Learning From Political Marketing and Vice Versa – Advertising and (Unpaid) Media

This article is part of a series that identifies direct observation and analysis from political marketing and its application to customer brand marketing and vice versa.

Please note that neither this nor any other article in this series attempts to make a political statement. I'm neither advancing nor supporting any candidate or political party in these articles. Instead, this is about marketing—pure and simple—and what we can learn from each other.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the need for politicians to get the word out.

When Podcaster Lex Fridman (Podcast #442) asked what it would take to win the 2024 presidential race, Former President Donald J. Trump responded, "Get the word out." You can find my article here - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/think-learning-from-political-marketing-vice-versa-word-czerniawski-3orfe/?trackingId=p7KwEXJMQJKDXYTxFY0WLg%3D%3D

Advertising is one of the many ways to get the word out for politicians and brands.

However, for many brands, advertising just isn’t cutting it when it comes to triggering customer behaviors.

Why’s that? Many marketers claim that advertising, particularly traditional media, just doesn’t work.

Well, that’s curious.

Estimated political ad spending for this presidential cycle is expected to reach a whopping $16 billion.

Approximately 70% of ad dollars will support TV media.

Moreover, I recently saw a report that indicates that candidates with the most ad dollars win office in 90% of the cases.

So, advertising must work for politicians. But then they tend to promise you whatever you want to hear.

They also proffer contrasts to their opponents, defining themselves in a way that is relevant and meaningful to their constituency of voters.

As per brand marketers, it’s not that advertising or, specifically TV advertising, doesn’t work. It’s your advertising that is at fault.

But we’re not going to talk about fixes here.

?Although you can read last week’s article, which focuses on one fix, “Slogans, Taglines and Key Copy Words,” which you can find here - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/think-learning-from-political-marketing-vice-versa-key-czerniawski-9ncie/?trackingId=fUBVsIipeo2xNNEmmGI%2FYw%3D%3D

Instead, let’s examine the addition of non-paid media, which we might consider another form of advertising—albeit non-traditional—to get the word out.

Non-paid media extends reach and helps build frequency.

Political candidates do interviews to help them message target voters.

While Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are outspending Donald Trump and J.D. Vance by a two-to-one margin, the Republican candidates for president and vice president are doing far more interviews.

Messrs. Trump and Vance have conducted some 83 interviews since August, compared to 44 for Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz combined.

But then, this only tells part of the story.

News and editorial programs share select clips and offer commentary on the candidates’ responses to specific questions. Media programming tends to be either pro-Democrat or pro-Republican.

In other words, the editorial commentary represents more unpaid media in favor of a particular party and candidate.

There’s a lot of noise that raises the value of traditional advertising media well beyond the colossal $16 billion in spending.

Unpaid media is not foreign to marketing brands. Consider the Super Bowl.

Many Super Bowl ads receive free media coverage, mentions, and viewership on social media weeks before and after the big game.

This doesn’t include all the talk around the water cooler the next day after the game.

The more controversial the politicians, their proclamations, and ads, the more unpaid media they're likely to receive.

The more talk value of an ad, the more unpaid media. Ads with BIG Ideas tend to generate more talk value.

I guess it doesn't pay (as it won't cost you) when you go Big and do something “different” to extend the reach of your advertising.

THINK ABOUT IT

• What promises or ads have been noteworthy from either presidential or vice-presidential candidates to generate unpaid media?
• What has been the point-of-view of pro-Democrat and pro-Republican editorial programming covering the same promise or ad?
• What customer brand ad campaigns or specific spots have generated unpaid media—favorable and unfavorable?
• What are the key characteristics of these ads?
• What do you believe is the impact on generating votes and, in the case of customer brand ads, stimulating sales?

MAKING YOUR ADVERTISING MATTER MORE

1. Recognize the multiple constituencies that are interested in a story.
2. Develop a BIG Campaign Idea capable of lasting (in the words of the legendary adman, David Ogilvy) more than 30 years.
3. Engage in “surround-sound” media (budgets permitting) to reach your customers where they are.
4. Tailor the execution for the media vehicle.
5. If you don't have a sufficient budget for surround-sound media, invest in the media with the greatest return on investment (ROI).
6. Develop and market the story about the campaign’s development to the various constituencies to help generate unpaid media.
7. Tout its success. Nearly everyone loves a winner.

Please follow me on LinkedIn https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/richarddczerniawski/, to learn more about the relationship between political and brand marketing and how you can apply the learning to make your marketing matter (even) more.

"NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF ADVERTISING DOESN’T SELL MUCH OF ANYTHING.” David Ogilvy

Is your advertising among the ninety-nine percent? Read Chapter 9, Brand Communications that Suck, inAVOIDING CRITICAL MARKETING ERRORS: How to Go from Dumb to Smart Marketing. It will identify those critical errors and, importantly, point the way to developing advertising in the Top 1%. Learn more here:https://bdn-intl.com/avoiding-critical-marketing-errors

Peace and best wishes for making your marketing and advertising matter (even) more,

Richard D. Czerniawski