MyDD :: Advertising Strategies

Advertising Strategies

by Chris Bowers, Mon Jul 19, 2004 at 02:45:13 PM EST

Advertising Strategies Neilson Monitor-Plus and the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project have produced an interesting study of current campaign advertising patterns (PDF) by Bush and Kerry that offers insight into the strategy employed by both campaigns.

For starters, both campaigns seem to identify Missouri and Ohio as the two most important states in this election. This confirms the finding of an earlier study that listed Iowa, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin as the top four states in terms of advertising per electoral vote.

Second, the Bush campaign has spread its resources out evenly across markets, while the Kerry campaign has concentrated its advertising in major media markets, particularly in major media markets in swing states. This has led to significant Kerry advantages in all major markets in Florida, Ohio, Missouri and Nevada, with the exception of the Miami market where Bush leads.

Here are two keys tables from the study:

Top 10 Markets for Bush 		 Kerry
1. Burlington-Plattsburg (into NH)   Toledo, OH
2. Detriot, MI			Dayton, OH
3. Souix City, IA			St. Louis, MO
4. Kansas City, MO			Columbus, OH
5. Green Bay-Appleton, WI		Kansas City, MO
6. Erie, PA			Portland, OR
7. Wilkes-Barre-Scranton, PA	Cleveland, OH
8. Preque Isle, ME			Las Vegas, NV
9. Dayton, OH			Erie, PA
10. Lansing, MI 			Reno, NV

Overall here, I would like to be Kerry, since his ads seem to be reaching more people. Then again, are they reaching more swingers?

Nevada has been heavily targeted by Kerry, while Michigan has been heavily targeted by Bush. Also, Bush is clearly worried about losing NH, while Kerry is clearly worried about losing Oregon. There are many more insights that I did not mention, and the entire study is worth a read. Check it out.

Tags: General 2008 (all tags)

Permalink :: 6 Comments :: Post a Comment

Table is mal-formed (none / 0)

try this...

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tr><td colspan="3" align="center">Top 10 Markets for</td></tr>
<tr>
    <td></td>
    <td>Bush</td>
    <td>Kerry</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>1.</td>
    <td>Burlington-Plattsburg (into NH)</td>
    <td>Toledo, OH</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>2.</td>
    <td>Detriot, MI</td>
    <td>Dayton, OH</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>3.</td>
    <td>Souix City, IA</td>
    <td>St. Louis, MO</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>4.</td>
    <td>Kansas City, MO</td>
    <td>Columbus, OH</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>5.</td>
    <td>Green Bay-Appleton, WI</td>
    <td>Kansas City, MO</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>6.</td>
    <td>Erie, PA</td>
    <td>Portland, OR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>7.</td>
    <td>Wilkes-Barre-Scranton, PA</td>
    <td>Cleveland, OH</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>8.</td>
    <td>Preque Isle, ME</td>
    <td>Las Vegas, NV</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>9.</td>
    <td>Dayton, OH</td>
    <td>Erie, PA</td>
</tr>
<tr>
    <td>10.</td>
    <td>Lansing, MI</td>
    <td>Reno, NV</td>
</tr>
</table>

by Anonymous Citizen on Mon Jul 19, 2004 at 04:11:37 PM EST

Wow. (none / 0)

Um. If your goal was to improve upon Chris' table, you have failed miserably.

by Delaware Dem on Mon Jul 19, 2004 at 04:16:54 PM EST

Re: Wow. (none / 0)

It's the formatting of scoop's "HTML formatting" that's screwed up.

by Jerome Armstrong on Mon Jul 19, 2004 at 07:04:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Look at the content as well as the volume (none / 0)

Sure, they're buying a lot, but what are they saying?

I just got back to Indiana from a week in Metro Detroit...so I got to see Detroit and Lansing TV, as well as Toledo.

Bush ran one ad - criticizing Kerry about the lack of voting record this year (2/3 votes missed) and his voting against the "Laci Peterson bill."

Kerry started the week with an ad promising to lower the cost of health care via improved efficiencies. (But nothing about expanded access...?)

About mid-week, he switched to the new Edwards testimonial ad featuring Kerry's relationship with his Vietnam veteran friends.

So, Kerry advertised what he wants to do and what type of man he is...and Bush advertised an obfuscation about Kerry.

Who's scared of whom in Michigan and Ohio, I ask?

by IrishAlum on Mon Jul 19, 2004 at 04:26:09 PM EST

One additional point (none / 0)

The two candidates basically were placing ads evenly, during the nightly news. 1 of each. Now, I don't watch BushCo's redneck shows (alright - Bush didn't advertise on Springer!)...but I do not recall seeing a Bush ad in a half-hour news show without a corresponding Kerry ad.

by IrishAlum on Mon Jul 19, 2004 at 04:28:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Ad buys at this stage ... (none / 0)

don't say much about what each campaign is thinking about vulnerabilities or opportunities. There's a lot of gamesmanship going on right now, with both sides trying to get the other to waste resources and so forth. Also, since ad money now is kind of play-money (neither has an election to win for three months), both are trying to "widen the playing field" a bit just in case they have a landslide. That's why Kerry's in Colorado, no doubt.

I wouldn't read much into it. Let's see who is where come September 15.

by Anonymous Citizen on Mon Jul 19, 2004 at 05:14:19 PM EST

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