A $12 Billion Political Ad Barrage Is Coming. Brands Can Cut Through the Noise With These 5 Moves

Political ads will saturate screens and strain attention. Five practical frameworks help brands offer calm, humor, simplicity, novelty, and better timing.

EXPERT OPINION BY ADAM HANFT, CEO, HANFT IDEAS @HANFT

It is estimated that total advertising spending for the U.S. midterm elections will reach nearly $12 billion. It will dominate the airwaves and digital channels. What’s more, those most likely to vote are people with higher incomes.

As a CEO, CMO, or brand leader, you can’t change the advertising environment. But you can stop and think about what that barrage is doing to your consumers’ psyches.

Here are five frameworks for neutralizing the toxic environment so you can “brand to the moment.” Each raises a different question. Here’s how to answer them.

Q1: How should I make them feel?

A: Like they are in a safe space.

Brands can offset the chaos by creating emotional sanctuaries, oases where consumers can pull the covers over their heads. There are many ways to construct these zones of detachment.

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Political advertising is all about high message density. Often, it seems as though every poll-tested position or attack line gets crammed into a commercial. Marketers should head in the direction of breathability.

Use the “three S’s,” as I call them–space, silence, and slowness–to give consumers room to process messages calmly and thoughtfully. Get them out of the firehose of signals with fewer cuts, restrained announcer readings, and overall positivity.

Interestingly, data from Ipsos shows that “Ads that adopt a positive, uplifting, and emotional tone can stand out amidst the negativity of political ads…offering a welcome contrast.”

Source: www.inc.com