by Liz Scott, CEO at Catalyst Media Design

Every election cycle, we get asked if advertisers should change up their strategies, particularly when it comes to Television advertising. And the answer is, of course, it depends. 

But let’s start by first taking a step back. Television, in particular Broadcast TV, has historically been the highest spend category with political advertisers. This is due to the quick and broad reach that Television is able to provide, particularly among voters, who skew older, as well as in part due to the access and protections provided to these advertisers by the Federal Communications Commission. This includes eligibility for a station’s lowest unit charges (LUCs) during an election period, which is defined as the 45-day period prior to a primary election and the 60-day period prior to a general election.

For non-political advertisers running during these time periods, this creates a challenge, as it generally translates into the reduced availability of spots and higher rates than they are used to paying. It also means that their schedules are much more susceptible to pre-emption, which is when their ads are “bumped out” to allow political and/or higher paying advertisers’ spots to run.

So why would a general advertiser want to advertise during an election period?

For several reasons, including if:

• Your target audience skews older: Viewer interest in certain programming, such as news content, is usually higher during an election period, especially for the older audience, where Television viewership is already extremely high. 
• You’d like to stand out from your competition: By advertising during an election period, you may be the only advertiser in your category running during a particular program, allowing you to stand out from the competition while increasing brand affinity by providing viewers a nice break from the back-to-back political ads.
• Your product or service is a hot topic: Certain topics, including healthcare, are a big concern for voters and many are “waiting to see what happens with the election” to decide what they are going to do; being there with your message during a time when this is very much on their minds can be very impactful.
• You don’t want to get lost in the sea of post-election advertising: Holding out to advertise on Television or (gasp!) marketing altogether until after an election isn’t a great strategy, as this can negatively impact your overall business, especially if this is a key time period for you. Inventory is also generally still tight after the election period as:
  • There are a high number of advertisers that do that very thing, i.e. they wait to start their schedules until after the election, causing increased demand for that time frame.
  • Television stations are replacing the spots that were pre-empted during the election, reducing available inventory.
  • The end of general election period comes right at the start of the holiday period, with retail and other related advertisers now entering the market.

So again, there are many factors to consider when planning your advertising schedule during an election period. The key is having the right partner in place to successfully navigate you through, a team who will not only apply the same principles utilized when managing the buys outside of election periods, but will also ensure there is much more frequent communication with the stations and very proactive management of the schedules to reallocate any pre-emptions. Your partner should be having conversations with the stations up front in regard to rate tolerance as well, i.e. how much you are willing to increase a spot rate to maintain the schedule during the tightest periods. And finally, you want a partner who has strong relationships with the stations, who will be on the short list of people they call when a new political buy comes into the market which could affect your schedule. 

Still looking for some guidance? Give us a shout and we’d be happy to help. Email us at info@catalystmediadesign.com or call 480-471-8390.