Impact of Super Bowl Ads

Guest this week was Glenn Kessler, CEO, HCD Research talking about his 4th annual survey of Super Bowl ads using their MediaCurves technology.  Lessons for political consultants are clear to Glenn– ads that tell a story work best, viewers are becoming immune to shock ads because they see them everywhere, and advertisers need new jokes because the old ones are just not that funny anymore.

The Focus on the Family ad did get plenty of attention in the general media before the Super Bowl but in Glenn’s sample of thousands of people, the ad ranked only 91st on their list.  Glenn points out that the ad was confusing unless you already knew the back story and perhaps watched it again online.  An example of targeting within the largest television audience in history?  Illustration of how social media can help supplement a traditional media buy?  Expect to see more advocacy ads in all media.

Listen to this interview with Glenn and check out MediaCurves.com to see the survey reactions to all the Super Bowl ads.

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Political Humor in Trying Times

Guest this week on Digital Politics was Stu Kreisman, Emmy award winning writer/producer and blogger on HuffingtonPost and MediaCurves.  Stu reminds us that we gotta laugh in the tough times and that politicians who show a good sense of humor will come across as more engaged in their jobs of trying to solve the problems.  Stu also takes us through the different kinds of political humor that work and we both agree that we haven’t seen any funny health care ads yet.

This interview with an entertainment industry insider made me laugh.

Enjoy.

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Political Strategists

In the Digital Politics podcast this week with Patrick Ruffini, partner in Engage, the topic was how political strategists need to adapt to take advantage of web tools.  In addition to Patrick’s general reaction to the Personal Democracy Forum held in NY this week, he also describes how campaigns need to embrace the creativity of constituents to build momentum and develop relationships.  Tips on what might go viral in social media and the use of humor are also covered in this conversation with a genuine industry leader

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Candidate as Comedian

Digital Politics podcast today with Larry Ward, president, Political Media, looks at the public perception of political humor and what kinds of funny ads and videos are most likely to go viral. Parody, cartoons, and self-mocking humor all might work in the right situation to get across a message.  Nasty jokes fall flat.

Larry has real world experience with candidates and advocates–some funnier than others.  He predicts that candidates will need to be better at making fun of themselves as well as responding appropriately to humorous attacks.

Check out the Colbert Nation in Iraq videos from this week for some political humor that is sure to offend and amuse just about everyone.

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