2016 has been one of the strangest election seasons to date, including the way candidates have gone about campaigning. As voters are spending more time on the go and less time watching television ads, campaign managers have had to find new to reach voters and hold their attention. OOH has become one of the primary ways to do so.
Campaign advertising has moved far beyond the TV screen, and their various forms can allow for specific targeting and reach, important elements when trying to sway voters. A pro-Trump PAC posted billboards in Lancaster, Pennsylvania that specifically targeted Amish voters — a particularly difficult group to reach. Candidates and their campaigns spend millions on advertising in election seasons. Interestingly enough, however, the Trump campaign didn’t spend a single dollar on television ads until late-August. Any commercials encouraging people to vote in favor of Trump were put together and funded by outside support groups. However Trump’s campaign did invest in other forms of advertising, possibly recognizing the increasing trend of voters not being reached by television.
Even third party candidates have jumped aboard the out-of-home train. Gary Johnson’s supporters spent more than 20% of their July earnings on advertisements, with a significant amount of that being spent on signage alone. OOH can be even more essential to third-party candidates, assisting them with getting their names into the conversation and faces into the general public. Third-party candidates also find OOH media favorable because its CPM, is considerably lower than that of television advertising.
Yahoo Finance’s Jared Blikre interviewed our own Ken Sahlin about out-of-home media and it’s effects on the 2016 election season.
