By Michael Schick
In this digital media age in which two-way communications and social media tools continue to grow in use and influence, it's tempting for a client to conclude that a less "cool" media tool like advertising is dead.
But just how dead? Perhaps the answer lies with Miracle Max, the con artist/medicine man played by comedian Billy Crystal in the 1987 film, The Princess Bride:
Inigo Montoya: "He's dead. He can't talk."
Miracle Max: "Woo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive."
Advertising may seem dead, but actually, it is very much alive, especially when used properly by an agency that knows what it's doing.
Unfortunately, clients all too often kill advertising whenever PR professionals include it as part of an integrated strategic communications plan. This tendency can be especially acute when it comes to employing advocacy advertising to influence a policy debate around a piece of legislation or a regulation. The skeptical client contends that advertising is just too expensive, doesn't produce any real return on investment or is too difficult to measure effectively.
Since many advocacy campaigns are run out of a client's government relations operation, it's not uncommon for advertising money to be spent on something more familiar, like hiring more lobbyists or commissioning a white paper by a think tank scholar. But advertising is also a great way to highlight the findings of the scholar or to be used by lobbyists to make their case to lawmakers.
Spend any amount of time on Capitol Hill, and you will likely hear stories of a senator, representative or staffer telling a lobbyist, "Hey, I saw your ad today in the [fill in the blank]."
Cost-conscious clients also tend to make the fatal error of thinking earned media is a better way to go because it is free media, as opposed to advertising, which is paid media. Even the most ambitious earned media campaign can be more expensive and less effective as a well-thought-out ad campaign. No longer can a client measure the success of an advocacy campaign solely by the number of news hits.
Because clients love metrics, they are understandably drawn to many of the newer online tactics that crank out multiple reports about how their message fared on the Web.
But before anyone writes the obituary on print publications, they may want to consider that lawmakers, especially on Capitol Hill, continue to rely on must-read publications, including The Hill, The Politico, National Journal and The Weekly Standard. To quote another movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in this context, print ads are "not quite dead yet." Case in point: An October 2007 Nielsen study, "Trust in Advertising," noted that ads in newspapers ranked second worldwide among all media categories.
Despite this favorable statistic, however, that same study contained an important warning. As Jonathan Carson of Nielsen BuzzMetrics noted, the "industry has to do a better job at communicating the value it brings."
As communications professionals, the onus is on us to respectfully and humbly explain to clients that advocacy advertising--when done right--can be indispensable to a public affairs campaign. We need to remind clients that advocacy advertising uniquely fulfills multiple purposes, such as:
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Educating policy makers and the public about an issue;
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Providing air cover for the client's supporters, especially a lawmaker who feels like the lone voice in a policy debate;
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Rattling sabers, warning the opposition that the client is armed and ready to fight to the death (even if they really aren't);
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Creating concern among the masses and moving them to write, call or visit an elected official to support or oppose a policy;
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Forcing elected officials to get off the fence of an issue; and,
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Making politicians think twice about risking their future by voting on the wrong side.
If your client is engaged in a major public policy debate, there is a high probability that they won't be taken seriously if they don't advertise. The opponents that advertise get to frame the debate in their terms. In politics, as in sports, it's always harder to play defense than offense. Here are a few tips for navigating the front lines:
*Remember that this form of advertising is a breed of its own. One of the most important points to remember is that advocacy advertising isn't like other kinds of advertising. What might be regarded as a brilliant piece of creative from Madison Avenue can actually fall flat on its face on Constitution Avenue or K Street.
*Get in their heads. From conception to execution, advocacy advertising requires an understanding of the mind-set of policy makers and staff. Because issue ads are highly nuanced, the people who design and place the ads need to be fluent in the language of public affairs. In short: They need to really get it.
*Be judicious. Smart communications professionals won't advertise for the sake of advertising. They will know what kinds of ads work and which ones are a waste of time and money. After all, they have a fiduciary responsibility to manage their client's PR budget wisely.
To be sure, advertising isn't the right tactic for every client. Yet even while other PR tools--from media relations to social media--serve useful and necessary functions, there is no substitute for a compelling and creative advocacy advertising effort.
Like the old proverb says, "There is a time for everything," and that includes advocacy advertising, which is alive and well, and still helping clients win. PRN
CONTACT:
Michael Wm. Schick is a Partner at Adfero Group. He can be reached at [email protected].