Political ads can sink your brand message

With political ads hogging up air time during the election season, B2B marketers should take note of new research conducted by J. Walter Thompson and Forethought that reveals that political ads can sink your brand’s message – and even its overall image.

According to the research, which took the pulse in September of more than 3,600 people 18 or older in the United States, even political ads with positive messages generate negative emotions in consumers.

The report found that brand advertising is perceived as 32% less relevant, 29% less entertaining and 27% less appealing when it follows a political ad.

“This study underpins the importance of media placement and, although it might feel like the oldest advertising rule, marketers shouldn’t underestimate the impact other content can have on their brand and their advertising; as this ‘hangover effect’ is unlikely to be isolated to politics or TV” said Lynn Power, CEO of J. Walter Thompson New York, in a statement.

Further, political ads impact more than just how consumers perceive a brand’s commercial – it negatively impacts the perception of the brand and product overall. Brand reputation takes a 34% hit, perception of product value declines by 32% and product quality perception drops by 24%.

Something to think about before that programmatic ad buy.

“The big talk in media buying today is programmatic buying. These findings confirm that when it comes to media placement a brand will be known by the company it keeps,” said Ken Roberts, CEO Forethought, in a statement. “Consumers do not partition how they assess individual communications. My brand ad follows your loud political ad and my positive message gets lost. This has a profound detrimental impact on evaluations of subsequent brand advertising, of the brand itself, and ultimately, future purchase intent.”

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