Here We Go Again...
Doomscroll 8.25.2024
Hello, and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll! Brace yourselves. Gotta another rant below.
This week’s edition of Doomscroll is sponsored by RumbleUp!
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about the Trump-Elon Musk interview! 57% of you said that despite the technical glitch at the top, it was a good thing! 43% of you answered “meh.” Word. In terms of one piece of advice you would give the Trump campaign…here are some of the words of wisdom you all offered:
It can be an amazing form of earned media. However, you need to make sure it goes off without a hitch so people are reporting on what you are saying and not on 45 mins of technical difficulties. This was the third time this has been done at scale and every time prior it has had issues. Another point that might tie in with last week, the metrics from X on this stuff are bonkers. We have no idea how many people tuned in, how long people stayed or what the reach was. X needs to figure this out so we stop embarrassing ourselves in the name of exploring new paths. It also ends up misleading well-meaning users who now think 1B people listened to the stream.
The level of texts and emails is insane. I don't want to unsub but I'm tempted.
On the interview itself - it was meh. Elon's just not a good interviewer and Trump's not a good interviewee (when not boxed in a bit). I gave up around 10ish or so. From the start until then, there were way too many "old man rants" that Trump likes to go on where he can't get off a point. The best part was the line about Kim Jong Un and Trump having a bigger red button that actually worked. Trump's at his best when he's playing up being this larger than life figure who cares about other people (or goes off on powerful). It's kind of crazy thinking after all of these years that Trump clearly having zero idea what his appeal was in 2016 (kept it simple and to the point and went against those in power at the time).
On the ads (at least looking at Twitter) - I'm not a particular fan of the execution. Video guys and consultants, it feels like, get into [adobe] premiere contests with each other and it really detracts from the ads that get produced - a lot of [terrible] style over substance. Also (having seen enough political ads at the gym on mute on tvs) why do none of these write what Kamala's saying in the text? It feels like the situation where someone sees an ad on mute, which is the default for most social media platforms, is never taken into consideration. Finally, there's way too much much (like with the "Dangerously Liberal" one) telling people what to think instead of letting them draw their own conclusions. Kamala's said so many insane things over the past 4+ years - just let her words do the work (and keep them short and to the point). Instead, the ads run way too long and emphasize everything she is NOT saying. Overall, they're just really frustrating to look at.
Not advice, but on your piece about cursing: Have you noticed how polite some of the Trump texts are? A lot of "Pleases" and "Thank yous". I guess their strategy is just to put the donor through an emotional rollercoaster. (My note: Actually, good point. I HAVE noticed that and do appreciate the tone there).
Worse than years ago, they aren't doing anything new but also with less urgency than before.
RANT TIME
Here we go again… I’ve had a lot of you reach out to me over the last couple weeks to commiserate/vent/whatever over the state of digital ad spend on the right. Good news: We’re all in this together. Bad news: The situation blows.
Should I just go ahead and call it? When it comes to digital, the GOP has a culture problem, and it’s making me wonder for the first time EVER: has digital come full circle? (insert Carrie Bradshaw typing gif).
To anyone on the right who’s reading this and doesn’t work in the digital space: Do you think the Kamala ViBeS are happening organically because Dems are just super jazzed not to have to vote for Joe Biden? Do you think this was not highly, highly orchestrated and thought out? Let me let you in on a little secret in the gentlest way I know how: THIS SHIT IS NOT ORGANIC. It’s happening because Democrats invest in and hire boatloads of young, energetic, hyper-partisans who live online and want a career in politics. They’re putting in the work. They’re grinding it out. And when 2024 is all over, those young minds are going to spread out across the United States with Kamala for President on their resumes and all anyone is going to remember is how COOL Kamala’s online presence was. And then these young minds are going to go work on Congressional and Senate campaigns around the country, replicating what they learned in 2024. Meanwhile, Republicans will continue to lose on the digital front.
Don’t get me wrong. Some Republicans are playing the game and doing it well. I’ve praised Eric Hovde’s content on more than one occasion. Dave McCormick has done some good stuff. We all remember Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign. Doug Burgum put out great stuff during his campaign (yeah I’m biased, but fair is fair and I dare anyone to argue!).
But where are we at the national level? What kind of digital team is at the RNC right now? How’s it going over there? What about on the Trump campaign? Can you name, off the top of your head right this second, who the Trump campaign’s digital director is? Or at least the highest-level digital staffer? Has he or she been quoted in the press lately about Team Trump’s digital prowess?
Perhaps the thinking is: We have Trump. We don’t need extra digital. Trump is digital. OK MAYBE…But this is about the long game and investing in the future to build a digital infrastructure on the right that kicks butt long after Trump is a political candidate. It’s about the right’s campaign culture and where we want it to go after 2024. Do we want to actually compete and meet voters where they are? Or do we want comms to take over social media and political to take over all the ad budgets? Like I said at the top: Has digital come full circle?
Unfortunately, political departments don’t know how to hold ad buyers accountable. They don’t know how to sniff out the good vendors from the scammy ones. Comms doesn’t know how or when to put aside their media hats and actually talk to voters. These are just facts, my friends, and very time a comms staffer insists on approving my fundraising email, I want to ask them why I don’t get to look at their tweets (shrug). There are silos (bad), and then there’s staying in your freaking lane (good). We don’t want silos. What we do want for everyone let digital freaking do its job. Again: it goes back to culture and a lack of appreciation for what digital offers and how we can move the needle.
Any digital staffer worth his or her salt can craft a compelling message, create engaging content, understand data and polling, write well, fundraise, put together multi-million dollar ad budgets, buy ads across multiple platforms, AND do it all at a break-neck pace. It’s a grind, but it’s worth it. So…when is everyone else going to catch on?
…Which brings me to this week’s One Question. Do you agree or disagree that we have a culture problem on the right when it comes to digital? No wrong answers!
Who’s Doing What
—Cocaine and Kamala
Ok, let’s look at some bright spots this week. Two DID come from the Trump campaign, so let’s give credit where credit is due. First up: Trump’s sit-down with Theo Von. When I talk about going where the voters are and doing it on platforms not called TikTok…this is what I mean. Good on Trump. I, for one, wasn’t scandalized by the clip in which he discusses cocaine. It was REAL. And it made me want to watch more. AND it was great content that can - and should be - repurposed. Good stuff.
Next up: Trump’s Twitter ad, which I noticed Wednesday night during the DNC Convention. I was starting to get a little depressed over the absence of any kind of digital advertising/bracketing around the convention until I saw the ads about #ComradeKamala and her policies. Linking to kamala2024policies.com too was a great touch. Very nice. Yay!
—Making the perfect the enemy of the good
I’m a firm believer that sometimes you gotta just get something out there - regardless of quality. Yes, I said it. So anytime I come across a piece of content that’s…shall we say…less than perfect, I try to give the campaign the benefit of the doubt in that they’re JUST DOING THE BEST THEY CAN, OK? Here’s this week’s Exhibit: a vertical video that I first noticed on Twitter from Dave Reichert, who’s running for Governor of Washington (bless). Now, I’ve actually written about Reichert before and gave him some big kudos for his website. It ain’t easy running as a Republican in such a blue state. Anyway, back to this particular piece of content. Quality-wise, it ain’t the best. Obviously. It’s clear a staffer provided the voiceover. It’s clear whoever made it is just starting to dip their toes into the video production / social media creation waters. The red is glaring. The font is distracting. The last 5 seconds were slapped on in a way that actually made me chuckle a little. But hey, points for reusing and recycling? I’m never going to knock a campaign for trying. For making the effort. It’s like making fun of overweight people at the gym. Why would we do that? As much as I rant about the need for campaigns to produce content, I’m never going to criticize something like this. Let’s just try, try again. Improve. Get better. Go the distance. You can do it!
—A-MACE-ING
You guys know I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Nancy Mace lately, but man was she on fire this week trolling the DNC. I have to give her props. Most of the time, I think she takes the trolling/grandstanding too far, but this week she was hilarious and on the nose. Credit where credit is due.
Who’s Spending Where
P2P
Industry Watch
YouTube continues to rise as a key entertainment option, with the latest Nielsen TV and streaming report showing that YouTube now makes up 10.4% of all TV viewing in the U.S., the first streaming platform to reach the double-digit mark. …streaming is now the single dominant content source in Nielsen’s tracking chart. Traditional broadcast and cable TV combined still top overall viewing behavior, but streaming is gaining fast, with YouTube being the dominant streaming source.
2024 Watch
This is where I make note of a few other things that caught my eye this week.
Nice new ad from Jen Kiggans going on offense. Watch it here.
Great anti-Marcy Kaptur ad from CLF. This hits on so many levels: knocks her for being a career politician who lies and ties her to Biden-Harris. Love. Watch it here.
Love this ad from George Logan in Connecticut about “compromise” being a dirty word! Nice blueprint for when you’re running as a GOPer in a blue state Watch it here.
This is a GREAT ad hitting Josh Stein in North Carolina from The RGA. Hits him on the economy and ties him to Biden-Harris. Watch it here.
Speaking of RGA, it looks like they’re breaking major precedent by getting involved in the New Hampshire gubernatorial primary by backing Kelly Ayotte. Read about it here. New ED, who dis?
This is another cool ad that caught my eye from Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania. Creative. Watch it here.
AAN announced it’s spending another $5M on issues ads around immigration and the cost of living. Cool. Read more here.
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The Grapevine
Maybe this isn’t NEWS news, but it looks like Bill Stepien is no longer at National Public Affairs? (h/t to the little birdie who sent me this screenshot).
The latest in the America PAC voter registration saga: The group is saying any investigation will show they’re making a good faith effort to register voters. Cool, cool.
WinRed now has bulk page duplication for all accounts! Score.
Kate Holliday has a great piece in C&E about how campaigns can hide ad buys. Read it here.
Kite and Key Media is hiring a Community Engagement Officer. Looks cool.
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
Hate to say it, but I agree. This was pretty brilliant.
Also, the Harris campaign got some nice press in Gizmodo for supposedly launching the first ever presidential campaign WhatsApp channel, but I’m MAJORLY calling this out for being total B.S. I would bet all the money I have in my wallet right now that the Harris campaign is 100% not the first presidential campaign to do this. Like, I am fully confident that this is not accurate and I would like this reporter to HMU and let me know how he can say this with certainty.
From the other side of the tracks:
Has anyone in the political world ever inserted a gamification component into their ads? Looks like it’s happening more and more in the corporate world and I definitely think it’s worth considering if there’s applications for politics! Here’s a snippet from Marketing Brew:
Everyone is playing games these days. No, we’re not talking about your dating life. We’re talking about major brands looking for ways to incorporate gaming into their advertising products. … “Ads are very prominent now, so it’s really hard to break through and feel personalized to each customer,” Carli Jurczynski, associate VP and paid media client lead at the agency Kepler, said. “Something that feels new and interactive, especially in the TV space, is something that’s really appetizing to our clients.”
…
The possibility of inserting game-like experiences into ads has brought in some companies that have historically been resistant to advertising to try the format out.
Just something to consider. I would love the freedom to come up with a digital ad that included some kind of gamification…Just sayin’!
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!