Political

A deep dive into the impact of politics on consumers, and the brands courting them.

This report provides an overview of our findings on the evolution of the U.S. economy, the state of U.S. competitiveness in 2016, and priorities for the next President and Congress, drawing on our research and the May–June 2016 surveys of alumni and the general public.  While a slow recovery is underway, fundamentally weak U.S. economic performance continues and is leaving many Americans behind. The federal government has made no meaningful progress on the critical policy steps to restore U.S. competitiveness in the last decade or more.  By Michael E. Porter, Jan W. Rivkin, Mihir A. Desai, With Manjari Raman

Whoever wins this election, major governmental changes that could significantly affect the advertising sector are almost certain to take place. A major turnover of personnel will occur in D.C. next year regardless of the election’s winner. One of the first jobs for the new President will be to nominate someone to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Since many of the recent decisions supporting First Amendment protection for advertising have been 5-4 decisions, the newly appointed Justice could have a very large impact on our industry.  

As Republicans and Democrats prepare for their party conventions later this month, a new national survey paints a bleak picture of voters’ impressions of the presidential campaign and the choices they face in November.

Surprisingly, those least likely to have a long American heritage are the ones who have the strongest American pride. In fact, white millennials have the lowest levels of pride compared with other ethnic groups within the generation.

“The Local Vote 2016” is a 12-week effort designed to capture Americans’ most current political viewpoints and voting preferences within 10 individual states, two weeks prior to key primary elections – delivering unprecedented insights and value to political advertisers’ radio campaigns during a crucial decision-making time for voters.

Jose Dante Para is the CEO of Prospero Latino. He’s a Democratic strategist and was a senior advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. As the opening keynote speaker at the Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Conference, Tuesday, Para told attendees political candidates need to use radio and, he said, the R.O.I. candidates get from radio is huge.

It’s no secret that when it comes to politics, passions run high—among the candidates, as well as the potential constituents themselves! And this year’s election cycle so far has been especially heated, with ardor amped up and political intrigue at what seems like all-time highs.

Most Hispanics say speaking Spanish not necessary to be considered HispanicRubio’s confrontation with Cruz, who recently became the first Hispanic to win the Iowa caucuses, was interpreted by some as a challenge to how much Cruz belongs to or identifies with the Hispanic community in the U.S. (It’s worth noting that this is not a new tactic. Hispanic Democrats have been confronted before by fellow Latinos in a similar way.)

Television is the most effective political ad format influencing voting behavior across all generations, according to a January 2016 survey. Print ads also influence behavior.

The U.S. electorate this year will be the country’s most racially and ethnically diverse ever. Nearly one-in-three eligible voters on Election Day (31%) will be Hispanic, black, Asian or another racial or ethnic minority, up from 29% in 2012. Much of this change is due to strong growth among Hispanic eligible voters, in particular U.S.-born youth.

This study presents precise data on  the Latino electorate, registered  voters, and actual voters in  presidential elections between 1992 and 2012 with projections to 2016.

Digital media has reached parity with TV as a primary information source about presidential candidates (61% for both digital and TV) and political issues (67% for digital vs. 69% for TV) among registered U.S. voters, according to “The Race for the White House 2016: Registered Voters and Media and Information During the Primaries,” a new research study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

The large footprint of Latino millennial eligible voters reflects the oversized importance of youth in the U.S.-born Latino population and as a source of Latino eligible voter growth.

Univision Communications Inc. in partnership with preeminent political research firms David Binder Research and Moore Information, released the findings of a study on the Hispanic voter profile that confirm that the Hispanic vote in the 2016 election season is up for grabs. Directly contradicting the common assumption that Hispanics always vote Democrat, the study found that 55% of Hispanic registered voters age 25-54 are persuadable and in fact, frequently cross party lines.

Surveys from a variety of sources demonstrate that Latino voters will be critical to the outcome of the next U.S. Presidential election, as well as many other races. For this essential bloc of voters, it’s mobile advertising that gets the message across.

Local TV stations around the country are looking forward to a banner year in 2016, when spending on political advertising is expected to soar. As a big fan of political commercials, I say: Bring ’em on.

Political advertising is forecast to hit a record $11.4 billion in 2016, 20% more than the last comparable Presidential Election year of 2012. Adding what will be spent on next year’s contests in 2015, political advertising still holds a whopping $16.5 billion. See what the forecast looks like 2016 and beyond.

Across the board voter turnout was down in 2014. In 2010 about 91 million votes were cast and turnout among the voting eligible population was 41.8 percent. Four years later only 81 million peopled voted for a turnout rate of 35.9 percent according to data collected by Professor Michael McDonald. Looking at Democratic losses in states such as Colorado, Florida and Illinois, some observers questioned whether Latino turnout in particular was even lower. While not all 50 states have data available on official validated vote in 2014 yet, most states have now reported vote history and we can assess what happened in the 2014 midterms.  By Matt Barreto

Before the midterm elections, the spotlight understandably is focused on the estimated 40% of voting age adults who are expected to show up at the polls next Tuesday. There has been less attention on the much larger share who most probably will not.