Trump campaign buys giant digital ads during Democratic Congress

[Tonight’s DNC Schedule, Streaming and Speakers.]

The Trump campaign launches an aggressive four-day digital advertising campaign that will hit some of the most eye-catching properties on the internet during the three days of the Democratic National Convention marquee that most viewers will see online.

Following the president’s penchant for drawing attention to himself at major democratic events, the Trump campaign will take over the YouTube banner for 96 hours starting Tuesday, day two of Congress, an expensive and far-reaching digital move.

The campaign will also cover the websites of The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and FoxNews.com with Trump advertising campaigns. Even non-DNC programs are inundated with Trump ads, as the campaign bought premium or “no-skippable” ads on sites like Hulu.

The campaign runs into a “high seven figure”, a sizeable sum to spend online in such a short amount of time, and could be over $ 10 million based on the engagement metrics of some ads (some digital ads are sometimes based charged additionally on the engagement.)). The takeover of the YouTube banner and the homepages of the news sites are national purchases, while the spend for Hulu and others will be in swing states.

It’s an attempt to be as digital as possible during an almost entirely digital congress, and the Trump campaign will tailor its message to a direct attack on the Democratic platform as a far-left manifestation of a Republican’s worst fears. Trump campaigners said they could have snagged the digital slots because the Democrats, who had postponed their original convention date, hadn’t bought time for the original week of July or the new week starting Monday.

“It’s great that Team Biden let the Trump campaign snap up the best premium real estate on the internet during Joe’s big week,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman. “We’re going to show millions of Americans exactly how the radical, left-wing takeover of Joe Biden is now complete.”

Andrew Bates, a campaign spokesman for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. ridiculed campaign spending as “stunts” that waste money.

“No smoke and mirrors charade can hide that Donald Trump’s failed leadership cost the lives of over 167,000 Americans and drove the strong economy he inherited from the Obama-Biden administration into one of the deepest recessions in our history has, ”said Bates.

The last presidential campaign to take over the banner from YouTube for a long period of time was Michael R. Bloomberg’s campaign, which did so for 24 hours on the day after Mr Trump was impeached.

“It’s big business – this is the home page of the largest online video platform in the world,” said Tim Cameron, a Republican digital strategist. “The way Netflix highlights its latest content, it will have a very similar effect to where people will see it. And many of them will opt for this viewing experience and consume this content. “

Of course, even an elaborate advertising campaign that tries to frame Congress will not be able to overtake the discussion of an event that airs for hours every night and features numerous Democratic luminaries.

But the Trump campaign also makes it nearly impossible to miss. With a strong focus on premium cannot be skipped “Pre-roll” ads that appear before the content begins YouTube and other streaming platforms will be forcing users to watch all of the Trump campaign ads before watching their selected videos.

The campaign has focused heavily on a digital strategy in recent years.

Biden campaign officials said they consistently spent money on ads on Hulu, saying they are more strategically investing their money on YouTube and consistently focusing on target states. They said their own data suggests spending after a major event is more important and that the Biden team reserved time on YouTube for the day after the Republican National Convention ended on August 27th. (The Trump campaign will also show their premium YouTube advertisements on the Friday after Congress.)

Republicans claim that the Trump campaign can reach a large audience with its approach.

“You will have very effective news penetration because the people who are shown a non-skippable ad will want to see that content after the ad,” said Michael Duncan, a Republican digital strategist.

“So you are ready to spend 15 seconds seeing your message,” he added. “It’s not like on television, where there is an ad and you can go to the bathroom or leave the room until the show is back on – that non-skippable inventory can add great size and quality to your digital media. Buy. “