Obama and Clinton Led Display Ad Drop in March
When it came to online display ads in March, Obama went local, Clinton had her hand out, and McCain got a basketball jones.
When it came to online ads in March, Obama went local, Clinton had her hand out, and McCain got a basketball jones. Last month also marked what appears to be the first time Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign ran millions of display ads on the Web.
As in recent months, Obama for America dominated online display advertising placed by the three top presidential campaigns. According to Nielsen Online AdRelevance, his camp ran around 30 million impressions across the Web, many served through ad networks. Though a steady online advertiser for more than a year, John McCain 2008 placed far fewer impressions in March than in previous months, about 4.7 million. Still, the ad research firm tracked only about 2 million McCain display ad impressions in February.
After months of neglecting online display, Clinton’s campaign came out swinging with a campaign aimed purely at fundraising in March. Ads urging viewers to make history by contributing to the Senator’s campaign were seen on prominent news sites including CNN, AOL News, Slate and The New York Times, according to AdRelevance, which tracked about 10.6 million Clinton ad impressions. In February, some ads promoting a Clinton TV event on the Hallmark Channel, along with fundraising ads targeted to Wisconsin primary voters, also were found.
Clinton’s campaign stuck with only a handful of display ad creatives in March, which included the same basic message: “Help Make History. Support Hillary Clinton Today! Contribute $50 Now.” The ad blitz coincided with e-mails signed by Bill Clinton; they pleaded, “Can you help put Hillary in the position to win Pennsylvania with your contribution today?”
While Clinton’s online ad mission in March centered on drumming up campaign contributions to fuel primary state advertising, Obama focused in part on gathering early votes in Texas and Ohio, which held their primaries March 4.The campaign placed a variety of new ads targeting voters in those two states in addition to running a wide variety of ad creatives aimed at gathering supporter e-mail addresses.
Mimicking messages in a collection of video-enabled expandable ads placed by Obama’s camp on local newspaper and TV station sites, standard display units reminded voters about the “Texas Two-Step” voting process. “Even if you voted early, you still need to caucus on Tuesday at 7:00pm,” read Texas-targeted ads. Ads aimed at Buckeye voters told them when polls would open and close.
The majority of Obama’s ads showed up on Politico and Merriam-Webster Online, according to AdRelevance; the dictionary site and others appearing on the research firm’s list suggest many of the campaign’s standard display ads were targeted demographically, behaviorally or geographically. Ads were also found on local sites including Austin’s Statesman.com, Toledoblade.com, Boston.com, NorthJersey.com, and Connecticut’s TheDay.com.
The Obama campaign followed through with its localized display advertising in April. Earlier this week it launched issue-based ads portraying the Illinois Senator as a leader on fuel efficiency on Pennsylvania newspaper and television sites.
Like Obama’s campaign, the majority of ad impressions run by the McCain camp featured ad creative introduced months ago. Most ads presented the Senator as experienced, trustworthy and courageous. And like Obama’s ads, most were intended to glean contact information from supporters to drive volunteerism and donations. The McCain campaign also continued to pick on Clinton. Silly ads reminded people of her Woodstock museum funding proposal, for instance.
Harkening back to an unexpected effort last March, McCain’s campaign ran a relatively small number of ads promoting a college basketball related contest. “Bracket Busted? Need a Second Chance? Create a New Bracket in the Second Chance Challenge,” read the ads. Like others centered on pork-barrel spending, the ads barely mentioned the candidate. During last year’s NCAA basketball playoffs, McCain’s campaign site listed his bracket bets and urged supporters to register their team picks to win campaign gear.
McCain’s ads appeared mainly on sites including local news aggregator site Topix, conservative news sites National Review Online and Lucianne.com, Merriam-Webster Online, and weather site Intellicast. Local sites included Staten Island’s SILive and PittsburghLive.
| 2008 Ads by Hillary Clinton for President |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ad Copy | Call to Action | Ad Sizes | Estimated Number of Impressions | |
| “Help Make History Support Hillary Clinton Today!” | “Contribute $50 Now” | 336×280 Large Rectangle | 10,675,000 | |
| Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance, 2008 | ||||
Ad below provided by online ad tracking firm The Media Trust Company.
| March 2008 Ads by John McCain 2008 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ad Copy | Call to Action | Ad Sizes | Estimated Number of Impressions | |
| “One man has the experience One man has the courage One man has our trust John McCain for President.” | “Join Our Team” | 728×90 Leaderboard, 160×600 Wide Skyscraper, 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 336×280 Large Rectangle | 3,050,000 | |
| “Courageous Service. Experienced Leadership. Bold Solutions. Watch Courageous Service Video. | “Play Video” | n/a | 275,000 | |
| “Who do you trust to protect America? John McCain for President” | “Join the Team” | 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 468×60 Full Banner | 330,000 | |
| “Three million of your tax dollars to study the DNA of bears in Montana. I don’t know if that’s a paternity issue or a criminal issue.” | “Stop Pork Barrel Spending. Sign the Petition.” | 728×90 Leaderboard, 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 160×600 Wide Skyscraper | 445,000 | |
| “Is This The Future You Want? Make Sure It Doesn’t Happen!” | “Click Here” | 728×90 Leaderboard, 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 160×600 Wide Skyscraper | 155,000 | |
| “McCain Beats Clinton. Read All About It” | “Click Here” | 728×90 Leaderboard | 60,000 | |
| “1 million for a Woodstock Museum? not so groovy man” | “Watch Video” | 160×600 Wide Skyscraper | 70,000 | |
| “$74 million tax dollars for peanut storage costs? That’s Nuts! Outraged by Pork?” | “Sign the Petition” | 160×600 Wide Skyscraper | 10,000 | |
| “McCain Experience Money Can’t Buy. Elect John McCain” | “Click Here” | 160×600 Wide Skyscraper, 728×90 Leaderboard | 40,000 | |
| “Bracket Busted? Need a Second Chance? Create a New Bracket in the Second Chance Challenge. McCain.” | “Click Here” | 160×600 Wide Skyscraper, non-standard dimensions | 40,000 | |
| Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance, 2008 | ||||
| March 2008 Ads by Obama for America |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ad Copy | Call to Action | Ad Sizes | Estimated Number of Impressions | |
| “Change We Can Believe In. Help Elect Barack Obama President of the United States. Visit the official campaign website” | “Join Us” | 180×150 Rectangle, 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 336×280 Large Rectangle, 728×90 Leaderboard | 7,725,000 | |
| “Change We Can Believe In. Barack Obama for President. Visit the Official Campaign Website.” | “Join Us” | 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 728×90 Leaderboard, 336×280 Large Rectangle | 7,810,000 | |
| “Change We Can Believe In. Barack Obama for President. Visit the Official Campaign Website. Sign up for invitations to campaign events.” | “Join Us” | 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 160×600 Wide Skyscraper | 7,460,000 | |
| “Barack Obama for President. Visit the Official Campaign Website.” | “Join Us” | 728×90 Leaderboard | 2,790,000 | |
| “Change We Can Believe In. Texas Two Step. Vote and Caucus for Barack Obama on Tuesday. Polling Places are open on Tuesday 7:00am-7:00pm. Even if you voted early, you still need to caucus on Tuesday at 7:00pm.” | “Find Out Where” | 728×90 Leaderboard, 160×600 Wide Skyscraper, 120×600 Skyscraper, 468×60 Full Banner | 1,920,000 | |
| “Help Elect Barack Obama President of the United States. Visit the official campaign website” | “Join Us” | 728×90 Leaderboard | 1,105,000 | |
| “Change We Can Believe In. Texas Two Step. Vote and Caucus for Barack Obama. Even if you voted early, you still need to caucus on Tuesday at 7:00pm.” | “Find Out Where” | 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 180×150 Rectangle | 1,110,000 | |
| “Sign Up for Invitations to Campaign Events” | “Join Us” | 160×600 Wide Skyscraper | 610,000 | |
| “Meet Barack Obama. Attend a Campaign Event Near You.” | “Join Us” | 120×600 Skyscraper, 160×600 Wide Skyscraper | 260,000 | |
| “Meet Barack Obama. Sign Up for Invitations to Campaign Events” | “Join Us” | 120×600 Skyscraper | 100,000 | |
| “Vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday 6:30AM-7:30PM. Confirm Your Polling PLace Now.” | “Go” [BarackObama.com/Ohio] | 160×600 Wide Skyscraper, 300×250 Medium Rectangle | 115,000 | |
| “Change We Can Believe In. Vote Now for Barack Obama. Have you tried the ease and convenience of early voting? Find Your Early-Vote Location.” | “Go” [BarackObama.com/Ohio] | 160×600 Wide Skyscraper | 20,000 | |
| “Change We Can Believe In. Register Now to Vote for Barack Obama. MOVED? Update your voter registration by March 24. To vote for Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania Primary you must be registered as a Democrat by March 24.” | “Launch Video” and “Register by Mail” | 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 728×90 Leaderboard | 25,000 | |
| “Please Vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday. Many polling places have moved. Find your (new) polling place now.” | “Rhode Island Click on Map” | 300×250 Medium Rectangle | 8,000 | |
| Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance, 2008 | ||||
