Media Cos. Were the Big Winners in the Iowa Caucuses

The Iowa Caucuses just ended and chief executives at many media companies across the state have a wide grin. While spending on television neared $1 million a day, other media segments including cable, radio, newspapers, direct mail, public relations, and event marketing also saw dramatic increases in political media spending according to PQ Media's recently released report, Political Media Buying 2008, which will be updated in October with real-time campaign spending data.

Of note is the absence thus far of substantial Internet advertising expenditures. While some candidates did budget display and online video ads during the Iowa Caucuses, the Internet remained primarily a national ad medium that is not conducive to local political campaigns, with the online platforms of traditional media companies, such as newspaper websites, receiving the lion’s share of ad revenues. Instead, candidates are using the Internet to expand their fundraising capabilities and to gain exposure to niche audiences that are not heavy TV users, such as the youth market and influential political opinion leaders.

In January and February, media companies in other states with early primaries, such as New Hampshire and South Carolina, will begin to reap the fortunes of record-breaking fundraising. While broadcast television will remain the primary choice for all candidates, it will only represent a little over one-half of all political media buying according to analysis by our proprietary PQ Medianomics™ methodology and mapping system. For example, direct mail spending, the second most popular media option, was already reaching close to $500,000 a day by mid-December, with campaigns spending robustly on other marketing strategies like promotional products and event marketing. Concurrently, broadcast television ad inventories will become tight in these states, causing campaign managers to shift ad dollars to other traditional ad media, such as newspapers, radio, cable TV, and out-of-home. This phenomenon will continue during the next six to 12 weeks until each party has identified a clear choice for the November elections.

Do you think campaign managers will shift more dollars online? Will political media spending break $100 million during the primaries? Let us know your thoughts.