What is advocacy advertising? How is it used? What makes for an effective advocacy advertisement? The basic elements of an effective advocacy advertising campaign were discussed by a panel of seasoned lobbyists at Advertising Week DC’s panel discussion, “Advocacy Advertising: Public Opinion to Public Action,” which took place September 18, 2007 in the Washington, DC area.

Porter Novelli Partner and Managing Director Carolyn Tieger introduced the session by explaining that advocacy advertising almost always is related to a specific public policy or upcoming legislation. The ad will express an opinion on the issue or position the sponsoring industry or company as a leader in its field or area of expertise, such as health care, the environment, or education. John Fox Sullivan, Chief Executive and Group Publisher of Atlantic Media Company, elaborated that the goal of advocacy advertising is defining an issue in such a way that intelligent people will give you the answer you want.

Mike Baroody has extensive lobbying experience. A Porter Novelli client and executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, Mike Baroody emphasized that these days, if you’re one of the big dogs and you don’t run advocacy advertising, you’re not taken seriously. Evan Tracey, Chief Operating Officer of TNS Media Intellgence and Campaign Media Analysis Group, revealed some fascinating statistics related to the state of the market for advocacy advertising. This is an industry measured in $380 million dollars at the state and federal level. Much of those advertising dollars go to health-related advocacy advertising: $88 million for Federal advertising and $30 million for state-level advertising. Another $100 million is spent on energy- and environment-related advertising. The telecom industry currently spends about $10 million on advocacy advertising. He also mentioned that much advertising is crisis-related; e.g., the mortgage industry is spending big bucks on advocacy advertising in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage fiasco. And naturally, ad spending increases when congress is in session. Coal, nuclear energy, and food industries are also investing in advocacy advertising.

A quality advocacy advertisement is well-expressed, phrased in human terms, and articulates the debate on your terms, rather than the opposition’s point of view, stated Mike Baroody. Providing research to substantiate your claims make the advertisement more powerful.

Repetition of the key message is important. Although separate advertisements within a campaign may be targeted to different audiences, each of these advertisements should communicate the same central message of the campaign.

According to Mike Baroody, advocacy advertising has three main audiences:

Mike Baroody reflected on the shift in lobbying efforts. Formerly, if you convinced key party leadership and committee heads, you were golden. Everyone else fell in line with the team. These days, said Mr. Baroody, things are more complex and legislators are more independent. Their fealty is to their constituents. So you have more people to convince. And sometimes, advocacy advertising can make the difference in swaying those important votes. He categorized the focal points of advertisements targeting legislators in this manner:

1. Ads for those on the fence of an issue.
2. Ads for those believed to be supportive but who need to be more vocal about it.
3. Ads for those opposed: demonstrating that their opposition will not serve their best political interests.

Advocacy Advertising and the Media

John Fox Sullivan emphasized the importance of creating an integrated and comprehensive advocacy campaign that took into account different advertising formats with similar messages for print, digital (e.g., Blackberry), and online applications. John Sullivan said that 25% of the advertising placed with his media is online, which is increasing. Capitol Hill publications (with online outlets) to target for advocacy advertising include Roll Call, Congressional Quarterly, The Hill, and The Politico.

No matter what your political leanings may be, there's much to learn from these advocacy advertising experts!

Mary Fletcher Jones is the co-owner of Fletcher Prince Communications (http://www.fletcherprince.com), a Washington, DC area creative agency offering public relations and marketing services. She is a member of Washington Women in Public Relations and the National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

Source: www.a1articles.com