• March 26, 2008

Spot Runner is getting into politics. The online ad agency is bringing its system for creating low-cost TV ads and media planning to candidates at all levels and party affiliations.

The new initiative is likely have the biggest impact at the state and local level, where campaigns often lack the budgets to spend heavily on TV advertising, if at all. For $500 to $2,000 (excluding media costs), candidates can choose from a library of 20 customizable ads to craft spots for campaigns ranging from the school board to the U.S. Congress. Candidates can add their own photos and information to the templates. Using its "Geo-Voter Targeting" technology, combining political district maps with local TV availability, voter and donor data, and other demographic information, Spot Runner says it can target ads down to the level of individual neighborhoods. -- Mark Walsh