US election has multicultural message for brands

After the quadrennial US election ritual of polls, caucuses and primaries began in Iowa, filling television, tablet and smartphone screens with instant punditry, one group of executives should be watching what unfolds between now and November carefully.

Media and marketing have always been heavily influenced by elections. There is the obvious boost to advertising revenues: Morgan Stanley analysts expect that half of this year’s growth in US ad spending will come from campaign money, double the impact of the Olympic Games. Moody’s estimates that political ad revenues could be up 9-18 per cent this year from 2010. News organizations hope, too, for a lift as they unveil this season’s gimmicks and multimedia advances. (CNN used holographic “Weebles” to illustrate how caucuses work, while the Washington Post is scouring Twitter to measure the mood.) More important, though, is the impact on marketing. Madison Avenue often hires campaign veterans and watches elections obsessively for insights into how big corporate campaigns should be run or troubleshooting tactics PR firms can use. For first-time candidates, election campaigns are like product launches. For incumbent presidents, they can be tricky rebranding campaigns. Early primary states are like test markets for tactics that also reflect and accentuate bigger shifts shaping the media of the day.