See Who The Other Side Is Reaching, And Missing

With just a few weeks left in this election cycle, today's newsletter quickly covers one of the most cutting edge and impactful political tech tools that you can still deploy to get a critical edge in your campaigns.

🔱  ACR Data (Automatic Content Recognition)

ACR or "Automatic Content Recognition," data comes from software embedded in smart TVs. This software continuously operates in the background, monitoring the content displayed on screen. Advertisers then buy this data for a variety of purposes.

Yes, you read that correctly. We can now see what people are watching on TV. The implications for this in political advertising are dramatic.

ACR Data Revolutionizes Political Targeting

There are several high-impact uses of ACR data in politics:

🔱  Reaching Audiences Underexposed to Cable and Broadcast Ads

Given the current, fragmented world of TV consumption, cable and broadcast ads increasingly miss many targets. In fact, according to one recent study based on—take a guess—ACR data, 92% of broadcast and cable ads reach only 50% of TV viewers. (Samba U.S. State of Viewership Report). As a reminder, current TV consumption looks something like this:

To reach all of these viewers, even the most robust cable and broadcast buys must be supplemented with connected TV ads. With ACR data, we identify exactly who is underexposed to particular cable and broadcast ads, and supplement these audiences with connected TV.

🔱  Opposition Ad Retargeting 

You've lived through this scenario. Maybe you're living through it right now. Your campaign is cruising along. You're executing and playing your game. But then the negative hit comes from the other side. Your client is seeing the negative ads. Your client's mom is seeing the negative ads, and the client now wants to get off your game and respond to the other side.

With ACR data, we can see exactly who saw the negative ad. If it only went to a small audience, you might ignore it entirely. If it struck a nerve, you might do some discrete online survey work to see if it softened your numbers with the audience who saw it. Most importantly, if you do choose to respond, you can respond only to the people who saw the negative ad, instead of doing the other side's work for them by distributing the content to a broader audience.

🔱  Building Voter Audiences 

We use ACR data to identify voters consuming TV content about particular issues, and then target them with ads. So for example, if your candidate is focused on law enforcement, we can find and reach voters regularly consuming TV content about public safety-related topics.  

🔱  Negative Press Retargeting

When the inevitable press comes that you don't like, whether it be about your candidate or a company you represent in the public affairs space, what's the right move? With ACR data, we can see exactly who saw the bad press, and deliver your message just to those audiences. This prevents the common mistake of inadvertently telling voters or policymakers about a story that they may not have even seen in the first place.

Three Ways To Operationalize This Email

🔱  In light of the fragmented TV ecosystem created by streaming, consider what audiences you or your opponent may be missing with cable and broadcast TV buys.

🔱  Use ACR data to supplement those gaps with connected TV buys.

🔱  Pick an ad or negative press story you don't like, and use ACR data to retarget just the people who saw it.

 🔱  If you're enjoying this content, please consider forwarding this email to a colleague or friend. If you'd rather not forward it because you think the content makes you seem smarter compared to that annoying co-worker . . . we appreciate you.

🔱  If you're not already a subscriber, please sign up here to stay up to date on the latest developments in political technology.

🔱  If you'd like to learn more about how political technology can impact your work, please contact us today.