▣ Campaigns · Issue advocacy · 2026
Political media that respects the voter and the compliance binder.
Tridence plans, buys, and measures paid media for federal, state, and local campaigns, PACs, and issue-advocacy organizations. We focus on legitimate audience reach, transparent disclosure, and honest measurement—not on tricks that age badly.
Tailored · To your scope · No flat-rate menus
The honest part
Political media is a regulated industry. We treat it like one.
Campaigns lose more often to bad media plans, sloppy disclosure, and unverified placements than to the other side’s creative. Our practice is built around audience clarity, platform compliance, and measurable lift—not viral tactics that get pulled on day three of a flight.
Spray · Spend · Hope
The plan is "everywhere." Disclaimers are added by hand at the last minute. Half the buy lands outside the district. The reporting deck is screenshots of dashboards nobody trusts.
This is the campaign that finishes with a budget memo nobody wants to read.
Universe · Plan · Verify
The voter universe is defined first. Every channel has a stated job. Disclosures are baked into creative templates. Spend is verified to the placement. Lift is measured against a holdout, not a vibe.
This is the campaign that earns a second cycle.
What we run
Six paid-media disciplines. One compliance standard.
Whether you are a federal campaign, a statewide ballot initiative, a PAC, or an issue-advocacy nonprofit, the work fits one of these tracks.
Media strategy & planning
Voter universe, persuasion vs. turnout split, channel mix, frequency curves, and flight calendar—built around the race or ballot question, not a template.
CTV, OTT & video
Connected-TV and streaming buys with district-level geo precision, frequency caps, and verified disclosure on every cut. Linear cable layered in where it still earns its CPM.
Digital display, audio & search
Programmatic display, native, podcast and streaming audio, and paid search—run through compliant DSPs and platforms with full disclosure on every creative.
Persuasion & GOTV direct response
Persuasion, ID, and turnout creative tested against control. Direct mail and SMS coordinated with digital so a voter is not getting four uncoordinated messages in 24 hours.
Compliance & disclosure
FCC and FEC frameworks, state and local requirements, paid-for-by stamps on every asset, ad-library uploads, and a documented chain of approvals. Compliance is in the brief, not at the end.
Measurement & reporting
Reach & frequency on the registered universe, brand-lift studies, ad-recall, and ballot-test movement against holdouts. Reporting that finance, the candidate, and the auditor can all read.
How engagements start
Three entry points. One standard.
No SKUs, no flat-rate menus. Pick the front door that matches where you are; we size the work after a real conversation.
Media & Compliance Plan
- Voter universe & channel mix
- Flight calendar & frequency map
- Compliance & disclosure binder
- Approved creative checklist
Full-Service Media Buying
- Plan, traffic, & verified placement
- CTV, digital, audio, search, mail
- Disclosure & ad-library uploads
- Weekly reporting against universe
Brand Lift & Audit
- Persuasion & ID lift studies
- Reach, frequency, and waste audit
- Holdout vs. exposed comparisons
- Post-cycle debrief documentation
How the work moves
Define. Plan. Run. Verify.
Every cycle runs on the same loop. The names are deliberately unromantic.
Universe & objective
The race, the ballot question, the universe of voters that can move it, and the persuasion vs. turnout split named in writing before a dollar is allocated.
Channels, flights & compliance
Channel mix and flight calendar tied to the universe. Disclosure baked into creative briefs. Compliance binder built before the first IO is signed.
Buy, traffic & coordinate
Verified placements with frequency caps and geo precision. Mail, SMS, and digital coordinated so a voter is reached in a clear sequence, not four ways at once.
Measure & document
Reach, frequency, and lift measured against holdouts. FCC/FEC documentation archived. Post-cycle debrief delivered with what worked and what we would change.
The stack
Platforms and tools we buy and verify through.
We work with mainstream, transparent platforms. We do not buy through opaque networks, we do not run undisclosed creative, and we do not chase placements that cannot be verified.
FAQ
Political-media questions, answered honestly.
Who do you work with?
Federal, state, and local campaigns; PACs and super PACs; party committees; ballot-initiative campaigns; and issue-advocacy nonprofits. We work across the political spectrum on professional, fact-based campaigns.
What kind of work do you not take?
We do not produce or place creative that is knowingly false, deceptively edited, or designed to suppress lawful voting. We do not deploy AI-generated likenesses or cloned voices of real people in political advertising. We do not buy through opaque networks that cannot verify placement.
How do you handle disclosure and compliance?
FEC paid-for-by stamps and FCC sponsor identification on every applicable asset. State and local rules tracked separately. Ad-library and public-file uploads handled as part of the buy, not as an afterthought.
Do you do microtargeting?
We use the standard voter file and platform tools to reach addressable, registered voters at appropriate scale—respecting platform rules around political-ad targeting limits, which have tightened across major platforms. We do not chase precision that the platforms or the law no longer permit.
How do you measure success?
Reach & frequency on the defined voter universe, brand-lift and ad-recall studies, ballot-test movement against holdouts, and downstream signals like volunteer sign-ups, small-dollar donations, and turnout. Vanity metrics are not on the report.
What does it cost?
Tailored to scope. There is no flat-rate menu. We size the work after a 15-minute discovery and a feasibility pass, never before. Media spend is always pass-through and reconciled to the dollar.
Got a cycle ahead, a ballot question, or a flight that needs a grown-up in the room?
Bring the race or the question, the universe, and the budget. Fifteen minutes, real media buyers, no slide deck.
Jacksonville (HQ) · Chicago · Nationwide