TVB is launching its first national political advocacy campaign to champion the importance of political advertising on local broadcast television.
The campaign is debuting its website — wegetvoters.com — which doubles as its tagline — on Wednesday, calling local broadcast TV the “most effective tool in the political media planner’s toolbox.” The association is also airing a series of TV ads, beginning with a 15-second spot Sunday in Washington, D.C. and select markets across the country. TVB is hoping to get its message out to influencers, from donors to consultants to media agency heads.
“Our message is this: Local broadcast TV wins elections,” said Steve Lanzano, TVB president and CEO. “Our job is to remind influencers out there in the political arena of this fact. Everything is predicated on the fact that we get voters.”
TVB has advocated on a one-on-one basis but never before through a political advocacy campaign like this one. Lanzano referenced the Cook Report that projected over $3 billion will be spent on local broadcast TV political ads and added that no medium’s usage comes close to the five hours a day people spent watching TV. He wants to make sure their message stands out amid all the “noise from digital players.”
The campaign is in part to get out the message that local TV ads win election, and also to clarify any misconceptions regarding media usage, especially in regard to specific voter demographics.
“Clearly we continue to believe we’ll see demand,” Lanzano said. “It really is a voter education campaign.”
Lanzano said the campaign will run at the very least through November and will branch out from D.C.—where most of the consultants are — to early-voting states like New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, frequently refreshing the 15-second ad along the way.
“We plan to do it as far as the eye can see,” he said.
