COM 280T:  Special Topics in Communication/Political Communication

 Media Plan Assignment (100 points)

 The next step in the campaign process is to develop a media plan.  Here, you take your money raised by your fundraising, and create your media advertising.  You will create a package of documents that include the following key steps:

 I.  Decide where to place your ads

            A.  Who are your voters?  Where do they get their political information?

                        1.  Where did you get this info?

            B.  Where, then, should you place your ads?

                        1.  What media?

                        2.  What stations/outlets/sites/papers

                        3.  Times/days/durations

                        4.  Relate demographics to this decision to show me why you chose

 II.  Purchase the ad spots (media buying)

            A.  Do this “in house” or hire out?

            B.  Contact stations/outlets/papers and make the buys

            C.  Constrained by funds.

                        1.  Show estimated costs and relate to funds available

2.  You will need to find out how much ads in the papers, stations and sites you select cost.  Note!  There are often price differences for campaign ads during election seasons.  Be sure to ask for political rates!

 III.  What’s the key message?

            A.  Series of ads:

                        1.  Candidate intro/bio piece

                        2.  Platform

                        3.  Negative ads on opponent

                        4.  GOTV/positive piece at end

            B.  Always stick to core message

                        1.  Refer back to campaign plan where you decided this

 IV.  Create and produce the ads

            A.  Storyboard TV spot

            B.  Script of radio spot

            C.  Don’t forget disclaimers!  (Find law on this issue or see examples.)

 V.  Follow-up polling

            A.  Are ads successful?

            B.  Revise ads/more spots?

            C.  Respond to opponents ads/message

1.  Need to show you are proactive without being reactionary or just ignoring the opponent –unless your strategy allows for this.

 Guidance:

• The storyboards and scripts will be due near the end of the semester, focus for now on I-III. 
• You have 2 weeks to do I-III.  Divide up the work, and refer back to your campaign plans as needed. 
• Remember, the key is to tie it all together.  “Our message is “X” because our voter research found our likely voters want “X.”  We need to spend “Y” to create ads and air them, which requires our fundraising to collect “Z” dollars.   I want to be able to see a coordinated plan from your team. 
• Don’t get bogged down with a long paper here, give me bullet points, or a PowerPoint slide presentation.  Support your assertions on demographics, etc, with hard data.  Cite sources.  (See the website for some great places to get demographic data.) 
• For item III, you might need some more detail, and will not be able to do item # 3 at this time.  (You will later, after you “see” your opponent’s ads.)
• Item V will come later as well.  I will want to see to see a brief poll.
• Use the magazines in the “course box,” the pink book, and the Campaign Manager book to help you.  Also, the website links page will be helpful.