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Political Campaigns • Advocacy • Public Affairs • Corporations
Defend Oregon Credits Changing Targets Media's Targeting with Helping Win 9 Ballot Initiatives
Defend Oregon, a coalition fighting for progressive outcomes on nine different ballot measures in 2008, knew they would face a series of tough battles. In addition to other methods of outreach, Defend Oregon knew that television advertising would be a vital method for educating voters about each ballot measure. With a limited budget, Defend Oregon needed to make every advertising dollar count.
To identify the likeliest supporters for each measure, Defend Oregon commissioned microtargeting models for each ballot measure. Then, using television viewership data and the microtargeting results, Precision Buy™ showed Defend Oregon which television networks and day-parts would reach the most persuadable voters – and which networks would reach those same targets more cheaply. Precision Buy™ also identified channels to avoid because too few persuadable voters were watching. Finally, Precision Buy™ helped Defend Oregon identify the cable systems that were richest in targets, further increasing the efficiency of Defend Oregon’s advertising dollars.
Defend Oregon’s positions carried the day on every single ballot measure in which the coalition invested. One measure saw a complete flip from its earlier polling numbers – only 40% of voters had supported Defend Oregon’s position before the media buy, but 60% voted Defend Oregon’s way on Election Day.
Defend Oregon credits the media targeting as playing a crucial role in the victory. By targeting their buy more efficiently, they saved hundreds of thousands of dollars – they used the money they saved to go up on television weeks earlier than they otherwise could have, and to reach persuadable voters with more impressions in the critical last days of the campaign. Moreover, Defend Oregon observed sizeable shifts in the polls, even during times when their ads were only up on targeted cable programs, suggesting that the advertising was microtargeted at the voters who were most persuadable.
Changing Targets Media's Analysis Makes Difference in 2008 Congressional Races
Health Care for America Now! (HCAN) is a national organization dedicated to winning quality affordable health care for all. In 2008, HCAN sought to raise awareness about candidates’ health care platforms. HCAN worked with us to orchestrate voter contact in several key Congressional districts, targeting the types of voters shown to be the most persuadable on health care messaging. With a limited budget, HCAN wanted to make the most of its advertising dollars and target these receptive voters in the most efficient way possible.
Using Precision Buy™, we helped HCAN identify cable systems that had high proportions of its target audience. Precision Buy™ also indicated which cable systems were target-poor, helping HCAN avoid advertising in areas where their message would have little impact. We also helped HCAN set up a poll before and after the media buy to test the effectiveness of the program.
When asked “Have you seen, heard, or read anything recently about health care reform?” a random sample of targets before the media buy said ‘yes’ only 42% of the time; after the media buy, this number rose to 60%. HCAN credits Precision Buy™ with increasing the efficiency of their media buy.