Post on 31-May-2015
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Media Mixology: Local Buying Amid Political Chaos Media Agency Perspective
April 18, 2012 – New York, NY
Mike Lewis – Associate Media Director; member of SRDS Agency Advisory Board
Introduction
Kelly Scott Madison
• Chicago-based
• One of the largest independent media agencies in the U.S.
• Full service integrated media solutions including research, buying, planning, and promotions
• Vast client experience across numerous categories
• 110+ media professionals
Overview
POLITICAL MEDIA LEARNINGS & INSIGHTS
Kelly Scott Madison
Political advertising realities…
• Can’t be ignored
• Always changing
• Increasingly confusing and challenging
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So what have we learned?
• 2008 learnings... – Over-promise / under-deliver – Increasingly localized – Clients must be appropriately educated – Rise of social media
• PACs & Super PACs are here to stay • Candidates are increasingly employing
narrowcasting/targeting strategies (what took them so long?!)
• Don’t believe everything you hear in the media
Agencies must stay on top of political advertising seasonality when planning for clients in a political cycle
• KSM maintains a political “heat map” to monitor activity in markets across the country
– Constantly changing and being updated
BROADCAST TV INSIGHT Kelly Scott Madison
Broadcast TV remains the core platform for political spending
• Despite a slight reduction in overall spending share since 2008, TV will likely still account for 57% of total spending
• TV will present additional challenges to non-political advertisers – Super PAC spending
– Candidates increasingly purchasing weight outside core news dayparts
– Other major events will add to a cluttered TV environment (i.e. London Olympics)
Source: Borrell Associates Inc.: 2012
Effective planning will help ensure optimal schedule delivery
• Plan and buy EARLY to lock in rates and CPPs
– Planners must work hand-in-hand with buyers to gauge local realities during planning
– Account for baseline CPP increases when planning budget recommendations
• Counsel clients on the importance of flexibility (incl. makegood packages)
Effective planning will help ensure optimal schedule delivery
• Recommend less affected daypart mixes when planning
• Taking advantage of broader time periods can provide a loophole in avoiding some rate constraints
• Consider over buying TV weight (pending client approval and understanding) in “hot” markets
Consider alternative TV platforms to avoid rate implications and inventory constraints
• Explore short form TV options (i.e. traffic/weather, closed captioning, programming sponsorships)
– Won’t work for all clients given creative/messaging limitations
• Consider public TV for relevant clients; again keeping creative constraints in mind
Consider alternative TV platforms to avoid rate implications and inventory constraints
• In the most severe cases, consider shifting some broadcast TV weight to... – Online video platforms
o71% of online users are video viewers; represents the fastest growing segment of online advertising
– Cinema advertising oHighly targetable; reaches a captive, entertainment
focused audience
– Radio o Significantly less inventory stress, but lacks visual
impact
Source: eMarketer: 2011
While difficult, steps can be taken to help clients avoid being overtaken by non-stop negative campaign messaging
• Consider news break sponsorships that typically run leading out of content into ad breaks (“This portion of ABC 7 News is brought to you by...”)
• Purchase premium positioning to ensure spots run “first in pod”
• Avoid weather, sports, and human interest segments, when most political ads run
• Campaigns typically purchase “plus demos,” so older skewing stations likely more cluttered
Effective account stewardship is important to maintain integrity of client schedules during political
• Ad tracking (“watermarking”) can be employed to provide real time tracking of TV schedules
• Maintaining positive relationships with station contacts important
– Can alert the agency when last minute avails become available
– Including traffic departments!
CABLE TV INSIGHT Kelly Scott Madison
Political cable spending expected to grow substantially in 2012
• Total spend expected to double from 2008, although share remains fairly flat
• No longer considered a “mysterious” platform for political advertisers – I+ advancement addressing penetration concerns
• In general, TV viewers no longer associate broadcast versus cable when choosing what to watch
Source: Borrell Associates Inc.: 2012
Cable provides a key opportunity to reach voters when and where they are watching
• Campaigns are targeting moderate, swing, independent, and younger voters with non-news cable networks
Political advertisers have gotten smarter about how they purchase cable
• Historically campaigns have purchased more specific cable zones than interconnect
• Strategic shift to leverage economies of scale by buying full DMA and running different copy across local zones
• Also purchasing interconnect to achieve reach, and supplementing with specific local messaging via zones buys
• Large percentage of cable buys remain as zoned
Cable still provides solutions for non-political advertisers
• Plan around news networks – While political spending has increased, non-
news networks still offers a less cluttered environment
– During primary season, between two and eight networks are deeply impacted; increases to 10 – 30 networks during general election
• Explore broader buying periods (i.e. 4pm – 12am)
• Consider an interconnect buy for clients who typically use zones
RADIO INSIGHT Kelly Scott Madison
While radio receives substantially less political advertising, spending for 2012 likely to grow approximately 50%
• Radio spots are cheap to produce and can be created quickly, allowing for efficient of rotation of multiple messages
• News Talk formats generally raise rates during political windows in anticipation of avails
• FM stations are generally less impacted unless a candidate has a lot of cash to spend
• However, recent research indentifies FM formats best suited to reach partisan audiences
Non-political advertisers should still be mindful of political implications when considering radio
• Consider relevant FM formats to combat constraints with news talk formats (i.e. country, classic rock)
• Explore short form radio options (i.e. traffic/weather sponsorships)
• Be flexible when it comes to scheduling of promotional campaigns and bonus weight
• Look into streaming pure/play radio platforms to avoid terrestrial constraints altogether
ONLINE INSIGHT Kelly Scott Madison
Despite recent buzz surrounding online political spending, will likely not impact non-political advertisers
• Spending is expected to increase over 600%+, but total spending is “only” $159 million
Campaigns expected to increase social ad spending 100% to capitalize on popularity amongst voters
• Voters will be turning to social media to learn more about candidates
– Top social platforms for campaigns: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+
Despite increase in digital spending, implications to non-political advertisers is limited
• Amount of baseline inventory available prevents constraints felt elsewhere
• Cost-per-click platforms could see increases in CPCs as more candidates enter the space and drive up competition
• Within the political window, video network CPMs may increase as candidates heavy-up video presence before the election
IN SUMMARY… Kelly Scott Madison
Helping clients navigate a chaotic political cycle is feasible, as long as we keep the following in mind...
• Discuss objectives and educate clients
• Plan early
• Encourage flexibility
• Planners and buyers need to work together
• Maintain strong vendor relationships
• Steward appropriately
• Be sure to VOTE!
Thank you! Questions?
Appendix
Political advertising spending forecast