Twitch Explores “Brand Safety Scores” For Streamers

BY

This week in social media news, Twitch is testing brand safety scores for streamers, Twitter says it has earned brand safety accreditation from TAG and is working on a way to natively record conversations, Instagram is testing a closed captions functionality for Stories, Snapchat announces a resource hub and webinar to help advertisers navigate Apple’s privacy updates and more.

A Peek At Twitch’s Brand Safety Scores

According to PC Gamer, cybersecurity researcher Daylam Tayari has spotted code within Twitch’s internal application program interface (API) that suggests the platform is testing “brand safety scores” that rates streamers’ friendliness based on factors like chat behavior, ban history, manual ratings from Twitch staff, age and more.

Why it matters: Many Twitch streamers have been at the center of controversy for various reasons including misbehavior, using racial slurs and bullying. The brand safety score would give advertisers reassurance that their ads are being served to the correct audiences as well as enable streamers to facilitate brand deals.

The details: A Twitch spokesperson confirmed to PC Gamer that “nothing has launched yet,” but that it’s exploring ways to improve the Twitch experience for viewers and creators, “including efforts to better match the appropriate ads to the right communities.”

Twitter Receives Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) Brand Safety Seal

Twitter recently announced that it has received global brand safety accreditation from TAG, and that it’s rolling out ‘conversation settings’ to advertisers to enable them to choose who can reply to their promoted tweets.

Why it matters: The TAG accreditation will cover Twitter’s global operations, assuring advertisers and agencies that TAG safety standards will be applied to Twitter’s digital ad agreements, monetized content takedown practices, the use of inclusion/exclusion lists and the documentation of certain policies used to reduce the risk of ad misplacement.

The details: In the same announcement, Twitter says it’s expanding its conversation settings feature, which it rolled out to users in August 2020, to advertisers. This update extends the feature to brands’ promoted-only tweets and organic tweets, as well as to those who use the platform’s most popular ad formats.

Instagram Tests Closed Captions Feature For Instagram Stories

Instagram is testing an automated captions sticker that can be applied to Instagram Stories, as spotted by Matt Navarra and reported by Social Media Today.

Why it matters: The new functionality would eliminate the issue of a user watching content with the sound off, and thereby enable brands and creators to boost their engagement.

The details: As per Social Media Today, the feature would generate closed captions for users’ stories clips in four text style options. Once applied, the captions sticker would display a prompt that says ‘Transcribing audio…”

Twitter Plans To Create A Feature That Natively Records Conversations

During an interview on The Verge’s Decoder podcast, Twitter’s head of consumer product Kayvon Beykpour said the company is working on a feature that natively records conversations.

Why it matters: For moderation purposes, Twitter currently records conversations and keeps them for 30 days. The hosts can download that data as well as the transcription, whereas competitor Clubhouse only retains conversation recordings when a room is live.

The details: According to The Verge, Beykpour said:

“I think it should be a choice. If you think that the conversation was worth playing back, you ought to be able to do that. I personally am a little bit more bullish on two things. One, obviously the host should be able to save it and do whatever they want. Maybe you host a Space, you save it, then want to go edit it. You should be able to do that.”

He added that, “letting the audience pick sound bites and share them as clips could be really, really powerful.”

Snapchat Announces Guides, Webinar To Help Advertisers Navigate iOS 14 Updates

Snapchat has created a resource hub that outlines how its ad solutions will take Apple’s forthcoming privacy updates into account to help marketers navigate the changes.

Why it matters: Snapchat says its goal is to enable personalized ad experiences, maintain user trust and help brands succeed with “actionable preparation guides.”

The details: To address the largest iOS update, AppTrackingTransparency (ATT)—which requires apps to use Apple’s modal for users to opt-in to tracking across apps and websites owned by other companies—Snapchat says it will show the tracking modal to users and continue to collect identifier for advertisers (IFDA) for opt-in events on iOS 14.

The platform’s comprehensive guides provide recommendations for advertisers running Snapchat campaigns with app install, deep link attachments or website attachments. Snapchat will flesh out these best practices during a webinar on March 11, “How to Prepare for Apple iOS 14 Changes: Web & App Advertising on Snapchat.”

Snapchat And Gannett Form Partnership To Reach Small Advertisers

Snapchat and Gannett have inked a deal that will involve Gannett promoting Snap ads to local businesses in the US and Canada through Gannett’s network of more than 100,000 small business clients, reports Social Media Today.

Why it matters: The partnership comes as Snapchat reported a 62 percent year-over-year increase in revenue and doubling of advertisers in Q4.  

The details: According to Social Media Today, under the deal, Gannett’s sales force will have the ability to sell Snapchat advertising to SMBs, a move that Snapchat hopes will expand its reach among local businesses.

TikTok Announces A Free Summit For Small And Medium Businesses

TikTok will host a free event for SMBs, ‘Ready, Set, Grow,’ where it will share resources and best practices on how they can utilize TikTok to expand their business.

Why it matters: The event is part of TikTok’s larger effort to reach small businesses in the same way that its major competitors do, including Facebook and Google.

The details: ‘Ready, Set, Grow,’ scheduled for March 24 at 11 a.m. EST, will include a number of creators who discuss how they leverage TikTok as a business tool through SMB success stories and tips on setting up a business on TikTok with Shopify integration and creating original content.

Progressive Insurance Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Charney To Retire

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This week in leadership updates, Progressive’s CMO Jeff Charney is retiring and Jo Feeney steps down from McDonald’s Australia marketing director. 

Progressive Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Charney To Retire

Progressive Insurance’s CMO for more than a decade, Jeff Charney, is set to retire, the company announced. Charney will stay on until January 2022, but the company says that the exact timing will depend on securing his replacement.

McDonald’s Australia Marketing Director Jo Feeney Departs

Jo Feeney, director of marketing for McDonald’s Australia, has stepped down to become CMO at jewelry brand Michael Hill.

Feeney was with McDonald’s for over seven years, first as national marketing manager and most recently as director of marketing.

Wendy’s Taps Dr. Beverly Stallings-Johnson For Vice President, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer

Wendy’s has appointed Dr. Beverly Stallings-Johnson to the newly created role of VP, chief diversity, equity and inclusion.

Stallings-Johnson joins Wendy’s from the city of Columbus, where she served as chief diversity officer. Prior to that, she spent over 25 years at Xerox, most recently as equal employment opportunity officer as well as chief diversity and inclusion global compliance and policy officer.

Songtradr Taps Lindsay Nahmiache For Chief Marketing Officer

Songtradr has named Lindsay Nahmiache as CMO.

Nahmiache is also the co-founder and chief executive officer of Jive PR + Digital.

United Community Bank Hires Francie Staub For Chief Marketing Officer

Francie Staub has joined United Community Bank as CMO.

Staub joins Union from Capital One, where she led brand marketing for US credit cards.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau Names Gina Garrubbo Board Chair

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has appointed Gina Garrubbo, president and chief executive of National Public Media, chair of its board of directors.

Garrubbo has served as the IAB board’s vice chair since August 2020 and as the co-chair of the IAB Audio Committee since 2017.

Additionally, IAB elected three new board members, including Renie Anderson, chief revenue officer and EVP of NFL partnerships; Jerry Dischler, VP and general manager of ads at Google; and Rob Master, VP of media and digital engagement at Unilever.

How Product Experience, Marketing, And Community Coexist With FreshBooks’ Paul Cowan

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On this 250th episode of “Marketing Today,” I speak with Paul Cowan, the CMO of FreshBooks, a cloud-based accounting solution for small businesses and self-employed professionals. Over the past 20 years, Cowan has marketed everything from booze to SaaS products, learning that product experience and marketing go hand-in-hand.

In this episode, Cowan discusses the symbiotic relationship between product experience and marketing while touching on the intersection between marketing and community. We also talk of activism — or really slacktivism — and what it means for businesses.

The conversation begins with an overview of how FreshBooks came to be and how Cowan stepped into his CMO role during a company rebrand. Like any good CMO, Cowan believes it’s important for your customers to understand the pain you address, but it’s even more essential for them to understand what makes you different. From a brand standpoint, Cowan says marketers need to look internally and find what he calls the “bits of goodness” that exist within the product experience and communicate that to customers.

Cowan goes on to explain how to use that pain to build a community, what slacktivism means, and how it impacts business, for better or worse.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to take a pain point and use marketing to exploit it
  • How to find your company magic and use it as your superpower
  • What the symbiotic relationship is between product, customers, marketing, and community
  • What role slacktivism plays in marketing and in pushing companies to be purpose-driven

Key Highlights:

  • [01:33] Why Paul isn’t allowed around chainsaws
  • [03:01] What is FreshBooks and Paul’s path to becoming CMO
  • [05:38] The pain FreshBooks set out to solve
  • [07:06] The FreshBooks rebrand
  • [11:42] The overlap of product experience and marketing
  • [13:27] Using pain points to build network and community
  • [19:15] What is slacktivism, and how it applies to purpose-driven companies
  • [27:51] An experience that defines Paul, made him who he is today
  • [29:31] Paul’s advice for his younger self
  • [30:17] A recent impactful purchase Paul made
  • [31:22] The brands, companies, and causes Paul follows
  • [33:03] What Paul says is the biggest opportunity for marketers today

Resources Mentioned:

Subscribe to the podcast:

Connect with Marketing Today and Alan Hart:

Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.

What We’re Reading—Week Of March 1st

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A short survey of the articles we’re sharing together at AList.

Stereotypes In Ads Are Bad For Men’s Health, So What’s The Cure? Reinvent Or Remove?

The Drum

Gender stereotypes are increasingly being recognized as a public, political and moral health concern requiring resolution. The ad industry now recognizes that “outdated depictions of manhood and masculinity are just as corrosive as misogynistic tropes.” The question remains: Should these tropes be reinvented or removed?

Why it matters: Eighty-five percent of consumers, men included, say that “equitable representation shows a brand’s commitment to all customers.” A solution for clients and agencies is to mandate diverse teams and empower each other to listen when interrogating the assignments.

How Online Privacy Issues Will Shape Future Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Advertising

Forbes

Sheri Bachstein, IBM’s global head of Watson Advertising, says that federal legislation is required to strike the balance between effective marketing and the protection of consumer rights.

Why it matters: She believes that the growth of augmented reality (AI) drives the future of digital advertising, and therefore must be recognized as a “tangible solution that can deliver real outcomes while keeping consumer privacy intact.”

Gatorade’s New ‘Sweat Patch’ And App Deliver Personalized Hydration Recommendations

Ad Age

In efforts to democratize sports science technology, Gatorade’s Gx Sweat Patch pairs with a Gatorade-made app to help the masses customize their hydration strategies during exercise. At $24.99 each, the patch collects sweat samples that, once scanned, recommend specifics on pre- and post-workout hydration.

Why it matters: Gatorade’s attempt at providing customers with smart products plays into the personalization trend pioneered by Coca-Cola’s “Share-a-Coke,” and comes after Gatorade retail sales dropped to 67.7 percent in 2020 from 76.6 percent in 2015.

How Leaders Can Solve the Learning Dilemma

MIT Sloan Management Review

Gallup data found that only 40 percent of employees strongly agree that they have opportunities at work to learn and grow. Covid-19 has highlighted digital skills gaps in organizations working remotely, potentially the result of defining learning too narrowly, and failing to determine how behaviors hinder effective learning. 

Why it matters: The MIT SMR Executive Guide “The Future of Workplace Learning” shows how unlearning plays a role in shaping the future, and suggests that leaders must address internal behaviors that block progress in diversity and embrace new ways to support the talent pipeline of the 21st century. 

B2B Marketers’ Newest Venture: Clubhouse

The Drum

Clubhouse, the invite-only, audio-led social media platform where users can insert themselves into conversations rather than listen passively, can benefit B2B companies in multiple ways, including: the ability to deliver interactive experiences, reach an already engaged audience and create sponsored rooms and brand ambassadors that help promote organic brand awareness.

Why it matters: Clubhouse achieved a $1 billion valuation in its first year. Plus, the app went from just 3,500 users in December to over 600,000 at the time of reporting.

When Should Video Game Marketers Invest In TV?

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In the world of performance user acquisition (UA) for games, where does television spend fit? Is it useless? Does it drive installs? Awareness? Lower your cost per install (CPI)? While I was at FoxNext on Marvel Strike Force, we invested in TV for that game’s launch. About eight months in, my boss Rick Phillips said, “Is it doing anything for us?” So we did some research to try to answer that question. If you’re wondering whether TV spend is right for your game, read on below as I unpack my learnings.

Strong Correlation To App Store Search Volume

Whether TV fits in user acquisition (UA) depends on your goal. If performance is a particular KPI, like revenue generation, profit, installs or downloads, then my experience has been not so much. TV is not effective at those—at least not in a way that is clearly attributable. Our research showed that there was no way to attribute those other more typical return on investment (ROI)-driven KPIs—cost per install (CPI) or direct installs attributed by a spend in marketing. If your goal is to drive brand awareness or app store traffic, which is probably less ROI as a goal, then the answer is maybe, and sometimes.

In the case of Marvel Strike Force, the only true correlated lift in our TV spend was driving traffic to our App Store page. We could definitely see that when TV was running, the traffic that went to our iTunes and Google Play stores increased.

Since you can’t actually see the customer journey of exactly what they did and what steps they took, the intuition we have is: You’ve got a phone while you’re on your couch AND  you see a TV ad, so you go on to the App Store. You read about the game. Maybe you install it, maybe you don’t. Most people don’t— at least not on the very first impression. But that is a top funnel action, meaning this is the first impression a gamer has of your game and most likely they will need more convincing before installing. So is a TV commercial effective at driving other results? 

No Correlation To Lowering CPI Or Organic Installs

In Marvel Strike Force’s instance, there was absolutely no evidence that TV affected CPI. In fact, there were many other highly effective ways our UA team could change the CPI. Most of those were directly able to be manipulated by the UA teams themselves. For example, the bid prices they set, the creative they used in their UA campaigns and the timing or the targeting of those parameters. Those were way more effective ways than TV to change a CPI.

But CPI is not the most important KPI for UA. It’s just a factor in an equation. It doesn’t show that you acquired anyone profitably. Just because you can acquire a player for one dollar doesn’t mean you’re making money off that player. CPI is one of the levers that UA teams can use to maximize the most important factor, which is profitability, or return on advertising spend (ROAS).

While TV advertising doesn’t have a positive impact on CPI, it can help boost brand awareness.

Slight Correlation To Brand Awareness

We did find that TV advertising can help make people aware of your game. Yet it’s still hard to attribute. The only real way you can do that is through surveys, or have data scientists run linear regression modeling to prove some amount of correlation to dollar spend versus brand awareness lift.

What was interesting for Marvel Strike Force was that brand awareness was not a KPI we needed help with. The Marvel licence itself came with built in brand awareness so using TV to lift awareness was a meaningless spend. For a new IP that’s launching who doesn’t start off with the brand awareness equity that Marvel has built, if the marketing team decides to chase awareness as the most important KPI to optimize against, then TV could be in the consideration mix because it can and does have the ability to drive awareness around a particular brand or an IP.

Awareness is just a start though. There needs to be a lot of other work, tactics and communication channels to follow up with awareness as a player “considers” your game. Just because somebody knows you exist doesn’t mean that they’re going to look for more information about you, that they’re going to ask their friends about you, become a player of your game or spend money in your game. Those are way further down the list. So you better have all the other tactics ready, so that once you make somebody aware, there’s a natural path that they can take to find out more information about your game. But, TV isn’t the only way to drive awareness.

Alternatives To TV

From my experience, there are other more organic and modern ways to drive awareness, whether that is through social media, original content creation or working with influencers. Having relations with people who are celebrities on channels where viewers are interested in the type of game you would be making—whether that’s a YouTuber, a Twitch streamer, a very influential Twitter person, and now, TikTok celebrities. Understand who their audiences are. If you’re a new IP and your owned channels don’t have a huge following, invest heavily in earned media (EMV) opportunities.

One thing to note is it’s a much more cumbersome process to try to do variant testing with TV spots than with digital ads. Variant testing with TV ads would require way more time and money, whereas we can do multi-variant testing in digital spaces in days and for a fraction of the cost, and have full control over the process.

There are also other ways to drive awareness generation through PR or editorial outreach. Take advantage of editorial outlets and websites. These are all lower cost and lower risk, but maybe not as high a volume in impression generation as you can get on TV. I would exhaust those first before you invest in TV. 

When TV Investment Makes Sense

It depends on your budget and your aspirations for the game. If it’s a giant blockbuster triple-A console game, say the Cyberpunk 2077 holiday release, and you’ve checked off the more cost-effective ways to generate awareness, and you still have a massive budget left, then yes, TV could still be a really important way—especially during launch when you try to maximize impression generation.

For Marvel Strike Force, the end result was that we didn’t need TV for brand awareness because it didn’t help any of our down funnel acquisition metrics. Through this research, we decided to ax the TV campaign. We stopped spending money on TV because we didn’t need it for brand awareness. It wasn’t helping with CPI, and it wasn’t doing anything to organic installs. Yes, it drove traffic to our App Store page, but there are lots of other ways we could drive people to our page, and probably have more qualified people that were driving through that traffic.

For a known IP, sequel IP or something that doesn’t suffer from lack of brand awareness, it would be difficult to justify a big TV campaign. But for a triple-A big-budget, new IP that has backing from a big company, that needs to saturate the market in a short amount of time with impressions to make it known, TV could still work.

5 Tips For Ensuring Your Influencer Marketing Isn’t Misleading

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Research from GlobalWebIndex shows that consumers are more likely to consider a brand or product if their favorite influencer has promoted it, and that the largest benefit of discovering a product through an influencer is seeing the product in action. Before the pandemic, and especially after, influencers have been a boon to marketers looking to outsource creative and promote their products as in-person shoots and pop-ups remain canceled.

To help marketers meet Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, the BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division has rounded up five best practices for making sure that incentivized influencer and customer product reviews are transparent and honest.

#1. Content Responsibility

First, when working with influencers or incentivizing consumers to review their product, marketers should keep in mind that they may be responsible for the content of those posts. Given incentivized posts and reviews may be viewed differently than those posted organically, the FTC requires disclosure of material connections. Brands that lack the required disclosures may be responsible.

#2. Disclosing Disclosure

The National Advertising Division suggests that brands implement policies that notify the influencer or consumer of the need to disclose material connections. The brand should then monitor the post or review to ensure the proper disclosures are made.

#3. Keep It Simple

Disclosures should be in clear language that’s understandable to consumers, such as #ad. The organization found that a disclosure stating that an influencer was “hosted” by the brand doesn’t sufficiently convey the nature of the relationship. A more effective disclosure is: “I really love the free products X brand provided.”

#4. Keep It Close

Brands should also ensure that the disclosure on the post, be it visual or audio, is in close proximity to the endorsement message. For example, if the influencer is posting about a product on their Instagram Stories, the disclosure should be readable or audible at the same time they talk about the product. If the post is published on multiple platforms, for example both on TikTok and Instagram, brands must ensure that the disclosure travels.

#5. Don’t Mislead

Lastly, brands must ensure that an influencer or consumer’s language about a product doesn’t make unsubstantiated claims about the product that aren’t supported. The National Advertising Division suggests brands adopt policies that mandate the removal of false or misleading reviews in the same way they have policies for taking down offensive reviews.

Pinterest Announces New Advertising Tools At Its Global Summit

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This week in social media news, Pinterest announces new tools for marketers, WhatsApp launches voice and video calling support for desktop, Google won’t replace third-party cookies with alternate identifiers, the TikTok app is coming to Samsung TVs in the US, Twitter says it’s testing new commerce features, Tiktok convenes a European safety advisory council and more.

Pinterest Announces New Advertising Features

During its first global ‘Pinterest Presents’ summit for marketers, Pinterest announced a few new tools, including a new video ad option and updates to its interactive trends tool.

Why it matters: The enhanced ad options come as the platform now sees nearly a billion video views everyday, and has 459 million monthly active users. Globally, both its men and Gen Z groups grew 40 percent year over year in 2020. In addition, Pinterest users say they’re 2.6 times more likely to buy something after viewing a brand’s video content on the platform.

The details: First, Pinterest’s ’Pinterest Premiere’ will enable marketers to align video ad targeting with either a specific demographic or a specific category.

Next, Pinterest updated its interactive trends tool with better insights into engagement behaviors. To improve the shopping experience, it’s working to create better catalog management tools, as well as better automated bidding and budgeting solutions. 

Lastly, Pinterest is expanding and reformatting its ‘Conversion Insights’ to allow managed advertisers to dig deeper into downstream conversions and better analyze Pinterest’s cross-channel impact. 

WhatsApp Rolls Out Voice And Video Calling Support For Desktop App

According to TechCrunch, WhatsApp has added support for one-on-one voice and video calling to its desktop app, and will expand the feature to include group voice and video calls “in the future.” 

Why it matters: As per TechCrunch, WhatsApp said it processed more than 1.4 billion calls on New Year’s Eve.

The details: WhatsApp notes that video calls work “seamlessly” for the portrait and landscape orientation, and that the desktop client is “set to be always on top so you never lose your video chats in a browser tab or stack of open windows,” according to TechCrunch. 

The update follows a number of new features WhatsApp launched recently, including opt-in biometric fingerprint, face or iris verification, ephemeral messages, videos, photos, as well as a new payment service in its largest market, India.

Google Won’t Replace Third-Party Cookies With Alternate Identifiers

Google announced that it will not replace third-party cookies with an equivalent level of tracking as the personalization they have provided for marketers has “led to an erosion of trust.” 

Why it matters: As per Google, 72 percent of people feel that almost all of what they do online is being tracked by advertisers, technology firms or other companies, and 81 percent say that the potential risks they face because of data collection exceed the benefits, according to a Pew Research Center study.

The details: Google explicitly notes that once it phases out third-party cookies for good, it won’t “build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products.”

Instead, its web products will be fueled by privacy-preserving APIs that block individual tracking while still providing results for advertisers and publishers.

Google’s latest tests on Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) found a way to remove third-party cookies from the advertising equation and instead conceal users within large crowds of consumers with similar interests.

With its next release this month, Chrome plans to make FLoC-based cohorts available for public testing through origin trials and expects to start testing FLoC-based cohorts with marketers in Google Ads in Q2. In April, Chrome will offer the first iteration of new user controls and will expand on those controls in future releases.

TikTok To Release App For Samsung 2021 Smart TVs In US

Samsung has partnered with TikTok to bring the short-form video app to Samsung’s 2021 smart TVs in the US later this year.

Why it matters: The move may open up opportunities for in-app advertisers to reach a new cohort of consumers, particularly those who are more inclined to use TikTok on their TVs than on their mobile devices, with digital targeting capabilities.

It’s possible to view TikTok videos in other ways, for instance by using Apple Airplay, but the dedicated app will omit an extra step for users.

The details: Most Samsung smart TVs in the US will come equipped with a TikTok app in 2021. The Samsung-TikTok partnership was inked last year when the app launched on Samsung’s UK smart TVs. Two of Samsung’s models—the Sero and The Frame— can take full advantage of the social network app’s vertical layout. Both are designed to rotate out of the traditional horizontal orientation and into “portrait mode.” 

Twitter In Early Stages Of Developing New Commerce Features

According to Social Media Today, Twitter during its Analyst Day presentation said it’s in the early stages of testing new commerce options, including a Twitter card type that adds a ‘Shop’ call-to-action button and links to a transaction page.

Why it matters: With new features come new opportunities for Twitter to tap into the rising popularity of online shopping. These functions will help users discover and seamlessly buy products from brands they follow and engage with, and give brands another way to connect with Twitter users.

The details: Because the social platform is in the early stages of development, it’s uncertain what the final feature will look like or include. As per Social Media Today, the new tools will likely feature a Shop button on tweets and on-platform stores, among others. 

The rollout of said features has been delayed given Twitter’s focus on rebuilding its Mobile Application Promotion (MAP) system, which had significant issues identified in 2019.

TikTok Forms A European Safety Advisory Council 

TikTok convened a Safety Advisory Council in Europe with academics and civic leaders who will advise on the social platform’s content moderation policies and practices.

Why it matters: Having come under fire previously for data privacy concerns, TikTok is taking user safety seriously in key markets as it continues to grow in popularity. 

The details: Among the nine inaugural members of TikTok’s new safety council for Europe are: Alex Holmes, deputy chief executive of nonprofit the Diana Award and founder of peer-to-peer support program Anti-Bullying Ambassadors; Ethel Quayle, professor of forensic clinical psychology at the University of Edinburgh and director of COPINE; Ian Power, CEO of the Irish not-for-profit Community Creations; and Justine Atlan, lawyer and CEO of e-Enfance, the French NGO for young people’s safety online.

Disney Introduces Video Header Bidding Solution And First-Party Data Library

Disney has introduced an in-house video header bidding solution called Disney Real-Time Ad Exchange, or DRAX, that aims to give marketers increased control of and scale their campaigns. In addition, it has created a first-party data library called Disney Select to help advertisers improve customer segmentation.

Why it matters: Disney Advertising Sales anticipates a surge of over 80 percent in automated revenue, and expects programmatic sales to represent up to 50 percent of the company’s addressable and linear revenue by 2024. 

The details: DRAX will allow biddable deals to compete next to direct-sold and programmatic-guaranteed sales, provide always-on inventory access and give marketers more time to surface bids and respond accordingly.

With Disney Select, marketers can target audiences from Disney’s robust library of first-party data based on buyer behavior, household characteristics and psychographics.

How To Connect With Consumers On Social Justice Issues

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Consumers increasingly expect brands to take a stand on social causes that are important to them, a phenomenon inspiring many companies to embrace content that encourages transparent conversation around important movements over content that simply delights.

Kantar’s latest study set out to understand how brands can respond to this shift by conducting contextual research on consumers’ personal values. Using artificial intelligence analytics tools, the firm identified five ways marketers can engage consumers through social justice awareness and action. 

First, brands must have brave conversations. Kantar examined 17 personal values including improvement, fairness, equality and energy, and observed an increase in consumer conversations around bravery in the context of racism, community and family. Brands that aren’t afraid to speak out include Nike for its anti-racist “For Once Don’t Do It” campaign, which amassed over 5 million views, and Ben & Jerry’s for publishing bold statements such as “We must dismantle white supremacy.”

Next, brands should support black- and minority-owned businesses. Kantar studied 15 actions including donations, boycotts and employee support, and noticed the common theme in consumer conversations here is how brands can make it easy to help and contribute to small businesses. UberEats, for example, launched an initiative in June 2020 that waived delivery fees for black-owned restaurants.

Consumers also want brands to play a role in bringing about peace, equality and justice. For brands, this means investing in diversity and donations. A notable example of a brand meeting this demand is Google. As Kantar notes, the tech giant recently named Jewel Burks Solomon as head of Google for Startups and pledged $5 million to BlackTech founders through its startups program.

Similarly, Kantar found an increase in online conversations about Nike’s backing of Colin Kaepernick. As a result, consumers linked Nike products “positively to the support and energy embodied by the brand.”

According to Kantar, to successfully pursue positive change around social justice awareness, a brand must: hold everyone at every level accountable, be bold and authentic in their voice, implement internal practices that match external messaging, commit human and financial resources and be brave enough to pave the way without a how-to guide. 

A good starting point is to lead with a desire to understand cultural trends and changing consumer needs, as well as utilize data to understand the nature and impact of their online conversations and values. Only by listening and acting on this information will brands form a deeper connection with their audience.

Piotr Urbanski On How Marketers Can Identify Cognitive Bias

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In his second a.university course on the topic of marketing science, Piotr Urbanski, Ph.D., Ayzenberg associate director of marketing science, shares how to better identify cognitive biases in decision making, how analysts and data scientists can understand the causes of their data, and how strategists and creatives can ground their concepts in the science of human behavior to inform consumers without being outright deceptive.

What Radicalization Means To A Brand Marketer With Yonder CEO Jonathon Morgan

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On this 249th episode of “Marketing Today,” I speak with Jonathon Morgan, the founder and CEO of Yonder, an AI company that helps Fortune 500 communication teams identify and counteract online disinformation about issues that matter to their organization. 

In this episode, Morgan talks about the power of groups with extreme ideals and how thought radicalization can mean something different for marketers. 

Our conversation starts with understanding Yonder’s mission and how the company originated. Early in his career, Morgan conducted internet research, advising the state department on how they could counter the impact of online radicalization worldwide. 

Morgan explains that the modern concept of the internet is based on a fundamental premise — “there is wisdom in the crowd.”  He soon found out, however, that “if you value crowds, you inadvertently value mobs,” and that someone who manipulates social platforms can have an immeasurable amount of power in swaying the crowd’s thinking. 

From there, Morgan provides insights on the pros and cons of social media censoring and how easily misinformation and extremist ideals can leak into mainstream media. Finally, he talks about how the idea of radicalization isn’t always a bad thing when it comes to brand marketing.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • The vulnerability of the internet and our social ecosystem
  • What contributes to the origins of radical groups and how misinformation can spread
  • The difference between good and bad radicalization
  • The importance of authentically communicating your company’s values
  • How to build a coalition for your brand and leverage communication better

Key Highlights:

  • [02:16] Yonder’s mission and how they got started
  • [05:46] How a person can have incredible influence on the way the public thinks
  • [07:44] Motivations behind a mob; looking at the riots on the Capitol
  • [11:17] The pros and cons of censoring on social platforms
  • [15:21] How radical ideals spread into mainstream media
  • [18:40] When radicalization isn’t always a bad thing
  • [24:00] Jonathan’s advice to brand marketers about building a network
  • [32:53] How taking a stand is complicated but essential
  • [35:02] An experience that defines Jonathon made him who he is today
  • [36:27] Jonathon’s advice to his younger self
  • [37:38] An impactful purchase Jonathon has recently made
  • [41:15] The brands, companies, and causes Jonathon follows
  • [42:38] What Jonathon thinks is the biggest opportunity for marketers today

Resources Mentioned: 

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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.