Campaigns & Elections - August 2007 - (Page 61)

more than his chances of election. If a state senator makes a fool of himself while running for Congress, he could lose both jobs. Also, the “brand” on which the candidate’s behavior reflects includes his or her entire party. It’s not surprising, then, that some of the most innovative political advertising is happening through the Internet and e-mail. “That is the avenue right now where new ideas and fresh ideas—maybe pushing the envelope a bit—are allowed,” Berry said. In part, this is because the candidates are less attentive—or at least less convinced they know the right way to do things. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who famously described the Internet as “a series of tubes” is not the only senior citizen politician who doesn’t understand the Net. If a candidate finds the Web a foreign medium, he might be more willing to defer to younger staffers on how to use it. If a campaign manager or a candidate has a clever idea for a television spot—maybe aimed at a niche audience or responding to a very current event—making a YouTube video provides the perfect affordable outlet. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign posted a YouTube spoof of the Sopranos finale featuring Bill and Hillary. The ad wasn’t substantive and wouldn’t have been worth a television buy, but the spot was viewed about 1 million times in the first few weeks it was posted. This little burst of quick, timely creativity would have had no home before YouTube. Time, Talent and Treasure Politicians willing to do what it takes to win would generally prefer to be more innovative with their campaign marketing—that is, if they had more time, more money and better creative talent. For a campaign aspiring to match the creativity of Madison Avenue, time is probably the biggest obstacle. Flowers, who has done some political advertising but says he hates it, explained the luxuries he has when marketing goods and services. “When we’re doing a campaign for a packaged good client, we have six months to work through what it is we’re going to say, get it crafted right, run the commercial spot, test them and get them out there,” he said. “When you are in the heat of the battle in a political campaign, you don’t have time to put into all of that. A lot of it is respond- ing—taking shots where you have a chance.” Flowers won’t hear any argument from Berry. “Often, we don’t know what our budget is going to be until the morning we’re going to produce a piece. Did the fund raiser go well last night? Great, let’s get another piece of mail out; let’s buy another week of TV,” Berry said. “Big ad firms have months and years to plan this. They have static budgets.” Research is another difference. Companies “have access to boatloads of research,” Berry said. “Down-ballot candidates? You get a survey, you hope to get a couple of focus groups—if you’re lucky…. I don’t think they could live in our world. I don’t know that we could live in theirs.” By this last comment, Berry meant that the skills of a political marketer—primarily quickness—are not sufficient to make it on Madison Avenue. In fact, experts in both commercial and political advertising say most Beltway media consultants simply are not that creative. The world of politics, Hillsman says, is full of “so many pretenders—people who aren’t really good at what they do.” Another Washington media expert put it this way: If he really knew the best way to craft a message and reach viewers, listeners and readers, he would be making millions in New York running Pepsi’s ad campaign. Room for Improvement While political advertising will never have the money or the time to be as well-made as its corporate counterpart, political junkies can be hopeful that things will get better. The 2008 presidential campaign, having started the day after the 2006 elections, will be the longest campaign in American political history. The campaign teams are already in place, and some of the consultants are already hired. This means Clinton, Barack Obama, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, who all enjoy multimillion-dollar war chests, have the time and money to craft creative, original and even enjoyable spots for TV, radio and Internet. Plus, with an army of second-tier candidates we may see inspired underdog performances. And as more candidates like Jesse Ventura and Ned Lamont pull off upsets by stepping outside the comfortable confines of old-fashioned political ads, campaigns will begin to demand more from their media consultants—lest they miss the boat. C&E CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS 08.07 61

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Campaigns & Elections - August 2007

Cover Contents Editor’s Note Ames Straw Poll Cavalcade; Last Candidate Standing; The New Dollar-A-Year Guy; Web Videos That Can Change the Election Across State Lines: Campaign News from Around the Country People and Organizations Movers and Shakers: Ten Questions for Matthew Taylor and Philip de Vellis Campaign Consultant Sign-Ups Reel Time Cover Story: Building Blocks From Madison Avenue to K Street Money Can’t Buy Votes Dick Cheney: Roll Model for Millions Ames: Still Weird, Still Important How to Do Tougher, Quicker Crisis Management Online Cause-Based SocNets Lure Issue Voters The Great Exaggeration Why Primetime TV is Alive and Well, Politically Speaking Buyer’s Guide Tips for Toeing the Fine Line Between Employment, Friendship Managing Your Friend’s Campaign? Think ‘Consigliore’ Off The Record

Campaigns & Elections - August 2007

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