Wednesday, September 3, 2008

What Effect Will Politics Have on Advertising?

The next 3-5 months are going to be interesting. The economy is definitely down and more advertisers are cutting back on their budgets. The Olympics are over and the Democratic and Republican conventions will be history in a few days, but what's going to happen to ad dollars between now and January?

With the uncertainty over who will be President comes the continued uncertainty of the housing market and the oil prices that are still too high. This may translate into a slower Q4 than we'd like! Ad dollars are going to be harder to get and they'll be more focused on actions and accountability. We keep talking about the goal of brand advertisers spending money online, but the brand advertisers are looking at actions too! Is it possible that brand advertisers will continue to be action-focused? If so, then performance will still be the name of the game and the dollars may grow at a slower-than-desired pace.

The only people that I know who will be spending are the Presidential candidates. Will they become the highest share of voice in the marketplace? Will a potential increase in supply drive prices further down as demand may be tight? I wish i knew the answers to these questions. It would make me sleep a little easier at night. That's for sure!

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