Political advertising in a
'super election' year

With more than 80 countries worldwide voting in national elections, 2024 has been dubbed the ‘super election’ year.

That’s more than half the world’s population, according to data from the Anchor Change Election Cycle Tracker, that already have or are expected to head to the polls this year. This includes almost one billion voters in India.

Many of these voters will be exposed to political advertising; particularly in the Americas, Asia and Africa. While many markets in Europe have strict regulations on campaign finance, spend and ad placements, social media is still playing a pivotal role.

Aside from the US, traditionally, political adspend has not contributed to a significant share of the total global ad revenue. However, this has been growing in multiple markets. Add to that the increasing use of AI in targeted advertising, coupled with the sheer number of voters, 2024 will be an election year like no other.

With some of the biggest elections already taking place, the UK one underway and the US presidential one on the horizon, PMW examines how political advertising is evolving in a post-Cambridge Analytica world.