Thursday, 01/18
8:00 AM
8:00 AM ET
Registration & Coffee Service
8:30 AM
8:30 AM ET
Breakfast Buffet Opens
8:45 AM
8:45 AM ET
Sponsor Breakfast Presentation
9:15 AM
9:15 AM ET
Opening Remarks
- MC
- Steve Smith, VP, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost @popeyesm
9:25 AM
9:25 AM ET
Panel: Allocation for the Hell of It: Does Overall Media Spend Matter Anymore?
Millions have already been spent on Campaign 2024, but has any of it moved a needle, even one bit? Are the traditional costly channels for reaching votes really working? Up-ballot or down-ballot? On continuing to carpet bomb CTV, or on P2P GOTV? On linear TV where no one is watching? On micro-targeted social channels? Or AI-powered hyper-personalized appeals? We start our annual assessment of Marketing Politics by asking MediaPost's perennial question: where do we follow the money this year, and what has changed?
- Moderator
- Joe Mandese, Editor-in-Chief, MediaPost @jmandese
- PanelistS
- Ryanne Brown, Paid Media Director, Priorities, USA
- Tim Edson, Political Director, NRSC
- Mark Morgan, Political Director, Republican Governors Association
10:05 AM
10:05 AM ET
Q&A;: Big Data/Little Data, District By District
If "politics is local," then contemporary microtargeting techniques only work if informed by district-level polling, data, and media analytics. We explore the linkage among these key elements with the one of the leading PACs for Republican Congressional efforts, the CLF. How do polling and digital targeting techniques work better together, and how does the CLF map allocations against specific district-level differences?
- Interviewee
- Domenic Re, Political Director, Congressional Leadership Fund
- Interviewer
- Steve Smith, VP, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost @popeyesm
10:35 AM
10:35 AM ET
Sponsor Spotlight & Coffee Break
11:05 AM
11:05 AM ET
Case Study: When Red Goes Blue: Learning from the Beshear Win
A Blue Governor wins comfortably in a deep Red state. How does that happen in this climate? Campaign Manager Eric Hyers discusses how keeping messages targeted to the local values and interests of voting blocs on a district level helped activate the right voters and cut through partisan lock-in.
- Presenter
- Eric Hyers, Campaign Manager, Andy Beshear 2023
11:35 AM
11:35 AM ET
Discussion: After the Campaign
What have suspended and losing campaigns of recent cycles learned about where and how media does and doesn't move the needle?
- IntervieweeS
- Zachary Moffatt, Senior Advisor, Sen. Tim Scott, 2024 @ZacMoffatt
- John “Chip” Saltsman, Jr., National Campaign Chairman, Mike Pence Presidential Campaign
- Interviewer
- Steve Smith, VP, Editorial Director, Events, MediaPost @popeyesm
12:05 PM
12:05 PM ET
Case Study: Does Micro-Targeting Still Work? Are There Persuadables?
In the 2020 cycle The Lincoln Project famously aimed to get into President Trump's head. This cycle it is micro-targeting persuadables in the key neighborhoods it thinks will make the difference. What have they learned so far about whether and how voters still can be moved by digital appeals?
- Presenter
- Rick Wilson, Co-Founder, The Lincoln Project
12:35 PM
12:35 PM ET
Sponsor Lunch Presentation
1:15 PM
1:15 PM ET
Panel: From Streaming to Gushing: Tactical CTV
While half of 2024 cycle TV budgets are still expected to go linear; Connected TV, OTT and digital video will be a major battle ground for precision media. But how are campaigns learning to use data-driven and connected video screens in more targeted and integrated ways? How are they reconciling the incompatible measurement across walled gardens? Connecting the video buys to other digital advertising, direct mail and GOTV efforts?
- Moderator
- Joe Mandese, Editor-in-Chief, MediaPost @jmandese
- PanelistS
- Amanda Ach, Digital Director, Senate Majority PAC
- Stephanie Grasmick, Partner, Rising Tide Interactive
- Nickolas Stamas, Digital Political Director, NRCC
- Paul Winn, Chief Operating Officer, Smart Media Group
1:55 PM
1:55 PM ET
Panel: That AI Panel
Don't be "deepfaked" by doomsaying. The real impact of AI this cycle will be deeper in campaign ops, voter profiling and targeting, real-time status updates and hyper-personalized fund-raising for even the smallest down-ballot campaigns. Who is doing what, with what impact, learnings, red flags? How are the tools and their hype being properly vetted?
- Moderator
- Barbie Romero, Director, Event Programming, MediaPost
- PanelistS
- Alisa Brady, Managing Director, Targeted Victory
- Larry Huynh, Partner, Trilogy Interactive
2:25 PM
2:25 PM ET
Sponsor Spotlight & Coffee Break
2:50 PM
2:50 PM ET
Case Study: Basics Still Work: Learning From Mike Adams
Despite a big win by a Democratic Governor in a red state, and primary challengers pushing voter fraud claims, incumbent Secretary of State Mike Adams became one of the cycle's biggest Republican vote grabbers. It was a win for the resilience of campaign basics: candidate quality and relatability, especially via social channels, and the promise of overcoming gridlock with bi-partisan cooperation.
- PresenterS
- Edith Jorge-Tuñon, Deputy Executive Director, Republican State Leadership Committee
- Maddison Stewart, Deputy Director, Political Committee, Republican State Leadership Committee
3:20 PM
3:20 PM ET
Panel: The Bigger Tent: Reaching Minority Segments
Persuading, activating, or just talking authentically to niche and minority communities could well be the deciding factor in the current cycle. Both parties suspect that Hispanic and Black voters may especially be more in play this year than ever before. But a range of Muslim and Jewish voting patterns may have also been shaken by events in Gaza. What is the plan for segmenting and messaging the multiple constituencies in these populations that may be aligning differently this cycle?
- Moderator
- Albert Thompson, Managing Director of Digital Innovation, Walton Isaacson
- PanelistS
- Shalonda Hunter-Harris, Senior Director- Digital, Creative, and Social Media, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- Chuck Rocha, Founder & President, Solidarity Strategies
- Evan Tracey, Senior Vice President, National Media Research, Planning & Placement @Politicsontv
- April O. Turner, VP of Communications & External Affairs, Higher Heights for America
4:00 PM
4:00 PM ET
Cocktail Party
3rd Floor - Cash bar
Washington Marriott at Metro Center