Adblade Tests Political Ad Targeting Online Before Airing On TV
- by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, August 21, 2012
With three months to go until the U.S. presidential elections, political ad spending has already exceeded $500 million, as political candidates rush to
target specific messages on tax cuts and healthcare initiatives, according to reports. But the message doesn't always reach the correct voters.
Adiant CEO Ash Nashed believes his company's online ad network Adblade offers a solution to remove the guesswork from targeting political ads, saving parties thousands of dollars. The company has developed a dedicated service to help political marketers target messages to voters for local, state and national elections, reaching more than 200 million monthly unique users in the U.S.
The technology receives and processes real-time feedback and refines messages on the fly.
Similar to A/B testing for paid-search ads, the tool allows politicians to pick a specific geographic area to quickly test targeted messages before buying television spots. "Marketers can start at 9 a.m., throw four ads into the system and within an hour or two see which of the four resonates most," says Nashed.
The ads serve up across a series of national and local news and political sites, such as Fox News and Democratic Underground. While the tool aims to support politicians, brands can also use it to reach consumers with a specific political preference, based on characteristics.
The cost for TV political ads can range from $75 to $2,500 per 30-second spot, depending upon market and when the spot airs, per sources. If a candidate buys a local New York City Fox TV spot in late May running on "American Idol," it could cost between $7,000 and $10,000 or more, he said.
Nashed figures that before spending $100,000 on a TV campaign, marketers can spend a few thousand and a day to determine where the message resonates best. "In this cycle, we have served more than 1 billion impressions for political campaigns, and delivered more than a half million visitors to Web sites," he said.
Today, less than 15% of the 1 billion impressions are gleaned from mobile devices. Nashed attributes the low number to lack of demand from political advertisers.
This looks like a very useful tool. I would like to learn how Adiant sales folks are getting the political strategists to look up from their desperate rush to get all of their work done and see the benefit of Adblade. We are in a similar fight to get their attention, and it's tough.