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Summary:

• Election years have a huge impact on the advertising space, with political campaigns securing ad inventory early and often.
• Brands looking to launch effective digital and terrestrial audio campaigns can circumvent the challenges of current landscape by planning ahead, considering programmatic buys and cross-platform integrations, and ensuring their messaging is resonant without being risky.

A bustling political season

First things first: did you know there’s a general election being held in the U.S. next month? You did? We believe you.

Consumers of every political stripe have been bombarded with election messaging for months, and the numbers confirm just how committed the machines behind local politicians and major presidential candidates alike are to reaching their base—not to mention undecided voters in battleground locations.

It’s no surprise to learn that the 2024 election year in marketing is the most expensive yet, with political ad spending projected to surpass $12 billion, up more than $2 billion from the last presidential election year. This unprecedented rise in political advertising spend will drastically impact various media platforms, including digital and audio advertising—two of our expertises, and marketplaces with which we’re very familiar.

So, what does this mean for booking inventory and how can advertisers effectively navigate this altered landscape?

The effect on the digital advertising landscape…

If you’ve decided to capitalize on attention to political content, or even if you haven’t, you’ll notice right away that the digital advertising landscape is more crowded. This year, digital advertising spend is projected to have a 28% share of total political ad budgets, or just under $3.5B—roughly ten times more than it was just two presidential election cycles ago.

For listeners, the changes to their ad rotation are obvious: suddenly, the “regular ads” they were used to are preempted by political ad spots—spots that were secured early on in the media buying cycle, when political advertisers bought up large amounts of ad inventory, especially targeting spots at peak listening times. Some political advertisers start placing ads as early as June, with the majority of spend in July through November.

By that time, advertisers have been noticing the effects for months. The spike in political ads leading up to the general election have made ad slots for Streaming and Targeted Podcast ads more scarce. Political campaigns typically book these prime slots well in advance, making it a challenge for other advertisers to secure inventory.

Then there are the advertising platforms that do not run political ads—Wondery, NPR, and Acast, to name a few. Though advertisers won’t be competing with political ad spend there, they will be competing with other advertisers over ever-more-precious inventory.

This crowded marketplace tends to displace other ads, which may see a decrease in ad effectiveness if they are pushed into less desirable spots. Considering political advertisers’ strategic geotargeting of swing counties and battleground states, brands who prioritize their marketing efforts around those specific locations will be particularly affected.

Increased demand also, of course, can affect the price of ad inventory. However, while the relative scarcity of inventory during an election season may drive price increase concerns across the board, Veritone One’s rates with our partners are locked in—just one of the many benefits of working with an agency with our buying power.

For all advertisers, having to compete with the large-scale spending of political campaigns in general may lead to reduced visibility and reach. This will have the biggest effect on smaller advertisers, as they may not have the budget available in time to book in advance, or the budget to navigate higher costs, period.

…and how to counter these conditions

With the above in mind, brands should consider all channel opportunities, including programmatic advertising, which would allow them to optimize ad placements and help target audiences more precisely. Programmatic buying can help brands navigate the competitive landscape by utilizing audience data to shape the most effective buys and leveraging real-time bidding to pounce on an opportunity as it arises.

And don’t forget about cross-platform integration. By combining digital audio advertising with other media channels, like Social, to create multi-platform campaigns, brands can maintain visibility and reach even as audio inventory dips.

What about other audio advertising channels?

In a Katz study from this summer, radio emerged as the most trusted media channel among voters, with 8 in 10 surveyed calling it very trustworthy or trustworthy. In fact, with major U.S. political parties holding disparate opinions of various channels’ trustworthiness, AM/FM radio was “the one media where Katz found a consensus in trust across parties and Independents,” per the company.

Katz’s analysis also revealed what fruitful territory radio listenership offers political campaigns. Around 90% of radio listeners in New Hampshire, Montana, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, for example, are registered voters.

This lines up nicely with insight our SVP of Media Strategy, Becky Byrn, received on a call with one of our network partners, where it was revealed that Wisconsin will be one of the states most impacted by political ads. Other markets seeing surges in radio ad spend include battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona.

In line with the buying habits of proactive digital political campaigns, Katz cites Nielsen in recommending political campaigns buy radio ad space “early and often” for maximum impact.

And sure enough—by early September, Byrn confirmed that ad inventory on news and talk shows was essentially sold out.

How can brands best navigate an election cycle?

The only way for a brand to grapple with the ad buying power of a political campaign? Be as strategic with yours.

Whenever possible, brands should have their buyers lock in inventory in advance in order to secure ad presence during peak times and avoid the headache and disappointment of last-minute rush buys, inflated prices, or worse: complete sell-out. Additionally, brands should consider implementing a flexible budgeting strategy that allows for a dynamic allocation of funds based on inventory availability and potential cost increases.

From a content and messaging perspective, brands should consider the current state of their audience and proceed with neutral content that resonates with listeners without alienating those with potentially different political views. In lieu of taking an explicit political stance, brands can lean into broader themes, like community, to keep the ad relevant and timely while maintaining brand safety.

And of course, our greatest tip is to work with an experienced agency like Veritone One, who can offer you informed strategy from the jump, and help you pivot when an opportunity arises, in order to help you meet your advertising goals.

It may be too late to implement these strategies for the 2024 election—but it’s never too early to start thinking about the next one. Politicians and their advisors certainly are. And for better or worse, the American consumer, resilient as ever, is already anticipating the next one, too.

Insights by Dakotah Quayle and Becky Byrn, as told to Rubi Mora

Summary:

• Programmatic buying consists of a publisher listing ad inventory on a Supply Side Platform and advertisers buying this inventory through their own Demand Side Platform.
• Programmatic buys can take place in a biddable environment as well as via Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) deals.
• Veritone One can help you put together the perfect mix of programmatic and direct IO buys to meet your campaign goals.

Common misconceptions around programmatic

After attending this year’s Podcast Movement event in Los Angeles, our team noticed something curious: it seems “programmatic” is the word on everyone’s lips these days, which we expected, but it also seems that, for most attendees, the word has taken on a new meaning. I most commonly heard the term “programmatic” to describe any ad spot that is not a host-read endorsed podcast read—which is not the case.

There are two main categories on which Veritone One focuses when buying podcast inventory: Host-Endorsed and Targeted Podcast. For a targeted podcast buy, we utilize targeted ad solutions across the entire podcast network, leveraging first- and third-party data to reach our target consumer, no matter where they are consuming podcasts.

Both of these can be bought programmatically or via a direct insertion order (IO). We’ll dive into the strategy behind each of these methods further down.

First things first, however. For media buyers—and especially for anyone who may be new to advertising on digital channels—it can be quite confusing to hear industry leaders use a term as simple as “programmatic” in disparate ways. So, let’s take a moment to define the term.

So, what exactly is programmatic buying?

What do we mean when we say “programmatic”? Simply put, it is the use of advertising technology to buy and sell digital ad inventory. Seems simple enough; yet, it’s a bit more complex than this.

The first thing to note here is that programmatic buying does not involve the signing of Insertion Orders or contracts, and in most cases, it does not require direct contact with the publisher.

Instead, the publisher (in most cases, the network on which the podcast in question runs) makes their ad spot inventory available via their Supply Side Platform (SSP). This allows for an ad exchange where media buyers and advertisers can bid on that inventory via their seat in a Demand Side Platform (DSP).

For our purposes, “programmatic” refers not only to the technology behind each ad buy, but to the type of marketplace it creates for buying and selling digital ad inventory.

The difference between programmatic buying and direct IOs

Buying media programmatically has its advantages, but there are certain limitations to keep in mind. That’s why the digital team at Veritone One buys a mix of direct IO and programmatic podcast inventory, depending on the needs and goals of our clients.

For a direct buy, we utilize first- and third-party data to target listeners within a certain network. Once we’ve agreed on target audiences, CPM goals, and impressions, we sign a direct IO.

For a programmatic buy, we utilize our preferred Demand Side Platform to create inventory packages with relevant targeting and genre specifications. We also determine campaign deliverables based on the type of programmatic buy we execute.

Different types of programmatic buys

Some programmatic buys occur in a biddable environment, meaning that the buyer (advertiser) adjusts their bids based on presumed impressions. The same ad spot inventory can fetch different bid amounts depending on the current market; as we get closer to this year’s general election, for example, we can expect an increase in Cost Per Mille (CPM) for political content. The more demand there is for that inventory, the more buyers are willing to bid on it.

Because the volume of impressions is not guaranteed at the outset, you always run the risk of underdelivery with this method. With strategic bidding, however—something the media buying experts at Veritone One are well versed in—there is the potential for the buy to deliver impressions at a cheaper CPM than it would through a Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) deal.

A Programmatic Guaranteed deal is just that—a buy in which CPM and impression volume are guaranteed. The buyer and the network would agree on a CPM and impression load for the campaign to deliver in full. As an advertiser in this scenario, you will likely end up paying more in CPMs than you would in a biddable environment, but the benefit is that you can guarantee yourself the impressions—and save yourself the uncertainty.

Once the programmatic buy’s terms have been outlined,  we use the DSP to traffic the ad units and monitor Cost Per Mille (CPM) bids and delivery on our end.

Veritone One can help you put together the perfect buy.

As you can see, depending on your campaign goals, you may benefit from either a direct or programmatic buy, which is why at Veritone One, we pride ourselves on being experts at both.

For a broader target, a direct buy allows you to reserve your impression volume, often at a lower rate. But when you want to target more niche markets, a programmatic buy allows you to get granular with targeting and with more scale opportunity.

At the end of the day, as Podcast continues to prove itself a viable and effective marketing channel, the ways we buy and engage audiences within the ecosystem are evolving. The first step in ensuring the perfect buy for your brand? Making sure we’re all speaking the same language when we talk about it.

Edited by Rubi Mora

Summary:

• Big Game ad spots can be cost-prohibitive for most brands, driving brands to get creative.
• Veritone One brought two of our legacy clients together for a strategic brand play that capitalizes on the Big Game and Valentine’s Day—without the Big Game price tag.

The Huddle

For those of us in the industry, the Big Game means one thing above all else: prime advertising real estate. And that doesn’t come cheap: a 30-second spot during the 2023 telecast cost advertisers an average of $7M.

To be a part of the conversation this week while maximizing ROI, a brand has to get creative with their strategy. Or, they can partner with an agency like ours.

“With Valentine’s Day taking place just three days after the Big Game, it was crucial for us to find creative ways to capture the attention of consumers across the country, which is why we approached Veritone One,” said Abhay Patel, Brand President of 1-800-Flowers.com.

So Veritone One put together a game plan to play matchmaker for two of our biggest brands, teaming up 1-800-Flowers.com and DraftKings to tackle both the Big Game and Valentine’s Day messaging with ultimate efficiency. The result? Our innovative “Don’t Forget the Flowers” campaign.

The Big Matchup

The “Don’t Forget the Flowers” campaign is the first of its kind, stemming from previous conversations to develop potential cross-promotions between the two advertising giants. Both the Big Game and Valentine’s Day are huge marketing opportunities in general, but for these two brands and their demographics, they are especially resonant.

“With so much hype around the Big Game, it’s a challenge to cut through the noise,” said Jason Danahy, Head of Revenue, DraftKings Media & Sponsorship of DraftKings. “When Veritone One approached us with the idea to collaborate with 1-800-Flowers, we were immediately intrigued. This unique collaboration allowed us to attract new customers to DraftKings by thinking beyond traditional advertising and forging a partnership that no one saw coming with a brand that shares our audiences, especially this time of year.”

Between the campaign’s launch on January 22 and May 12, for every “Don’t Forget the Flowers” eligible bouquet purchased, customers received a $10-$50 DraftKings gift card to be used for online and fantasy sports gaming. For sports fans hoping to celebrate their loved ones this holiday, it’s a win-win.

Everyone Wins

“This campaign allowed Veritone One to do what we do best: develop a winning advertising strategy based on creativity, extensive audio and video advertising experience, and intuitive matchmaking skills,” said Richard Varalla, our VP of Account Management. “The Big Game set the stage for 1-800-Flowers to drive visibility and sales in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day, creating a dynamic opportunity for our team to develop a creative and comprehensive strategy apart from purchasing a big ad spot.”

Patel agrees. “By matching us up with DraftKings and helping conceptualize the promotional offer to develop a first-of-its-kind campaign, Veritone One was able to help us get in front of football fans outside of the traditional thirty-second ad.”

With conversions as their end game, both brands are poised for victory. Veritone One couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this winning team.