The Media Fund Press Release

The Media Fund Wraps Up 2004

For Immediate Release                                                        

November 4, 2004   

 

Contact: Sarah Leonard


Proven Effectiveness

In 2004, The Media Fund (TMF) emerged as one of the largest issue advocacy organization supporting a progressive message and defending against the Republican media assault to ensure that the public hears about the failures of the Bush administration.  Since March 10, TMF purchased more than $50 million in media running dozens of television, radio, print and Internet ads nationally and in 82 media markets in 21 states.  This advertising clarified the differences between Democrats and Republicans, put the GOP on the defensive, increased George Bush’s negatives with key audiences, and ensured Democratic victories at the federal, state, and local levels.

Without question, TMF played a critical role during the early spring when Bush was at his highest spending levels and Kerry was at his lowest.  The GOP strategy to dominate the airwaves did not succeed in large part because TMF and its allies made a significant impact, keeping a Democratic message on the air at competitive levels.  TMF also emerged as an important factor during the critical 5 week period between party conventions when the GOP again threatened to dominate the airwaves.

This fall, TMF strategically deployed its creative and used multiple mediums to level the playing field while using additional resources to expand the playing field in such states as Arkansas and Colorado.  The highlight of TMF’s fall program was an unprecedented $6m advertising campaign targeting African-American voters between the ages of 18 and 35 that proved to be instrumental to reaching out to a demographic that has proven to be increasingly disillusioned by politics.

Redefining Political Media

The Media Fundassembled the best research, strategic and creative talent to develop and carry an effective party message.  The creative team included veteran talent from commercial advertising agencies as well as political media consultants with extensive presidential campaign experience.  The voter research team, headed by nationally known pollsters, conducted state by state polls, market tests, focus groups and other innovative voter research methods to identify the issues that both motivate Democrats and move the critical “swing voters” to support the Democratic agenda.

TMF’s goal was to create media that articulates Democratic values and messages while being nimble enough to engage rapid-response political messaging, where 24-hour turnaround may be critical.  To accomplish that, TMF successfully took the best aspects from both the commercial and the political advertising industry to fuse creative talent from Madison Avenue agencies with political experts who are experienced in political messaging.

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