Commentary

Trump Needs More Ad Money To Compete

President Trump is running out of re-election TV campaign ad money to do battle in key states. Someone please check his tax returns. Maybe there are deductions to be made -- and a refund coming.

Until then, Trump continually uses what he’s got left to get out the message: location-based marketing. Some may call it live campaign rallies.

After initially mulling the idea few would gather in big campaign rally crowds due to the pandemic, the Trump campaign has taken up outdoor spaces at airports, with few supporters wearing masks. Fly in. Fly out. Covid safe, I’m guessing, in an easy breezy way. Rev those engines!

Even then, you hope TV networks and local TV stations have cameras rolling to cover those events, making the cut onto national or local evening TV newscasts in key battleground states.

Still, if you are TV station news director, how much of this content will air? We’ve seen repeats episodes of this TV president -- a lot: Fake voter ballots, fake news, fake Covid.

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And it gets harder from there.

How much fact-checking can be done on the local TV level, in real- or near real-time? That’s where the real fun begins, because -- whatever the outcome of that fact-checking -- you are already extending the marketing value of these events in terms of brand awareness.

The Trump campaign is now well behind the Biden campaign in raising money. At the end of August, Biden had $466 million in the bank to spend compared to $325 million for Trump’s reelection effort.

Plus, Trump has pulled $4.5 million in spending for a recent period, now just focusing on three states: Florida, Georgia and Arizona -- from around a dozen or so states. And if he can’t raise any money to spend, expect a different kind marketing.

Saving on your taxes won’t be enough. Perhaps some good press comes in firing more people and getting positive news coverage -- the always popular "earned media."  That said, voters are also looking at their own hiring and firing decisions. No advertising required.

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