Effective campaign tactics highlight of symposium

April 24, 2006 —

The third and final iteration of the Center for Politics and Public Service's symposium series Wednesday night covered a broad range of topics centered around winning a political campaign.

Three guests contributed to the symposium, a high for the series. Marci Daniels, director of business development and convergence marketing for WNEM, joined SVSU political science professor Stewart French and state representative Jeff Mays. Each brought a different perspective and message to the audience, speaking about topics including purchased media (advertising) and get out the vote campaigns.

Daniels, who has worked on advertising sales in the area for 15 years, began the night by outlining the pros and cons of choosing between the different media choices with which to advertise.

She emphasized several times throughout the night that the most important aspect of advertising is the message a candidate wishes to get across. If a candidate spends a lot of money on ads but does not have the right message, she said, the ads will not be effective.

Daniels explained that a newspaper tends to have an older demographic as well as a limited scope.

TV ads, she continued, have an emotional impact - sight and sound - on the viewer. She added that TV ads have a much broader reach than newspapers.

In discussing advertising rates, Daniels said they are only part of the story. A station may have a higher rate than another, but with more viewers, the "cost per thousand" may actually be comparable or cheaper.

Next was French, who centered his presentation on "get out the vote" campaigns. He discussed the enormous advantage Republicans have in politics, and explained this advantage by saying, "the Republicans know grassroots" politics, or engaging in political advocacy through the community.

He added that Republicans have become very good at identifying their voters, while Democrats lag behind. Republicans, he said, are buying "everything they can about voters," including credit card statements. While Democrats are simply looking at demographics, Republicans are looking at these statements and examining what voters are really like.

Mays, out of southern Bay County, spoke to the audience about effective campaign tactics. He emphasized the importance of planning - developing a budget and timeline and gathering resources.

"There's no magic to winning elections but hard work," he said.

He also explained that when deciding where to spend funds, candidates have to get involved in venues where they can either hang steady or dominate. Spending money in places a candidate will be dominated anyway is pointless, he said.