Avoiding Political Campaign Clutter Will Push Brands to Explore Contextual Commerce

By Joey Petracca, co-founder and COO Chicory


Political Ad Spend Surge in 2024

As the US Presidential election looms closer, digital ad spend is expected to increase by 156% this year and will make up 28% of political ad spend in 2024 vs 14% in 2020 according to eMarketer.

This poses numerous challenges for brands. Increased political spend means reduced ad inventory and CPMs rising with Connatix suggesting an increase of between 10-20% compared with last year’s monthly seasonal averages across its publisher network. Data from New Engen also shows the correlation between rising CPMs as political ad spend increases.

Brand Safety Concerns Amid Political Ads

The influx of political ads will also present challenges for brand safety as companies try to keep their distance from politics. In fact, 82% of marketing execs in the US told Forrester they were concerned about marketing their brands during this year's presidential election cycle. And the concern is understandable as there’s considerable nuance in what is considered brand safe vs what isn’t, especially when it comes to consumer sentiment.

But it’s not just ads. Politics is getting into pop content following the news that Taylor Swift was used in a fake AI endorsement of Trump. With the politics news cycle moving as fast as it does, whitelisting sites or keyword blocking won’t cut it. Moreover, advertisers might also inadvertently block the very places where their consumers convert.

For example, news reports have covered Trump’s plan to legalize marijuana as ‘pro-pot policies’, but if a pasta brand blocked the keyword ‘pot’ it won’t appear on a recipe page that mentions cooking pasta in a ‘pot’.

Contextual Commerce as a Solution

With keyword blocking too blunt an instrument and programmatic buys running the risk of products appearing on content not deemed brand safe, brands have started to look at alternatives - contextual commerce being one such option.

Essentially, these are buying opportunities seamlessly integrated into a customer’s everyday activities in the form of content across publishers and specific pages that are inherently brand safe related to what a consumer needs in that moment. This could include browsing fashion sites with links to purchase clothes featured, or shopping for ingredients featured on recipes via buy it now buttons. Shoppable videos are also growing in popularity.

One of the reasons why contextual commerce works so well is that it meets the consumer at the point of discovery and inspiration. The strategy also complements retail media efforts by reaching new and lapsed shoppers outside of a retailer’s platform when they are in an inspired mindset and more likely to purchase. Reaching a consumer with a Chobani ad while they’re reading a recipe featuring Greek yogurt is an amazing place to advertise and the brand can be confident of the context of the placement.

Contextual media also doesn’t rely on first-party or third-party cookies making it privacy-safe and immune to future changes. Contextual commerce also helps reduce wasted ad impressions because it is reaching consumers at the right time as opposed to passive consumers on ad content elsewhere. Social Media Platforms, CTV, and all kinds of other platforms or sites with high reach might enable more granular behavioral targeting at scale but even with the most sophisticated brand safety tools it will be difficult for brands to escape the political news and advertisements that are going to dramatically ramp up over the coming months.

Balancing Tradeoffs: Why Contextual Commerce Is Worth the Shift

With consumer fatigue expected to grow because of being inundated with divisive political ads there is also an increased importance of converting consumers in the small window when they are actually open to consideration and purchase. Passive, behavioral based advertising will just be part of the noise that consumers deal with this election cycle. They want to tune it all out. Seamless commerce integration allows brands to lean into those moments when consumers are open to conversion and provide actual value to them.

Of course contextual commerce media isn’t completely without its challenges. The lack of standardization in media measurement metrics and less than transparent reporting for some retail media networks can make it harder to prove ROI. Add to cart rates still remain the default metric for reporting even though they merely signal intent to purchase rather than conversion. Brands also still need to consider the reputation of a publisher featuring their ads as data privacy concerns prevented 38% of those surveyed in a contextual commerce study from purchasing products through links on some website and blogs.

Brands moving programmatic dollars over to contextual commerce to avoid brand safety fears also shouldn’t expect the same results. One of the reasons programmatic media is so successful is the scale and efficiency it offers and while contextual commerce media is impactful, it’s not possible to compare these tactics as a like for like replacement.

Tradeoffs will always have to be made. Both tactics reach consumers in different ways with their own pros and cons. But that being said, given the charged political landscape and the potential fallout from a bad placement, it’s easy to see why more brands are exploring contextual commerce right now.


About Joey Petracca

Joey Petracca is the COO and co-founder of advertising platform Chicory which powers over 5,200 publisher sites and maintains direct integrations with more than 70 retailers, driving sales for leading CPG brands. Recognized for his innovative contributions to the industry, Joey is a Path to Purchase Institute 40 Under 40 and Retail Media Award recipient, as well as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in the Retail and E-commerce category. Prior to his advertising career, he interned at various political offices including for the Obama campaign in 2008.

For BrandsChicory