Good evening. Happy Inauguration Eve, and welcome to another edition of Doomscroll, your favorite newsletter covering all things digital on the right in this “very dark, negative business” of ours. (I hear you, Ivanka. You got out while you could. #Bless.) For the rest of us…tomorrow is going to be YUGE. I wish you all good luck with those inauguration-themed fundraising appeals. I can’t want to see what comes through.🤩🤩
And hey - if you’re doing something around the inauguration or Trump’s first week in office that you don’t want me to miss, HMU at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com. Don’t be shy!
Now let’s get to some doomscrolling.
One Question
Thanks to everyone who answered last week’s One Question about what matters more for Republican campaigns: a TikTok “ban” or Facebook’s new changes. 100% of you chose the Facebook changes, and I must say I agree! Nor am I surprised by this unanimous poll result. I mean…Will the app really truly disappear forever? Doubtful. Plus, GOP candidates aren’t really going to be that impacted by the loss of something they didn’t really use to begin with (which has always been a good thing, IMO). Ok so that was an easy question!
As far as what other thoughts you all had…I got some interesting comments:
Fb becoming maga country is about to be the new gold rush for republicans
More GOP target audience use FB platforms than TikTok. TikTok audience skews younger, likely more liberal/less swingy, ie less likely to be a GOP voter in a mid-term
Congrats to Targeted Victory for its take over of NRSC! NRSC digital is now staffed almost completely by Targeted Victory alumni!
The government's handling of the vaccine really opened my eyes. It's sad that they eroded the public trust in some very important institutions like the CDC.
Okie dokie!
This week’s One Question is this: What’s the one hill you will die on when it comes to digital? Take this anywhere you want - the more controversial the better! Let your freak flags fly. Are you absolutely convinced that Facebook ads are a waste of money? Think CTV buys should be controlled by digital teams and not TV buyers? Whatever your hill is…I want to know what it is and what makes you ready to fight to the death.
Don’t forget all answers are anonymous to me AND to your fellow Doomscroll readers. 🙂
One Quote
One Thought
SCOTUS ruling or not, I still don’t think a total ban is a guarantee given Pres. Trump’s reversal on the issue. (Update: Looks like the incoming prez is going to issue an executive order to stall the ban). Even if it did go dark earlier today, time will ultimately tell. Either way, can we all agree TikTok’s hold on America’s youth was never a good thing and the less attention we give it the better? Just a thought.
Who’s Doing What
—Whatup, Sarah?
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has kicked off her re-election campaign with a cool 30-second video spot in which she speaks directly to camera and talks about the gains her state has made under her leadership. Promises made and promises kept sorta thing. I LOVE it. This is a great video for an incumbent to release. Voters already know her and her agenda so no need to waste time on bio or policy priorities with fancy b-roll. Kudos to her and the team that put this together!
—Heritage in Action
The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America are leaning real hard into pushing the Senate to confirm Trump’s cabinet picks. Like, real hard. It’s kind of wild to see the conservative group, for instance, run a 30-second ad to back a Democrat like RFK Jr. Are we living in the upside down? The advocacy group is also spending money on Facebook and YouTube a 30-second spot that just ends with “Confirm Trump’s Cabinet Now.” On both platforms, the group is targeting Utah, Louisiana, Iowa, Alaska, Indiana, Maine, North Carolina, Kentucky, Washington, and South Dakota. They’re both good spots. Well done. So…keep on keeping on, I guess?
—InstaGreat
I want to give a shout-out to the Senate GOP Instagram account. After taking a brief hiatus on posting over the holidays (who among us didn’t?), the posts are back and while I’ve admired this account’s aesthetic for awhile, I don’t think I’ve ever given it some love here in Doomscroll. Everyone: Take note. The content is great. It looks great. And I think I speak for us all when I say “bring back the podcast, too!” That is all. No notes. Just good stuff.
—Help me understand
Serious question: Where was this Katie Britt during the SOTU Response? #Neverforget.
Who’s Spending Where
P2P
This week’s text shout-out goes to Nancy Mace. Whatever you think of her dust-up with Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett this week, the woman sure knows how to capitalize on a *moment*. This is pretty well written, and I appreciate the merch attempt! Credit where credit’s due!
Industry Watch
First up: Meta is beginning to roll out Community Notes for Instagram If you want to join the waitlist to be a part of the program, go here. Also, Community Notes won’t apply to paid ads - just organic posts. Cool, cool.
Second: Thought this update from Yahoo was interesting…Some key excerpts:
Yahoo is jumping on the curation bandwagon. The digital media company will work with a host of partners to offer more white-glove advertising services in an effort to help advertisers reach their intended audiences and avoid some of the pitfalls of programmatic advertising, it announced at CES this week…
This week, Yahoo said it would build on those efforts, announcing partnerships with ad-tech analytics company Jounce, contextual advertising company Peer39, and ad-tech emissions tracker Scope3, all with the intention of helping its advertisers avoid the junk of the internet. Advertisers can, if they wish, lean on these partners to weed out programmatic resellers offering lower quality and “made for advertising” inventory.
And also:
The company also announced a partnership with Roku that will offer its advertisers direct biddable access to Roku’s inventory without going through a supply-side company.
2025-2026 Watch
Vivek is running for Governor of Ohio. Read about it here.
A new poll shows an already tight gov race in Virginia this year between Abigail Spanberger and Winsome Sears. See the poll here.
Speaking of governor’s races, Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser is considering challenging Shapiro. Read more here.
Oklahoma AG Gentner Drummond is preparing his gubernatorial bid. Read more here.
TN Sen. Marsha Blackburn is also preparing a run for governor. Read more here.
MI State Sen. Aric Nesbitt is running for governor as well. Read more here.
NC Sen. Thom Tillis already has one primary challenger in businessman Andy Nilsson. Read more here.
Former SC Lt. Governor might primary Lindsey Graham!? Read about it here.
The Grapevine
Congrats to Greg Butcher for his launch of Alamo Intelligence!
The Center for Campaign Innovation is hiring a digital marketing and community manager. Check out the posting here.
Got a tip for The Grapevine? Job announcement? Job opening? Email ‘em to me at itsthedoomscroll@gmail.com
Last But Not Least
From the other side of the aisle:
Speaking of the Mace-Crocket dust-up … Crocket is also attempting to fundraise off the moment:
I mean…of course she is. But neither one of these women should be proud of their 15 seconds this week (IMO).
From the other side of the tracks:
Marketing Dive took a look at Walmart’s branding refresh:
On Monday (Jan. 13), the big-box store unveiled the latest update to its visual identity, one meant to embrace the growing role that digital and cross-channel capabilities play in an industry that has seen its makeup altered by technology over the past two decades.
I really appreciate this aspect:
While Walmart’s makeover is perhaps less dramatic than some past tweaks, such as ditching its hyphen and bowing the spark, it speaks to changing priorities for a company traditionally known for sprawling superstores.
“It’s not a wholesale reinvention of the Walmart identity. It’s very much an evolution versus a revolution,” said Hartman.
I saw a lot of people knocking the “rebrand” on social media this week, but I think they’re missing the point. This is less about rebranding and more about evolving, as the above quote makes clear. There’s a lot to be said for restraint when it comes to logo and branding refreshes - especially for a company as well known as Walmart. Same goes for politicians who have been in the game for a while. Updating campaign logos can be a great idea, but there’s no need to totally reinvent the wheel.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading! Did you like it? Consider forwarding to your friends!