Digital Connect July 24, 2025

DCW’s Connect is back! We’re taking a look at X’s persistence as a popular news source, the launch of Marriott’s media network, the rise of Reels on Meta, and United Airlines’ latest expansion of in-flight targeting.

Platform Updates:

The app, formerly known as Twitter, currently known as X, continues its steady rise as a news source, despite recent drama involving owner Elon Musk, overseas censorship issues, and constant platform changes. A large-scale worldwide study by Reuters found that about 25% of both left-leaning and right-leaning respondents use the social app as a weekly news source. These gains come as the use of Facebook as a news source has drastically declined since 2019, and video apps like TikTok have leveled off recently in the survey. DCW continues to deliver strong performance on X, especially for niche healthcare audiences — proving the platform’s value well beyond news and politics.

Hotel giant Marriott has launched Marriott Media, its media network. Advertisers can gain access to Marriott's massive travel audience across their app, website, off-site inventory, and even in-room televisions. Users will benefit from their global reach as well as their first-person data, which includes over 230 million users. DCW is tracking the incredible rise of these retail media networks and is fully prepared to work with clients to tap into their potential, finding the right retail platforms for any use case. 

Meta is all in on video Reels placements for Instagram and Facebook. The social platform is encouraging advertisers to utilize Reels in all campaigns, which can be done by resizing assets to a 9:16 phone-friendly ratio. They also recommend adding sound to these placements and balancing where text should appear vs. video content (the “safe zone”). Meta data shows Reels placements drive greater reach and lower cost per result and DCW helps brands unlock that advantage with ease. DCW has years of experience in running multi-tactic Meta campaigns and can simplify the trafficking of complex social campaigns across the platform. 

DCW is well-versed in transit advertising and air travel is the latest placement frontier. United Airlines' in-house agency, Kinective Media, is expanding to sell in-flight ad placements across other airlines. It was recently announced that JetBlue will be partnering with Kinective, using the rival airlines' valuable customer data to reach users on seatback video screens. United takes advantage of an opt-in loyalty program and customer data to reach a premium traveler audience that may be a boost to a variety of brands.