By Mark McKee, General Manager
It may already seem like we’ve been hearing a lot from the various contenders vying for office come this November. But the 2012 political campaign season has just begun. And by all accounts, it’s going to be a very expensive one.
While the 2007-2008 campaign cycle saw a record setting $1 billion spent on TV and digital advertising, Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group predicts between $2.5 and $3.2 billion will be spent during this campaign cycle. Changes in campaign financing regulations, including the emergence of the Super Pacs, along with a highly contentious presidential race against an incumbent, is fueling what is likely to be an unprecedented spending battle for voters’ hearts and minds.
At a time when video is now viewed by over 180 million Americans, this influx of political spending could be a seminal moment for online video—pushing the emerging medium firmly into primetime. The capabilities speak for themselves. What online video can offer is just too powerful for the campaign media managers not to at least consider.
The Census reports that in 2008, only 58% of adult Americans voted. Of these voters, they are split between three major political parties. On the local level, they are scattered across multiple voting districts. This means traditional broadcast media, and even site-specific digital media, will deliver the majority of impressions to viewers who are either ineligible, or not politically-inclined to vote for a given candidate.
Online video allows political advertisers to reach specific voter segments based on party affiliation, voting history, congressional district, neighborhood and other demographic segmentation, through highly-targeted and customizable in-stream ads. Compare this to traditional broadcast television—where candidates spent 80% of political dollars in 2008 (Source: Kantar)—which delivers mass reach against what is, in most instances, a narrow base of eligible voters, resulting in substantial levels of wasted media dollars.
In addition to the benefit of reducing waste and maximizing media spend—which can be achieved across all audience-targeted digital media—video offers the emotional appeal and personal dimension that televised ads bring to a candidate’s message. What’s more, only 2% of time spent viewing online video is currently spent viewing ads, compared to 25% on traditional television. So not only does online video provide more precise targeting and incremental reach, it also offers a less cluttered environment—a key advantage for political advertisers.
The implications of all of this could dramatically change the way political advertisers think about campaign spending in what promises to be a historical political year.