Advertising
AI Ads Are Good Enough — And That's the Problem
Ipsos
“On average, the human-made ads are 14% stronger on short-term effectiveness (Creative Effect Index) and 17% stronger on long-term effectiveness (Equity Effect Index).”
How AI Is Changing Political Advertising
Washington Post
“Many believed that 2024 would be the first campaign where artificial intelligence was widely used, but while the technology was used, most of it was in the more dull, behind-the-scenes work that campaigns do every day.”
Campaigns
Bad Digital and Other Ways to Lose
Jordan Lieberman
“The single most predictive variable in a digital program isn't the budget. It isn't creative or platform mix. It's the start date.”
Organizing young people via text still works…you're just doing it wrong
FWIW
“Across all campaigns, we averaged a 5.8% response rate, with some getting as high as 6.9%, higher than our initial test campaigns in 2025 and a remarkable response rate by any industry standard.”
Design
One candidate's new logo looks like a rip off. There's now an investigation.
Hunter Schwarz
“Two Dan Sullivans are running for Senate in Alaska, and if their names aren't confusing enough, you might want to take a look at their logos.”
Fundraising
'A New Normal': Fundraising Platforms Enter an Era of Scrutiny
Campaigns & Elections
“Still, the flurry of official activity targeting both parties' primary digital fundraising platforms suggests that the political donation-processing space is entering a more volatile era.”
Media
Passive vs. Active News Consumption and Updating the Pictures in Our Heads
Richard J. Tofel
“It found that about two thirds of Montanans were consuming news that was just delivered to them, rather than actively sought by them.”
Social Media
Influencers Embrace Push to Add Disclaimers on Paid Political Content
NOTUS
“Influencer marketing has been a part of advertising for a long time now; though it's newer to political campaigns, it's a no brainer to me to treat it the same way you do a TV ad, billboard, or web banner for a campaign. Transparency is great for everyone.”
TikTok Shows 3x More AI Slop Than YouTube, Report Finds
Search Engine Journal
“In a fresh-account test, Kapwing found 59% of TikTok For You videos were AI slop, roughly three times the rate on YouTube.”
New data: The biggest political & news publications on Substack
Chaotic Era
“Out of 100 top publications in the 'U.S. Politics' category, 72 lean left or progressive, compared to just 17 that lean right or conservative.”