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.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More