In the next few days I’m going to feature some stories on the digital tactics that firms are using to apply specific bouts of pressure to specific media outlets. These high-stakes, no-holds-barred firms are successfully using ads on Google, Facebook, and blogs to correct the record and and to skewer opponents.
Today’s case study is based on an article in Politics Magazine titled, “How digital ads helped turn CNN’s Lou Dobbs problem into a PR nightmare.” It’s a story about an old tactic turned digital with the end result being Dobbs resignation from CNN, citing this campaign as a factor.
Campaign Elements
Two partners at the consulting firm Chong + Koster (which describes itself as a “digital consultancy that specializes in high-stakes communications and win-or-lose situations around the world”) wanted to neutralize an opponent on behalf of their clients–America’s Voice, along with Media Matters, Presente.org, and others.
“The coalition aimed to take the poster child of the xenophobia movement—Lou Dobbs—out of the debate before it began.”
Here is a brief picture of the digital tactics used to support their strategic objective:
1) Create the hook
“We would make an amazing ad to drive donations, yet too controversial for CNN to accept. If the campaign raising enough money to air the ad during ‘Latino in America’ wasn’t enough to generate press, then the placing, the inevitable rejection and subsequent runs on other networks would. All the while, MediaMatters and Presente.org would run their own petition to drop Lou Dobbs, thus building a narrative that appreciated the commitment of the coalition.”
2) Get their attention
“If CNN thought of this as a three-day story, it would have passed. We had to get their attention at the very beginning, so they would set up Google Alerts to monitor the story, and to ensure each little hit was noticed and made them nervous. This is where digital ads shine.”
3) Ruthless targeting, Facebook Ad buy, $1750
“The Facebook feature ‘workplace targeting’ was our primary weapon. We targeted all CNN/AOL-Time Warner employees with 500 points per day (the Facebook max). We ran dozens of different ads, testing message hooks from ‘Why did you let Lou Dobbs broadcast from a hate rally?’ to ‘Why is CNN profiting off racism?’ We even called out CNN’s on-air talent by name…”
4) Hard sell fundraising asks via Facebook ads, undisclosed
“The majority of the Facebook budget was spent running the ads to progressives and Latinos with a hard fundraising ask.”
5) Blog ad buy, $10,000
“Within 24 hours, we also launched banner ads that paired the best performing imagery, hook, and call-to-action from the Facebook ads on political blogs.”
6) Google Ads, undisclosed (Blue State Digital was the vendor)
“delivering about 500,000 ad impressions per day, but we were also raising money from our clicks”
7) Access traditional earned media via trade media and online press
“We also leaked the story of the digital buy to ClickZ—one of the most well-read digital advertising publications. We chose them because an editor named Kate Kaye is the foremost journalist covering political digital ads, and they are exceedingly well syndicated and search engine optimized (anything that they post triggers dozens of Google Alerts). This post led to a post by MediaBistro—the insider rag for journalists—and the story exploded from there.”
This firm used tougher-than-nails tactics to get their clients point across to big American media. It worked like a charm. But at what cost?
It’s pretty clear that this firm doesn’t care about burning bridges with the traditional media. They only care about getting their point across. Suffice it to say that if someone in official Ottawa tried a stunt like this, they would probably be on the defensive for some time.
Tomorrow: What if you are on the other end of online ad-war tactics like these? We have a couple of pointers.
