United States presidential election campaigns are fascinating studies in political advertising. Because the stakes and budgets are so high, they often employ new techniques and technologies that provide a glimpse of advertising trends to come.
Candidates are sold like products – using everything from conventional posters to TV commercials and online advertising to spread the message far and wide. Exuberant rallies are held throughout small-town America with campaign theme songs like Bill Clinton’s “Don’t Stop” (Fleetwood Mac) playing loudly and slogans like Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can!” being chanted in unison to create an atmosphere of excitement and hope.
TV commercials receive the largest slice of campaign advertising budgets because they often spell the difference between victory and defeat. In the first televised political advertising campaign, Dwight D. Eisenhower won a landslide victory simply by broadcasting more commercials than his rival. Lyndon Johnson literally scared voters into electing him president by juxtaposing images of a little girl with a nuclear explosion in his infamous “Daisy” commercial.
Online advertising became an essential element of political campaigns when Obama utilized social media like Facebook and YouTube to help mobilize grassroots voters and win the 2008 presidential election. In particular, targeted advertising is rising in popularity. Based on factors such as purchase history and digital footprints (the trail left by online interactions), automated systems can target voters with growing accuracy. Pandora streaming music service, for example, utilizes registered listeners’ zip codes to microtarget audio ad breaks and display ads down to specific electoral districts.
The 2012 presidential election will likely push the political advertising envelope still further thanks to a 2010 Supreme Court ruling (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) that frees corporations and unions to spend almost limitless amounts on candidates. While still in its early stages, the campaign is already producing effective advertising such as candidate Mitt Romney’s first TV commercial, which contrasts Obama’s confidence in overcoming the financial crisis with the displayed words “He Failed.”
For those interested in advertising, the 2012 election should provide a golden opportunity to observe the most effective advertising techniques and technologies that money can buy.
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