Obama's presidential campaign to promote their own causes.

Gensemer spoke about the importance of understanding your audience, integrating online and offline campaigns and using traditional campaigning methods. He said: ‘Organisations must learn how to lower the barriers to participation and reach all constituents by communicating to them in easy, action-oriented and personalised ways.'

Daljit Bhurji, managing director of Diffusion PR, said of the event: ‘Whether you're a political party or a consumer brand, the key message from Gensemer was to avoid the latest gimmick and instead use digital to build, nurture and maintain online communities for the long term.'