GETTING THE MOST OUT OF POLITICAL ADVERTISING

Now that the results are in from the presidential primaries, we can count TV stations and cable systems in key states among the clear winners.  According to the University of Wisconsin's Advertising Project, close to $200 million was spent on television advertising during the 2008 presidential primaries.

The report, which analyzed data provided by the TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, found that Democratic candidates spent $135 million, Republicans contributed $57 million and that special interest groups spent more than $8 million.

With the next phase of 2008 elections about to unfold, beginning with statewide congressional primary elections, now is a great time to ensure that our ad sales units have the tools and resources that will allow them to succeed.

Understanding the Market

In my opinion, the best place to begin is by understanding what these potential advertisers want and need. In today’s economy, political advertising dollars are increasingly important to a station’s bottom line. At the same time, political campaigns are becoming more and more savvy about targeting the voters who can make a difference to their candidates. 

Political campaign strategist Jeff Eller shared a few of those shifts with attendees at our recent annual conference. Eller, a former TV news reporter who was communications director for the 1992 Clinton campaign and deputy assistant to the president and director of media affairs during Bill Clinton’s first term, said that running a presidential campaign is a lot like running a $100 million start-up.

Moreover, the individuals in charge of spending those dollars on media buys are changing, the CEO of Public Strategies Inc., said.  “It used to be that selling political ad dollars meant taking the orders. But we are beginning to see a shift away from TV to online media, and you need to provide the qualitative and quantitative data that strategists need.” 

To address that requirement, Eller suggested that stations might want to look for someone in their markets with the political insights who can help them “speak the language” of media buyers for political campaigns. 

In addition, stations should be driving online ad sales rather than viewing online as a competitor. Broadcasters are creating strong online brands and can use their cross–platform advertising capabilities to increase their overall share of political ad spending.  Eller gave an example of a station in Texas that was running an online tracking poll in advance of the Texas primary. He was astounded to find that the Obama campaign had bought all the advertising positions on the station Web site that surrounded the tracking information.

I believe that smart sales reps can work with their news teams to identify stories or online news items that that can be marketed to campaign media buyers. The time is right to launch a proactive political sales effort rather than sitting back and taking orders from the campaigns. In today’s world an order-taking strategy guarantees that you are leaving money on the table. 

Understanding the Rules

In addition to taking a proactive approach to political advertising sales, it’s important that we understand the dos and don’ts of political advertising.  A great place to begin, especially for our newer sales reps, is by reading The 2008 Political Advertising Handbook for Television Sales Executives, which was written by Garvey Schubert Barer’s Erwin Krasnow and John King, and is available free of charge from BCFM. Copies of the 59-page booklet may be downloaded via the association’s Web site (www.bcfm.com) or at www.gsblaw.com. 

We couldn’t ask for two better experts to develop the handbook. Erwin Krasnow, a GSB partner in its Washington office, formerly was general counsel of the NAB and has authored a number of books on communications law. Earlier in his career, he taught at several leading law schools. Krasnow, who received the Association’s Jack Zwaska Lifetime Achievement Award, continues to chalk up achievements for the industry, especially in the areas of advancing the role of women and people of color in the media, including media ownership.

John King, also a partner of Garvey Schubert Barer in its Washington office, has been involved in political campaigns, beginning as a precinct reporter for NBC News during the 1968 presidential election. In addition to counseling clients on political and traditional broadcast matters, he is a past editor-in-chief of the Federal Communications Bar Journal, and past co-editor of the FCBA News, as well as a frequent contributor for BCFM’s publications and educational events.

There are a myriad of regulations concerning political advertising and this easily navigable handbook serves as a great “101” course for understanding and observing them. Here’s a summary of the contents:    

A Quick Guide to the Handbook – How to Get Started—Suggestions on where to find exactly the information or forms you need.

Political Broadcasting: The Big Picture—An overview that’s ideal for anyone new to political ad sales, including such issues as providing “Reasonable Access for Federal Candidates and Equal Opportunities requirements.”

Regulation of Internet Advertising—Information on current rules and procedures tailored to sales staff in selling and tracking online political advertising.

Pre-Election Political Advertising Compliance Checklist—A great tool for helping to ensure that everything is on order.

Internal Political Advertising Checklist (Pre-Buy, Buy, Post-Buy)—A checklist for use in conjunction with sales and fulfillment, to confirm everything stays in order.

BCRA Political Record—Instructions and a copy of the form that needs to be completed by the station concerning all requests. 

Certification of Federal Candidate Responsibility—Instructions and a copy of the form that needs to be completed by the candidate or an authorized signatory. Without this certification, the candidate is not entitled to the station’s lowest unit charge.

Political File Checklist—A summary of the forms and retention requirements for all of the documents concerning political advertising by a candidate or sponsors of controversial issue and non-use political advertising that need to appear in the station’s files.

Sample Political Disclosure Statement—A template for the statement that each station needs to develop for use in describing how it sells time.

Table of Lowest Unit Charge Periods 2008—A state-by-state summary for the lowest unit charge windows for presidential and congressional primaries or caucuses 

Statutes and Rules on Candidate Appearances & Advertising—A listing of all of the federal rules concerning political advertising and a summary of the sections of the Communications Act of 1934 (as amended by subsequent cable and telecommunications legislation) that addresses political advertising requirements for broadcasters, cable companies and DBS operators.

The handbook concludes:

“Political advertising has become an increasingly complex area of the law, especially in view of twin regulation by the FCC and the FEC, the overhaul of campaign spending laws enacted in BCRA, and the constant of technological change, notably the commercial use of the Internet. The laws and rules applicable to political advertising should be revisited and reviewed each political season to ensure ongoing compliance.”

Thanks to the efforts of Erwin Krasnow and John King, with the support of their partners and colleagues at Garvey Schubert Barer, we have made it much easier for local stations and cable systems to ensure that they not only understand the rules, but can also document how well the stations are following them.  

As any political campaigner would confirm, the saying “all politics is local” still holds true.  With television’s ability to deliver local markets online and on cell phones as well as on air, we have every reason to brush up on the rules and engage our local political experts.  A strategy like that can make us the clear winners in the campaign for political advertising.

Mary Collins is the president and CEO of the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association (soon to be the Media Financial Management Association), a professional society for addressing the diverse needs of financial and business professionals in the broadcast, cable, and electronic media industries. Her column appears here every other Friday.