Political Campaigns Just Love the News

POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS JUST LOVE THE NEWS
[SOURCE: AdAge, AUTHOR: Evan Tracey, Campaign Media Analysis Group]
[Commentary] The candidates for president are piggybacking on issues such as immigration, the war in Iraq and global warming to sell themselves to the American voters. At a point in the campaign traditionally reserved for the standard bio spots and ads outlining the candidates' 10-point plans, the most recent salvo of ads is designed to latch on to current events as a way to get noticed in all the media clutter. And looking at the most recent polls showing Governors Richardson and Romney surging, it may be working. It is no secret that political media buyers view the news and public affairs programming as the "ocean front real-estate" of ad placement (if you can afford it, you buy it). To date, every Democratic candidate and interest group airing campaign ads has placed over 80% of their media buys in the news or on news-related programming. On the Republican side the Mitt Romney campaign is placing close to 60% of its buys in the news. So with a bull's-eye on the morning, evening and late news dayparts the campaigns' messages are matching up with the storylines in the news coverage.
http://adage.com/campaigntrail/article?article_id=117064

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