Informs Today: The Podcast Series

Some Americans might find relief and delight in eliminating TV ads from presidential campaigns. But the effect of advertising, especially in close contests, can be important enough to put the best advertiser in the White House. Brett R. Gordon of Columbia University and Wesley R. Hartmann looked at the campaigns of 2000 and 2004 in their study, Advertising Effects in Presidential Elections, which appears in the current issue of the INFORMS journal Marketing Science. Hear them explain the subtle distinctions between product advertising and political advertising, and how one advertising campaign was key to winning office.