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Ex-Facebook CMO Gary Briggs joins Michael Bloomberg's presidential bid

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By John Glenday, Reporter

November 26, 2019 | 3 min read

Michael Bloomberg is looking to shake-up next year’s US presidential campaign in league with former Facebook chief marketing officer Gary Briggs, led by an ambitious social media advertising campaign which could be worth over $500m.

Gary Briggs

Former Facebook CMO Gary Briggs joins Michael Bloomberg's presidential bid

A leading exec at Facebook until late 2018 Briggs has been brought on board by Bloomberg as his digital director, as the billionaire prepares to channel his wealth into a massive television and digital ad campaign.

Bloomberg is expected to go for broke in the race by sanctioning an unprecedented advertising war chest to propel him into the lead over his Democratic rivals in the race for his party’s nomination, allocating $31m for TV ads this week alone.

If successful, this could open the floodgates for saturation coverage next year in a titanic battle as Bloomberg and Trump would face off against one another in a battle to become the next US president.

Briggs quit his Facebook role at the tail end of 2018 for a life of semi-retirement but has remained an active supporter of the Democratic Party. Earlier this month he told The Drum that he was considering potential avenues for applying his skills to further the Democrats’ campaigning.

The high-stakes gamble is not without risks not only due to the power of political advertising at this scale being largely untested but also the danger of associating too closely with a Silicon Valley brand which has become sullied in recent years by a series of scandals relating to privacy and political interference.

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