The last days before the US Presidential election are quite heated. Battleground states like Pennsylvania are especially interesting to observe in terms of what both candidates are doing to get their message across. This is by no means a political article but rather a practical observation about how handling advertising online and offline makes sense and showing that having a large budget does not negate poor execution.
According to the last pre-election report, Harris has outraised Trump 3-to-1. Yet, neither the messages seen in Philadelphia and throughout the state of Pennsylvania, both online and offline, imply a well-handled advertising campaign by Tema Harris.
Why does advertising matter?
Advertising is an extension of the candidates’ media appearances and rallies and often serves to strengthen a point or bring up a takeaway message that stays with people. Unlike in the European Union, where much smaller countries than the US often have tens of candidates for office, the US does not need advertising to help voters remember who is who, but rather for influencing them.
In the age of the internet, either I influence you or you influence me. Either I am overwhelmed by your ads, or you by mine.
– Ascension, 2021, Produced by Jessica Kingdon
The quote from the film Ascension essentially summarizes the reasoning. Hence, having a consistent message across the board is key.
Consistency vs repetition
Brands and advertisers often mistake consistency for repeating the same message in every platform. This mistaken 360-degree approach effectively means having one message and repeating it everywhere you can: in CTV, programmatic, social media, outdoor, print. However, this is a grave mistake because each of these digital media resonates with different people and has different characteristics. Fo example, you can’t really fit the same TikTok format into a LinkedIn post or the message from a rich media creative into a static old-fashioned road billboard. Instead, the message, while visually consistent, needs to be adapted to match the media in which it is shown.
Harris vs Trump
While we can’t comment on every single state during this election campaign, in Brand IQ’s home state of Pennsylvania, Trump’s campaign seems to be winning in terms of how their advertising efforts play out. Their messages are very consistent in terms of design, they prioritize larger formats, both online and offline, and better outdoor locations, keep the slogans simple, and point to specific facts, one at a time. In contrast, Harris’ campaign is all the place in terms of designs, they often try to cram multiple messages in the small area of a static batter or an outdoor ad, and lack consistency. Also, it is interesting how the outdoor locations they choose are poorly selected and result in either inconvenient places to look at while driving or smaller areas. Still, the biggest mistake seems to Harris’ attempt almost everywhere to explain and elaborate instead of providing a concise message. The text in their ads is often too much to read at once while glancing at the ads and does not drive home a concise punchline.
While Brand IQ does not comment on the essence of the messaging of either candidate, it is clear who has the upper hand in terms of executing a much better campaign with a much more limited budget. We will soon see if being the better marketer results in winning the election. From our experience though, brands who know what they are doing tend to have a clearer message and usually win.
