What's Going On in Political Advertising?

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By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

The race for influence in 2012 is gaining speed, and the pace runner* is officially off the track, leaving the candidates to fend for themselves.

And with that, the wallets open up and the airwaves become filled with political advertisements. The media landscape, as we all are aware by now, is changing quickly. How will political advertising change in order to be effective for the upcoming election year? According to Sales-Fax News, with more spending in TV and increased engagement on social networks.

The overwhelming success of Obama's grassroots/digital campaign showed the political world that engagement online will be the key to connecting with a younger audience. Sales-Fax News has data showing that although certain media is crucial to hit the 18–34 demographic, TV still reigns supreme overall.

This is true. Ron Paul, the ABC blog reports, is expanding his TV ad campaign to Nevada today. Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann have been fundraising maniacs over the past several months, with Romney even hiring a digital media director for his campaign.

Other fun tidbits from the report:

According to Jon Gibs from Nielsen, the typical U.S. consumer has more engagement with TV than Internet media (150 hours/month vs. 25 hours/month).
Nearly 40% of those in the 18–34 demographic rely solely on a mobile phone.
About 100 million Americans that are reached by TV are not reached by Internet media.

The significance of this is yet to be seen. The goal of political advertising is to reach as big of an audience as they possibly can, and get pieces of that audience motivated and educated enough to vote. As they use more media channels, we can see how U.S. consumers (or voters, for that matter) are using media — in a non-scientific way. The reliance on TV still shows how important TV is in the life of U.S. consumers. The deemphasizing of email and "Google marketing" is truly significant as well. Will this be a shift in the ad world too?

As the pace quickens, it will be fun to see how new forms of advertising take shape.

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*A pace runner, mostly seen in track and field events, sets a common pace for everyone. Once a competitive pace is reached, the pace runner leaves the track.

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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