Another Romney failure: Trying to make "OIW" into a catchphrase.
I culled the
advertising spending in the battleground states, as compiled by the
National Journal. I included the biggest spenders—the Obama campaign and Priorities USA for the Democrats, and the Romney campaign, Republican National Committee, the Romney Super PAC Restore our Future, Karl Rove's Crossroads, and the Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity.
Before we delve into some of the highlights, remember that spending and actual output were two different things. In fact, Republicans ended up paying up to five times the amount for the same ad that the Obama campaign was buying.
Thoughts and musings on these numbers, below the fold.
Gazillions were being spent on television ads, but in the stretch run the numbers only budged after the first debate, when both Obama cratered and Romney consolidated his base, the vice-presidential debate, where Joe Biden stopped Obama's descent, and the second presidential debate, when the first-debate trends were reversed.
Heck, even the famed Obama statisticians were more concerned with their voter contacts and new voter registration numbers than whether this ad or that one was resonating with any target group.
There's no doubt that the Obama team was far smarter in how it spent its ad dollars than the other guys.
The [Obama] team’s calculations showed that it would get the most bang for its buck in some strange places: the Family Channel, the Food Network and the Hallmark Channel, among others. On broadcast TV, the campaign went for more daytime programs and late-night entertainment shows than Republican nominee Mitt Romney did.
The Obama team was on 60 channels during one week near the end of the campaign, compared with 18 for the Romney operation during the same period, according to cable advertising data.
In a close election, targeting (and winning) certain niche demographics could've very much made the difference. But on a macro level, it's clear that there were diminishing results with television advertising. DVRs and the ability to tune out attack ads will hopefully continue this trend. Elections shouldn't be decided by 30-second spots.
But in the short-term, that likely means even more advertising spending, even earlier in the cycle, as campaigns seek to squeeze out some advantage from what still remains the most glamorous (and lucrative, for consultants) of campaign activities.