There was a time not too long ago when in-store shopping—let alone sampling—was unthinkable. Even online brands seem to be thinking in IRL terms now.

Field$ of gold: In addition to opening permanent locations, DTC pop-ups and partnerships with larger retailers are also emerging.

• In March, the National Retail Federation reported that physical stores “did better” than online retailers for the first time since the pandemic began. Many retailers opening stores were digital natives, like Allbirds and Warby Parker.
• DTC darling Glossier will soon be in Sephora after years of being sold strictly on its own site.

By 2024, market-research company Forrester predicts that 72% of US retail sales will occur in brick-and-mortar stores. The main reason? Customers want to test products IRL. That’s why, experts told us, DTC brands seem to be embracing the power of the product sample.

Keep reading for the full-size version of our report on samples.—KH

If you work in healthcare, you know it is a constantly changing industry. Luckily for you, this is our specialty. Introducing Healthcare Brew, a biweekly Morning Brew newsletter focused on the global healthcare industry. From tech and mental health to pharmaceuticals and hospital administration, everyone has something new to learn.

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Though they still dominate digital advertising, Google and Meta have begun to lose the interest of a once-reliable category—political advertisers.

• Of every dollar spent on digital platforms during the 2019–2020 election cycle, Meta received 59% and Google made 18%, according to Insider Intelligence.

Now, in light of targeting restrictions placed on political ads since 2019, the category has begun shifting budgets elsewhere. Though analysts predict that Google and Meta will still make a combined total of over a billion dollars in ad revenue this election cycle, political strategists and media buyers told Marketing Brew that they’ve begun to find success elsewhere.

Rewind: In late 2019, Google announced that it would limit political ad targeting to only age, gender, location, and context. (Those changes also extended to YouTube.) In 2021, Meta similarly announced that it would “remove Detailed Targeting options that relate to topics people may perceive as sensitive,” including health, race, religion, and political affiliation.

• Unlike Google, which blocked the feature for election ads, Meta enables advertisers to create or upload audiences for targeting purposes, but its tools have suffered after Apple implemented privacy updates.

And in August, Adweek reported that “Putting a voter list into Meta results in a 35% match rate compared to 99% using demand-side platform Simpli.fi.”

The restrictions came at a time when business was booming: Spending this cycle is projected to reach $9.67 billion, according to the advertising analytics company AdImpact—that’s $660 million more than in 2020, a presidential election year.

But 2020 was a weird year as the pandemic led to political campaigns to invest heavily in digital advertising. So, it’s hard to determine exactly how much has really moved away from walled gardens and what’s just a recalibration.

Keep reading about the recalibration of political advertising here.—RB

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

Black Friday: It’s right around the corner. Take a look at these 19 marketing strategies if you need some inspo.

SEO hack: If your site isn’t ranking as high as you’d like, it might be time to try backlinks.

Take a break: Social marketers, this one’s for you. Here’s how you know it might be time to log off for a bit.

Behind the mic: What’s the current state of diversity in podcasting? Get the scoop on the representation convos happening at Advertising Week—and how brand safety comes into play—in our latest article, sponsored by MNTN.*

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Sonic branding agency amp recently released the fourth edition of its trade publication, amplify. The quarterly report is based on the agency’s Best Audio Brands research, and dives deep on sonic branding trends within one industry. This time: banking and fintech.

Fintech’s silence: Close to half (46%) of financial brands have used sonic logos in the past year, but they’re all in the traditional banking sector.

• None of the fintech brands in amp’s ranking used sonic logos in that time.
• Of the 30 traditional banks that did, sonic logos appeared in 30% of their material on average.

Stock(s) music: Of the 65 banks and fintech companies amp analyzed, all but one used stock music in their brand materials. The one that doesn’t…used no music or sound at all.

• 45 of these brands used stock music in at least half of their digital content.

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

• Podcast networks are making their own rules for political advertising
• A conversation with Soyoung Kang, the CMO of eos
• Marketers are increasingly pairing data with out-of-home buys