Batten down the hatches and stock up on rations. A political storm is brewin'.

If you are on the internet, and the fact that you're reading this email suggests you are, you will have noticed a recent uptick in political content.

That's because, although November 5th is months away, the 2024 presidential election cycle, and its news coverage, has already begun.

And the divide is well documented, with content from either side running rampant across social media.

Polarisation has always been a factor of politics in the US.

The Pew Research Center says an increasing number of Republicans and Democrats view people in the opposite party as 'more close-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans.' That number that has risen steadily from 2016, up 30% as of this year.

Early subscribers will remember I wrote one of my first pieces about the 49 elections going on in 2024 and how brands can tread carefully around them.

Because for brands, advertising messaging and strategies are CRITICAL if you're going to ensure brand safety.

You will also remember I wrote a piece on transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney announcing a partnership with Bug Light. One post was enough to trigger a sh*tstorm that ended in a product boycott, hurling America's best-selling beer down the ranks and placing it front and centre in the culture wars.

Avoiding this kind of negative attention is what I mean when I say brand safety.

We have to be mindful of all areas of our social strategy, or risk alienation.

Which provides both opportunities and challenges for brands.

And Forrester is here to help. The research and advisory company recently released a report called How to Advertise In An Election Year. The report explains the four challenges brands will face in 2024.

These challenges are advertising costs, evolving regulations, the consumer, and emerging technologies. The report also points out that 82% of B2C marketing execs in the U.S. have concerns about marketing their brands during this year's election cycle.

And we all know this doesn't just affect American brands. We all share the same platforms at the end of the day. So, if you share these concerns, let's break down how to address each one.

The co-author of Forrester's report, Principal Analyst Audrey Chee-Read, said, '2024 is already showing itself to be the most expensive advertising year election-wise.'

eMarketer projects U.S. political ad spending in 2024 will total a record $12.32 billion, surpassing the $10 billion threshold for the first time.

This means there will be significant fluctuations in advertising costs, particularly in the lead up and aftermath of the election season.

In tandem with huge events like the Olympic Games, the digital space will be CROWDED. As a brand, you'll have to be very intentional about where and when you choose to advertise.

Most digital media channels have put restrictions on political advertising. Besides TikTok, all the major social media players (Meta, reddit, Snap and X) allow for political ads. But they all require identity verification.

These platforms require political ads to disclose whether they've used genAI or synthetic content in their videos, images and audio. Also, Meta will not allow any political ads in the week leading up to election day.

So, brands should think about allocating a larger part of their ad budget to these platforms that prohibit or have restrictions on political content, and are free from that messaging.