The latest Partisan Deep Dive, moderated by Josef Lentsch (Partisan) and featuring Sandor Madovy (Amplify:good)and Patrick Frank (Lunda), explored what this shift means for campaigns and civil society — how political messages are crafted, distributed, and measured in a creator-first environment, and what new opportunities and risks arise for persuasion, mobilisation, and accountability.

From ad bans to authentic voices

The end of paid political advertising is not just a technical change — it’s a structural shift in how campaigns reach people. As Patrick explained, after the new transparency rules came into effect, most major platforms stopped running political ads altogether. For political organisations, this means the familiar model of buying reach has vanished almost overnight.

Frank argued that this moment should not lead to shrinking budgets, but to smarter reallocations:

“Don’t cut the budget just because ads are gone. Keep it focused on the same goals — persuasion and acquisition — but use it to try new tactics.”

Those tactics increasingly rely on authentic creators, individuals who connect with audiences through trust rather than sponsorship. As Sandor noted, four in ten people now get their news via social media, and 63% trust influencers more than brands. In this context, real voices become the new distribution channels of political communication.

Rethinking campaign budgets

With paid placements off the table, campaigns are asking where their digital budgets should go. Both speakers agreed that creator collaborations are emerging as the most direct successor to ad-driven outreach. These partnerships can maintain reach and persuasion but require new skills — from mapping value-aligned creators to building long-term relationships.

Sandor explained that Amplify:good helps mission-driven organisations identify local creators whose values align with campaign goals:

“We don’t prioritise celebrity influencers. We work with credible local voices — people with a digital footprint and a point of view — who can tell stories that resonate with specific communities.”

This approach reframes spending not as ad buying, but as investing in a network of trusted messengers who can translate political messages into authentic narratives.

Europe’s fragmented creator landscape

Unlike in the US, where large-scale influencer marketing often centres around celebrities, Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity makes its creator ecosystem deeply fragmented. Campaigns cannot rely on one-size-fits-all personalities. Instead, they must work with local, value-driven creators who understand their audiences.

Sandor emphasised that smaller creators often have more genuine influence than large ones:

“The best voices are not always the biggest. They’re the ones who care about the issue and can explain it in a way that feels real.”

This fragmentation is both a challenge and an opportunity — requiring more nuanced strategies but also creating space for more representative and community-grounded communication.

Organic storytelling as strategy

As traditional advertising loses visibility and trust, organic content is becoming the new persuasion tool. Creator-generated content — often informal, rapid, and audience-centred — performs better than high-production ads because it mirrors how people naturally engage online.

Sandor described two emerging approaches: quality versus quantity. Some campaigns invest in polished storytelling with strong production values; others focus on high-volume, iterative content that keeps audiences engaged across multiple platforms. Both, however, rely on authenticity and resonance rather than paid amplification.

The next phase of digital campaigning

The session concluded with a clear message: the end of ads is not the end of outreach. It’s a pivot point that challenges political organisations to rebuild how they communicate — through people, not placements.

For campaign professionals, the shift means:

• Rethinking digital budgets as creator partnerships, not ad spends.

• Building internal capacity to identify, brief, and collaborate with authentic voices.

• Measuring influence not in impressions, but in engagement and trust.

As Patrick noted, platforms themselves have little incentive to return to political ads — the economics no longer make sense, and audiences prefer social spaces without them. The future lies in leveraging creator ecosystems that blend authenticity, participation, and transparency.

“It’s both terrifying and exciting to see ads go away,” Frank said. “But it’s also one of the greatest opportunities to rebuild democratic communication in a way that’s more human, transparent, and effective.”

Towards a creator-first campaign model

The takeaway from this Deep Dive was clear: the post-ad era will reward creativity, credibility, and collaboration. Political professionals who adapt early — reallocating budgets, building creator networks, and investing in organic storytelling — will be best positioned to lead this new phase of digital campaigning.

👉 The conversation underscored a decisive shift: the future of persuasion will belong not to those who pay for attention, but to those who earn it.