Posts Tagged ‘Political Advertising’

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In-Game Political Advertising: Does Retail Success Prove Political Value?

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

     As the 2010 Midterm Election heats up, so does the arena of political advertising. Candidates’ campaign budgets for purchasing media are beginning to balloon as races become more competitive across the country. Looking back to October 2008 then, candidate Barack Obama, became the first presidential candidate in the United States to purchase advertising space in the video game market. According to the Obama campaign’s pre-general election filing records, Obama spent $44,465.78 for online video game advertising with the Massive Corporation—a very affordable expenditure for a presidential campaign with deep coffers. Clearly not a keystone of the Obama media campaign, the video game advertising exploration was notable as well as novel however to the political world.

     Certainly criticism exists. Granted the purchase was well timed (October 6-November 3, 2008) during a critical month of the election. The timing of the ad purchase also leads you to believe that the funds were used after ad purchases of a far higher priority took place. Regardless, the purchase begs several questions. Could that $44.5k been spent more efficiently on a television buy in a competitive swing-state market? The purchase was specifically targeted to include ten battleground states (Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Colorado, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wisconsin). However, by law a citizen must be 18 years of age and registered to legally vote in the United States. What percentage of audience met those criteria in an online gaming community? Massive Corporation, the in-game ad firm places restrictions on various advertisements, such as tobacco or alcohol related ads due to the age restrictions of the specific games in question, providing further hesitation to legitimize the target voter demographic in question.

     Interestingly, this week the Nielsen Company released the findings of a study regarding the effectiveness of in-game advertisements. This was the first time that a study of this kind was performed.  The analysis included more than 100,000 U.S. households and focused on many of the same game titles that were purchased by the Obama campaign back in 2008. The study found that “in-game advertising increased household dollars spent on Gatorade by 24%, and offered a return on investment of $3.11.” These results are extremely energizing and enlightening. Whether or not political advertisements will be met with the same success as retail advertisements is still open for debate, research, and review. Another unknown is whether or not voters will see an increase in in-game ads in upcoming elections. Certainly the presence of in-game ads is directly proportional to the size and scope of a particular campaign budget. This being said, the past decade has been witness to an explosion of new mediums of political advertising, as well as the continuous growth of campaign funds. One thing is for sure, political advertising in future elections will continue to take voters by surprise by appearing in unexpected forms.

The Nielsen Company Study

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Right Cross, Left Uppercut: Television Advertising and Candidate Characterization in Nevada

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

     Tea Party favorite, Sharron Angle, rode a wave of voter anger to sweep the Nevada Republican Primary with an impressive 41% of the vote. The next two runners up, Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian, receiving 27% and 24% respectively. Her handed victory over more well-known Nevada establishment candidates signaled a rally that has been taking place in many primary elections across the nation this cycle that reflects a wave of voter anger against the current political establishment landscape. Interestingly, this is a party reversal on  the same themed wave that the Democratic Party has been riding to win elections for arguably the past few cycles. Many of Angle’s televised primary ads reflected this motif, whether put forth by her campaign itself, or third party actors. Take for instance, three examples of Sharron Angle primary television advertising. Using wise tactics and understanding the likely victory of Harry Reid in the Democratic primary election (Reid eventually would win the Nevada Democratic Primary with 84% of the vote), all three ads mention Reid and pit Angle as the best choice voters have to take on establishment candidates in the General Election. In fact, the first example, a video produced by Club for Growth PAC, is aptly titled, “Best Choice.”

 

Into the General Election, this narrative continues:

            As of September 2nd, the media page on Angle’s campaign website
displays six videos of television ads—all six of these are anti-establishment ads targeting Harry Reid directly. Interestingly, the Reid campaign has begun to attempt to harness similar voter anger and turn it against Angle. The Reid campaign has attempted to paint Angle as an outsider. It is an interesting advertising play that fits Angle directly into the mold that the Angle campaign wishes to fit Sharron Angle in …. Except to the extreme. The idea is to capitalize on the anger that swept Angle into office in the first place and use it to push her further to the periphery. By characterizing Angle as an extremist, the Reid camp is able to portray her as out of the mainstream and out of touch with the wishes and needs of Nevada voters.

                Similar to Angle’s website, the Reid campaign main page displays four video ads, three of these attacking Angle outright. Clicking the video tab takes you to a similar scenario. (The video page) is stocked with video ads that paint Angle as an extreme candidate; many titled appropriately– “Angle Extreme & Dangerous Education Agenda” and “Sharron Angle: Just too Extreme,” are among the more direct video titles.

     Whether this advertising strategy is successful will be determined in part by the results of November’s General  Election. But one thing is for certain, the desired effect of television advertising in characterizing campaign opponents in Nevada is panning out. According to Rasmussen Reports, “The U.S. Senate race in Nevada remains very close. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state shows Democratic Senator Harry Reid and his Republican challenger Sharron Angle tied with 47% of the vote each. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and two percent (2%) are undecided. “ (Wednesday, August 18, 2010) (This Narrative is enforced by previous polling) “Earlier this year, Reid was considered to be one of the Senate’s most vulnerable incumbents. He picked up just 39% of the vote following Angle’s primary victory but has seen his own numbers improve to 41% in late June, 43% in early July, 45% in late July and 47% today.”

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Regulation and Disclosure in the Modern Age: Political Internet Advertising and Social Media

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

            In the wake of rapid growth of Internet political advertising, it is no wonder that America Online (AOL) has decided to claim their stake. On October 21, 2009, AdWeek predicted an overall increase of 11% on political advertisements this year from the amount spent during the 2008 cycle. $50 million was predicted to be spent on online political advertising alone.[1] According to CMAG, the amount spent on political advertising online this year as already reached $30 million (more than was spent on political online advertising by nonpresidential candidates in the entire 2008 election cycle), and we are not even out of the primaries and into the general election cycle, when the majority of campaign spending is likely to happen.

             AOL is not the only group looking for a piece of the pie. In California, The Fair Political Practices Commission is exploring ways to regulate new political appeals via modern forms of media. The commission is contemplating ways to place restrictions on political advertisement over the Internet and other forms of communication, such as text messages and social networking sites like YouTube or Facebook. “To put it simply: the subcommittee is recommending that paid political advertising online should be subject to the same disclosure regulations as mailers, phone calls, and television commercials.”[2] But there are hurdles. Online advertisements come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from pup-ups to banners. Online videos can be several seconds or many minutes long. How do you place disclosure standards on a 140 character tweet or a limited text message? Often bloggers are paid by campaigns to publicly ‘advertise’ their opinions of a candidate or proposition. Currently, the targeting of regulation in California makes an exception for bloggers-even if paid directly by the campaigns. However, this could change with time.

            With increased focus and a larger slice of campaign budgets dedicated to Internet spending, this trend of oversight and regulation is almost a certainty in the near future. My prediction.. This is headed to the national stage and federal level. “Like California’s current regulations, federal campaign watchdogs regulate only paid political advertising, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Other states also are just beginning to consider whether their disclosure laws are sufficient to cover modern communications.” [3]

1. Bachman, Katy. “Political Advertising to Surge in 2010,” AdWeek. 10/21/2009

2. “Politicians’ Accountability Extends Online,” San Francisco Chronicle. 8/4/2010

3. Thompson, Don. “California Campaign Watchdog Eyes New Internet Rules,” Silicon Valley Mercury News. 8/2/2010

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The Evolution of Political Internet Advertisement: From National to Local and Candidate to Issue

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

The evolution of the Internet in political advertising is a relatively recent phenomenon. However, it is certainly not unknown. The rise of Internet prominence in the campaign arena brought a flood of discussion across the media, academia, political professional circles—and of course, the blogs–regarding its impact.

                Reflecting back on the past decade or so it would be difficult to forget (or dismiss) the rapidly increasing presence of the Internet in the campaign advertising world. Jesse Ventura is generally given credit for pioneering the idea of political organizing via the Internet during his successful 1998 campaign for Minnesota governor. In 2000, Arizona Senator (and 2000 presidential candidate), John McCain, raised record amounts of Internet donations for his campaign. [1.] “In the week after the senator from Arizona won the New Hampshire primary that year, supporters flooded his campaign website with $2.2 million in contributions.” [2.] George Bush also received record Internet fundraising in 2000. TIME Magazine reported, “In 2000, George W. Bush revolutionized campaign fund raising—and shattered existing records—by creating a muscular network of “bundlers,” each of whom committed to bring in $100,000, $200,000 or more from friends and associates.”[3.] In 2004, Howard Dean would again shatter previous Internet fundraising records through creative innovations in online advertising and soliciting for donations.

                Not surprisingly, by the 2008 election cycle, political advertising and Internet fundraising had become the norm for sending e-mail updates, event notices, pleas for fundraising, volunteer sign-ups, poll location information and local supporter organization. By the end of the first quarter of 2008, over a million people had donated more than $230 million to the Obama Campaign… undeniably the envy of Hillary Clinton’s camp. [4.] Obama had recruited hordes of donors and likely voters via the Internet through a highly modern and innovative advertising campaign.

                One thing that these historical examples of political Internet solicitation have in common is that they all revolve around major political campaigns; making its debut during a statewide governor race and then quickly ascending to the national level to play a role in competitive presidential bids—a place where the Internet is extremely useful in reaching voters across the nation.  However, today Internet advertising has begun to mature as a political advertising medium. Its role in national campaigns will only increase. Similarly, its function in local and statewide fundraising is also developing rapidly. This is not limited to candidate races, issue groups and action committees are also gaining an increased share from Internet advertising.

                Following this trend, on July 22, 2010, America Online launched the AOL Advertising Politics hub. MediaWeek explains, “the AOL Advertising Politics hub (www.advertising.aol.com/politics) …is designed to serve as a sales tool and do-it-yourself ad purchasing platform for political advertisers.”[5.] This site will allow media buyers to easily navigate the vastly fragmented Internet audience and target likely voters and donors. It will also allow small organizations to act directly on the grassroots level and bypass traditional marketing firms and buying agencies. With an ever increasing role in the use of Internet advertising and the 2010 midterm election cycle now entering the General Phase, it will be interesting to watch the development of web solicitation. Going further, political advertising professionals and the general voting population alike will almost certainly see some form of record setting Internet advertising and fundraising during the coming campaign seasons.

  1.  Drinkard, Jim and Lawrence, Jill. “Online, off and running: Web a new campaign front,” USA TODAY, 7/14/2003
  2. Barnes, James A. “Online Fundraising Revolution,” National Journal, 4/19/2008
  3. Tumulty, Karen. “Obama’s Viral Marketing Campaign,” TIME Magazine, 7/5/2007
  4. Barnes, 2008.
  5. Shields, Mike. “AOL Launches AOL Advertising Politics,” MediaWeek, 7/22/2010

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