We’re still weeks ahead of the midterm elections, but one media platform has already been declared a winner: connected TV.

As voters (and, well, everyone else) shift their attention away from linear television, CTV platforms are becoming crucial for campaigns looking to reach audiences in the tight windows between primaries and Election Day.

By the numbers: Media buyers who spoke to Marketing Brew said they’ve seen CTV spending nearly quintuple compared to the 2020 election cycle.

“Campaigns are asking for it, and media consultants and media buyers are asking for it,” said Mark Jablonowski, managing partner and chief technology officer of DSPolitical, a digital advertising firm that works with Democratic and progressive candidates. “This [space] has just seen tremendous growth from two years ago.”

Cha-ching

This midterm season, investment in CTV and over-the-top platforms is expected to reach $1.4 billion, according to a September estimate from Kantar Media.

• That’s more than digital platforms like Facebook and Google and nearly as much as the amount campaigns are expected to spend on cable and satellite TV.
• Overall, it accounts for about 15% of all advertising dollars projected to be spent in the lead-up to the midterms, which is slated to reach $9 billion this fall, Kantar estimated.

There are a few likely reasons for the surge in CTV spending.

One of them is simple: Political campaigns follow audiences where they are.

“That’s where the viewers are going,” said Frost Prioleau, CEO and co-founder of Simpli.fi, a programmatic demand-side platform that helps advertisers purchase local and regional digital inventory, including CTV, and enables advertisers to target audiences with methods including geofenced congressional districts.

CTV has also finally reached the scale and sophistication for campaigns to take advantage of it more fully, buyers said.

Read the full story here.—KS, RB

If it’s true that all press is good press, then whoever heads up PR at Meta is probably having a great week. Over the past few days, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company really just went ahead and said…

It is ending Bulletin, the subscription newsletter program it launched on Facebook last year: On Tuesday, your grandparents’ favorite social media platform announced that it will shutter the Substack-like service that lets writers monetize newsletters in January. Somebody go check on Malcolm Gladwell.

It is putting more ads in Facebook Reels and sharing some of the revenue with creators: Meta rolled out a handful of new ad formats on Tuesday, some of which include revenue shares for creators. It’s testing “post-loop ads” on Facebook Reels as well as image-carousel ads. Because that’s exactly what Reels (on Facebook, of all places) needs to better compete with TikTok: a billion ads.

It is downsizing its office space: Zuckerberg is smushing everyone’s desks together now? Is he okay? We aren’t even kidding. Per the WSJ, Meta will “rearrange some office layouts, clustering desks and teams together to effectively put employees in closer proximity.”

It is changing the News Feed: The company is adding “show more” and “show less” buttons to Facebook, its latest attempt to keep users scrolling. It’ll also test this function in Reels.

Bottom line: We couldn’t help but wonder…does any of the above news have anything to do with the hiring freeze Zuck told employees about last week? Hit Reply with any and all guesses.—PB

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

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Have you been wondering how HBO is crushing the modern marketing game (any House of the Dragon stans)? Or how Duolingo’s Duo the owl became a storytelling sensation on TikTok? And really, how the heck has Vans managed to transcend the generations and stay part of the cool crowd, even as our beloved skinny jeans get dunked on day after day?

Well, you’ll find the answer to all these questions and more (yes, much more) at the biggest Marketing Brew event yet: The Brief on Nov. 15. This jam-packed day of panels, presentations, and networking will give you strategies to implement immediately, plus the chance to interact personally with some of the best in the industry (not to mention your fellow marketing rock stars). Quick: We have advanced pricing for only a limited time, so grab your ticket here before the cost goes up!

Another day, another holiday spending forecast. PwC dropped its 2022 holiday outlook today, indicating that despite ongoing fears of a recession, US consumers still plan to open their wallets for the holidays.

Break the bank: About three-quarters (74%) of respondents to PwC’s 4,000-person poll said they anticipate spending the same or more this holiday season as they did last.

• 35% said they plan to spend more. This group tends to skew young, male, and urban, according to PwC.
• Consumers in general plan to spend an average of $1,430 on gifts, travel, and entertainment, on par with last year’s $1,447.

Thanks, millennials: Millennials are on track to spend the most this holiday season. Holiday shopping is one thing they didn’t kill.

• This demo is expected to spend an average of $1,823 on gifts, travel, and entertainment.
• Gen Z is averaging $1,104, Gen X is averaging $1,594, and boomers are averaging $1,199.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• The National Abortion Federation taps pro bono network of marketers for its latest campaign
• Tribute: Dan Wieden, 1945–2022
• Meet the golf brands that are changing the landscape of the sport