Two days ago, I suggested Barack Obama’s infomercial was a mistake. Well, the people have spoken and I was wrong. Over 33 million viewers tuned in to CBS, NBC, Fox and cable to watch. The media cost to air the informercial was about 3 million dollars, which I find hard to believe since a 30-second Super Bowl spot goes for $2 million+ and delivers less than twice the viewers.
Here’s the big question: Were the 33 million+ viewers Obama voters, John McCain voters, or undecideds? In marketing, new incremental volume is always an important measure. Loyal customers need care and feeding but new customers are a key growth metric. If Barack’s investment reached only his loyal followers then it probably wasn’t a great idea. But if the audience was a cross section of the population, as I suspect it was, then it was. (Can’t you just see some pro-McCain people quickly changing the channel as their spouses walked in the room?) Mea culpa. Peace!