Government agencies, departments and Barisan Nasional (BN) parties are buying bulk online advertisement space as GE13 approaches. - file picKUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Government agencies, departments and Barisan Nasional (BN) parties are buying bulk online advertisement space while more pro-government video clips are being produced to crowd out opposition material and advertisements ahead of the 13th general election next month, say industry sources.
Advertising industry sources say they are handling more requests for space in websites and portals that are popular in Malaysia with some agencies asking for exclusivity up to end April, when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is expected to call elections.
“There has been a lot of demand and some of these agencies want exclusivity in leaderboard, banner, LRECs and skyscaper ads,” an advertising executive toldThe Malaysian Insider, referring to the various advertisement sizes and positions on a website.
Among those with large advertising budgets are the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), Penang BN and other efforts led by BN component parties, the executive added.
“But there are many websites and portals out there and one can’t simply get exclusivity like that for two months even at ridiculous prices,” another advertising manager said, noting it can be seen as anti-competitive.
“You can’t possibly sideline all other ads unless it is your own website. But they are trying because it has always been opposition space,” he added.
The advertising manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Malaysian Insider that most of the advertisements are going through network advertisement firms which have space in major websites, especially news portals and blogging sites.
Industry sources also said advertisement space was also being sought in YouTube Malaysia, one of the country’s top visited site with some two million unique visitors daily.
The Google-owned video-sharing site is also seeing a rise in the number of video clips linked to Malaysian political parties, with a number of pro-BN productions coming online in the past few weeks.
Among them is one purportedly showing Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a clinch with another man in a hotel room. The PKR de facto leader has denounced the video clip as a vicious campaign by his political enemies and is mulling a lawsuit against Umno cybertroopers whom he blames for the clip.
There are several others with song parodies against DAP, PAS and PKR which form the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact that denied BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority in Election 2008.
PR has always been active online and has been seen to control the Malaysian cyberspace with a plethora of websites and also video productions, including a recent series highlighting its manifesto launched a few weeks ago.
“There are just so many video clips out there now by pro-government people. Most of them have good production values but the messaging is bad,” said a video producer who has been approached by both sides to manage such political campaigns.
“You’ll see more in the coming weeks,” he added.
He pointed out that opposition parties had more experience working on messaging with low budget and tight scripts to appeal to the young, who form a key demographic of the 13.3 million voters eligible to vote in Election 2013.
“The PR guys have an advantage, that is why BN people are producing more and also taking out advertisements to drown them out,” the producer said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.