Internet ad spending among political candidates will increase 83.9 percent in 2008 from 2006, to $73 million, making it the fastest growing category, but it still represents only 1.6 percent of the total media spend, according to Leo Kivijarv, VP/research for PQ Media, which released Political Media Buying 2008: Preliminary Forecast Analysis last week.
Broadcast TV, direct mail, radio, cable TV and newspapers all have larger spends, with broadcast TV leading the way with $2.3 billion, 51.3 percent of the total spend.
The report covers all political spending and says the presidential race accounts for 37.1 percent of the total spend. Kivijarv declined to say how much the presidential candidates will spent on the Internet. “A lot is modeled on estimates and we’re not comfortable sharing the information with the media and the public,” he said.
He said the candidates are using the Internet primarily as a fund-raising vehicle, although they are beginning to run display and online video ads as well. In this election cycle, three-quarters of the Internet activity is fund-raising related, while 90 percent was so in 2006, he said. He said www.blogads.com is the most popular vehicle the candidates use to place ads at specific sites.
The main reason the Internet spend is small for political candidates is that “the Internet is more adaptable to national ad campaigns than local,” Kivijarv said. “Political campaigns have become very focused on specific DMAs and zip codes in their media buys. That’s where the net causes problems because it doesn’t focus on local ad media, except for the online presence of newspapers.”
He said ad networks are unable to offer local buys. “They’re more theme oriented than geographically oriented,” he said. “They can reach women or wine drinkers, but there are none for cities.” Meanwhile, advertisers can easily buy TV and radio ads by city.
While political candidates are using social networks like YouTube, which are running debates, the candidates haven’t been advertising there. “They haven’t transferred over to ad buying. Where do you place ads on Facebook or YouTube? Candidates are active on social networks but it’s difficult to buy ads there because they don’t know where to go to drive traffic and they don’t want to be near material that’s disturbing.”
Finally, “the guys in charge of media buying have been doing it for years, so it’s easy to buy TV, but they’re not willing to experiment,” he said. “Political campaigns have their head stuck in the sand. Younger candidates will go online more often, but long term candidates are less likely to do it.”
“Actual spending on Internet advertising will remain a relatively small share of media budgets for most campaigns,” the report concluded.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” Tops Weekend Box Office
In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures' "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" sped past the Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" to take the top spot at the box office ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 3" debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates. With strong reviews (86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a high score from audiences (an "A" on CinemaScore), "Sonic 3" is well positioned to be the top choice in cinemas during the busiest moviegoing period of the year.
It was telling of some wider trends that "Sonic 3" — made for $122 million — bested one of Disney's top properties. Videogame adaptations, once among the most derided movie genres, have emerged as one of the most dependable box office forces in recent years. The two previous "Sonic" movies together grossed more $700 million worldwide and the third installment appears likely to do better than both of them. A fourth "Sonic" movie is already in development.
"Mufasa," however, was humbled in its opening weekend, with its $35 million in domestic ticket sales coming in notably shy of expectations . The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel even opened wider than "Sonic 3," launching on 4,100 theaters and gobbling up most IMAX screens, compared with 3,761 locations for "Sonic 3."
Though "Mufasa's" reviews were poor (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore.
"Sonic 3" nearly doubled the haul for "Mufasa," which cost more than $200 million to make. Disney could look to $87.2 million in international sales to help make up the difference. The third "Sonic" will rollout in most overseas markets in the coming weeks.
In director Jeff... Read More