Video Streaming Has Reached A Tipping Point—Here’s How Marketers Can Respond

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Today’s media landscape is vast, with the volume of streaming content continuously expanding as over-the-top (OTT) platforms add more content. In the US as of February 2022, consumers had 817,000 unique video titles across traditional TV and streaming services to choose from—a jump from 646,000 in December 2019 according to Gracenote.

This breadth has overwhelmed audiences, resulting in a shift in how consumers engage with video content and altering TV viewing. Nielsen’s first State of Play report gives marketers insight into why the video streaming landscape has reached a tipping point and how they can deliver on streaming’s bright future.

The report highlights two critical takeaways from the shift in how consumers interact with video and content: one, streaming is here to stay, and two, amid the explosion of new platforms, services and channels, there’s no blueprint for companies to secure their long-term loyalty or their own business growth.

Key takeaways from the report include:

  • Consumers want the convenience of bundling (despite wanting to cut the cord from bundled cable not too long ago).
  • 93 percent of consumers plan to keep or increase their video streaming services.
  • 72 percent of consumers say “I love my user experience with video streaming services.”
  • Marketers will need to have audience-first mindsets and leverage TV and streaming-specific segments to ensure they’re reaching and engaging their desired audiences.
  • Buyers and sellers can tap into streaming-rich media planning tools to identify the incremental reach that streaming audiences bring to cross-platform campaigns to understand the full picture of who they are targeting.
  • Three factors will drive future success: content, convenience and cost.

Nielsen says media companies will need to understand consumer behavior and sentiment to deliver what audiences are looking for—and keep them engaged as their choices increase. The audience will steer the future of the streaming landscape, and the media industry can help consumers in their media journeys by leveraging data to ensure they never get lost along the way.

Here’s a breakdown of the 817,000 unique program titles across linear TV and streaming services, according to Nielsen:

  • Transactional VOD services (53 percent): A program example would be Yellowstone and platform examples would be Amazon, Apple TV and Google Play.
  • SVOD non-exclusively (41 percent): A program example would be Friends and platform examples include HBO Max and syndicated TV.
  • Free ad-supported VOD services (36 percent): A program example would be Revenge and a platform example would be The Roku Channel.
  • Linear TV non-exclusively (24 percent): A program example would be Blue Bloods, and examples include CBS and many OTT platforms.
  • Linear TV exclusively (16 percent): A program example would be Wheel of Fortune and a platform example would be ABC.
  • SVOD exclusively (15 percent): A program example would be Stranger Things and a platform example would be Netflix.

To meet consumer behavior, streaming-first mindsets have become table stakes for content creators and distributors, notes the report. In the fall of last year, more than 81 percent of US homes had at least one TV-connected device, up from 72 percent back in 2019. And late last year, Americans two and older spent 32 percent of their total TV time with TV-connected devices (68 percent with traditional TV). Among kids 2-17, the percentage was 64 percent.

Audiences are loving the growing expanse. Last year, Americans watched nearly 15 million years’ worth of streaming video content, and streaming providers are steadily increasing their share of consumers’ total TV time. In February of this year, content from streaming platforms accounted for just under 29 percent of consumers’ total time with TV, ahead of broadcast programming (26.4 percent) for the fourth straight month.

While the TV set is still the dominant device for reach, the phrase “watching TV” has evolved over time. Today, it offers consumers a way to engage with any and all content, including audio. As Nielsen found, smart TVs are as popular for streaming music as smart speakers.

Devices consumers use for their paid audio streaming services:

  • Smartphone (80 percent)
  • Smart speaker (41 percent)
  • Smart TV (41 percent)
  • Computer (39 percent)
  • Internet-connected device (37 percent)
  • Tablet (31 percent)
  • Connected car system (24 percent)

This growth and variety have inspired consumers to adopt more than two options as platforms emerge. Nielsen’s data shows the number of paid streaming services among paid video subscribers is:

  • One service: 18 percent in 2022 vs. 35 percent in 2019
  • Two services: 24 percent in 2022 vs. 33 percent in 2019
  • Three services: 23 percent in 2022 vs. 21 percent in 2019
  • Four services: 18 percent in 2022 vs. 8 percent in 2019
  • Five services: 10 perfect in 2022 vs. 3 percent in 2019
  • Six or more services: 7 percent in 2022 vs. none in 2019

Across age groups, consumers 35-49 spend the most money on streaming services, as 24 percent pay for five or more, Nielsen found. Consumers aren’t just replacing their traditional TV options with OTT options. In many cases, consumers continue adding to their media options when content appeals to them. Nielsen’s research shows they do this to a degree, largely because of cost: 56 percent of survey respondents say cost is the primary reason why they don’t subscribe to more services.

Nevertheless, the abundance of choices has survey respondents feeling overwhelmed. Nearly half (50 percent) say that the increase in options makes it hard to find what they’re looking for, which represents another consideration for marketers looking to acquire new customers.

This frustration has made 64 percent say they want streaming bundles, while only 9 percent disagree that there’s a need for bundled services.

Bundling traditional and streaming offerings, such as Xfinity and Apple TV, has become one solution to the industry’s growing awareness of consumers’ fatigue. Verizon plans to join soon as it announced its +play platform, which includes partnerships with Netflix, Peloton, Disney+ and other streamers. The service will allow customers to find, purchase and manage their go-to subscriptions at no extra cost.

But as Nielsen notes, bundling is just one way to help consumers find the content they’re looking for. Nielsen suggests applying hyper-detailed video descriptors to content catalogs as they crystalize the storylines and contextualize the essence of a show or movie. 

Says the report:

“This data enables nuanced discovery paths and offers fresh and relevant program recommendations that are aligned with a viewer’s individual tastes and viewing history. In the streaming realm, the video carousel is the storefront. Visitors aren’t logging in to read. They’re logging in for visual experiences. And that’s where personalized images can enhance a platform’s visual merchandising.”

Across the streaming landscape, streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) options remain the biggest appeal, but ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD), multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) and virtual MVPDs (vMVPDs) accounted for a combined 36 percent of total streaming minutes between July and December 2021.

vMVPDs—which enable consumers to access an array of VOD streaming content—live broadcast programming and cable sources have become increasingly popular as consumers tap into digital channels to access new content options. Over the past three years, vMVPD adoption has grown from 7.1 percent of all TV households to 12.5 percent, with YouTube TV, Hulu+ Live, DirecTV Stream and Sling TV steering much of the growth.

Ad-supported streaming options are also attracting more diverse audiences than traditional TV and SVOD options. For example, Pluto TV, Paramount’s ad-supported video service owned, attracts about twice as many black viewers as traditional linear TV (36 percent vs. 17 percent), according to Nielsen. Similarly, black audiences account for 39 percent of Tubi’s viewership (Tubi is Fox’s ad-supported streamer).

Navigating The Hype Vs. Reality Of The Metaverse

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The metaverse, NFTs, Web 3: the sprawling virtual world is all the rage. With the market opportunity estimated at over $1 trillion, the metaverse will likely touch every sector in some way in the coming years.

But how can brands explore this new digital frontier and navigate its hype versus its reality? A new paper from Onyx—the blockchain platform JP Morgan Chase (JPM) launched in 2020—explains everything a marketer needs to know about the metaverse, the ownership economy, what areas still require development and the factors to consider when devising your brand’s metaverse strategy.

First, it’s interesting to note Onyx’s approach to the metaverse since JPM recently became the first bank in the US to enter the space with a virtual lounge in Decentraland. Inside the Onyx lounge, users can buy virtual plots of land in the form of NFTs, enabling JPM to operate as a bank in the virtual world just like it does in the real world.

As the paper notes:

“The success of building and scaling in the metaverse is dependent on having a robust and flexible financial ecosystem that will allow users to seamlessly connect between the physical and virtual worlds. Our approach to payments and financial infrastructure will allow that interoperability to grow.”

Currently, Onyx is building and scaling technologies to modernize financial infrastructure, including tokenization and digital identity while streamlining the way content creators commercialize their creations. It says it’s also creating custom solutions with assets like embedded and interoperable stored value virtual wallets, flexible single-pay or multiple-pay options, fast and secure checkout, and the ability to support more than 120 currencies.

In addition to providing a handy chart outlining the differences between features of today’s metaverse—Web 2—and the emerging Web 3, Onyx shared these quick facts about the opportunities in the metaverse:

  • Every year, $54 billion is spent on virtual goods, almost double the amount spent buying music.
  • About 60 billion messages are sent daily on Roblox.
  • GDP for Second Life was about $650 million in 2021 with nearly $80 million US paid to creators.
  • NFTs currently have a market cap of $41 billion.
  • The Sandbox boasts 200 partnerships to date including Warner Music Group’s announcement of a music-themed virtual world.

The question on businesses’ minds is: Why invest in the metaverse now, if at all? For one, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets have become cheaper and more powerful, thereby improving the user experience. Blockchain has paved the way for digital currencies and NFTs. Token-holders can monetize and participate in the metaverse’s governance. All of this activity has created a democratic ownership economy that could open a world of new economic opportunities as well as communities based on shared values.

Another thing to keep in mind is the metaverse is evolving from two decades of gaming. Among the key events that shaped its formation include Second Life’s release in 2003, Microsoft’s acquisition of Minecraft and Amazon’s purchase of Twitch in 2014, Decentraland’s launch in 2020 and most recently, a visual plot of land adjacent to Snoop Dogg’s Sandbox estate selling for $450,000 in ETH.

Speaking of virtual real estate, that market is growing quickly. The average price of a parcel of land doubled in a six-month window in 2021—from $6,000 to $12,000 by December—across four main Web 3.0 metaverses, notes Onyx. Brands gobbling up land for the purpose of creating virtual stores and other experiences is one reason for the market’s growth. As the paper notes, in June 2021 developer Everyrealm purchased one land package in Decentraland for $913,000 to turn it into an entire shopping district called Metajuku.

The virtual real estate market could start seeing services already offered in the physical world, like credit, mortgages and rental agreements. The way Onyx sees it is:

“With the emergence of decentralized finance (DeFi), collateralized lending primitives and the composability of blockchain token-based digital assets, a next-generation financing company could potentially leverage digital clothing as collateral to underwrite virtual land and property mortgages. In fact, the financing company may not be a company at all, but instead, a self-organizing, mission-based community of people (who may not have met at all in person), also known as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The DAO may have seeded its original balance sheet into a multi-signature wallet to create the mortgages.”

Advertisers have a lot to gain from the meta-economy by way of branding and immersive ad experiences. In-game advertising is set to reach $18.41 billion by 2027 as in-game activations are on the rise. Remember Travis Scott’s concert in Fortnite? It was seen by 45 million people. Similar activations will eventually become more common as people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to such experiences, either due to location or cost, can now participate.

As the metaverse beckons greater interest and investment, people will need to develop and build the products that are consumed in the virtual world, which will spur opportunities for the creator economy. A pair of sneakers, for example, recently sold for $10,000 in an auction. The seller? Virtual shoe designer RTFKT, which Nike recently acquired.

More virtual events and experiences also mean a need for gig workers in the metaverse. If a brand is looking to host a party and wants musical entertainment, it could hire a singer or DJ to perform.

Before the metaverse can reach its full potential, key areas including technology, privacy and regulation must be developed. The following are just a few imperatives for growth, according to Onyx:

Technology

  • Development of interoperability or cross-virtual world interactions, and ways to manage engagement and digital assets across these platforms (Onyx says to think of it like being able to seamlessly change channels on the television)
  • Expanded data analytics and reporting for virtual spaces. These will be specifically designated for commercial and marketing usage and will track business key performance indicators (this already exists in some worlds, such as Cryptovoxels)
  • Reduction of environment ‘sharding’ so all participants can interact with each other live in the same location

Privacy and Identity

  • Verifiable credentials that can be easily structured to enable easier identification of fellow community/team members, or to enable configurable access to varying virtual world locations and experiences
  • Expansion of NFT token-gated spaces to include the creation of private interactions, discussion and messaging
  • Prevention against cyberbullying or online harassment/assault across virtual worlds

Commercial Infrastructure

  • Web 3.0 virtual world integrations with legacy traditional finance payment rails (e.g., credit cards, pay by bank, debit, automated clearing house/wires)
  • Creation of cross-border and cross-metaverse foreign exchange and liquidity solutions
  • Evolution of virtual/cryptocurrencies and digital asset backed financing and mortgages through using lending models, or leveraging decentralized finance (e.g., NFT-collateral backed virtual world mortgages)

Regulation, Tax Accounting And Social Infrastructure

  • Evolution of community governance (e.g., Who sets rules in the virtual worlds? Who governs?)
  • Paved paths on regulatory, tax and accounting treatment of Web 3.0 digital real estate/property, and virtual world commercial transactions
  • Solutions and services to support virtual worlds that are globally accessible, but may be required to adhere to local jurisdictional requirements and rules in commerce and payments

The metaverse opens a completely new realm of ways to engage consumers, but not everything in it will be relevant for every marketer. Here are some key questions Onyx suggests brands consider before jumping on the trend:

  • How would your business model and/or overall organization be impacted if there was more time spent interacting, transacting and socializing in virtual worlds? Would there be any impact at all?
  • Is there an opportunity to create new marketing channels through experiences, digital goods, sponsorships and a branded real estate presence?
  • If you want to have a presence or create an experience in the metaverse, do you have the in-house skillsets to do it yourself?
  • How important is it to your business to target a younger generation audience and tech-forward sub-communities?

Earning The Customer Relationship With Vista’s Ricky Engelberg

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Ricky Engelberg is the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Vista.

Vista is a marketing partner to millions of small businesses around the world. As CMO, he oversees essential functions such as customer experience and digital products.

In this episode, Ricky and I discuss his early career in the entertainment industry in Athens, Georgia, and how that has shaped his career and how he sees the world today. Tune in to hear more about how the experience made him realize the importance of finding your audience and investing in relationships to make them successful.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • The art of finding your audience
  • Creating a customer relationship across all product offerings
  • What makes a successful partnership

Key Highlights

  • [01:41] Ricky’s early entertainment career
  • [04:37] Learning how to find the right audience
  • [09:23] Vista’s mission and vision
  • [13:26] Building customer relationships
  • [15:54] The shift to partnerships in creating brand awareness
  • [19:12] Vista’s partnership with Humberto Leon
  • [24:40] The ingredients for a successful partnership
  • [29:22] An experience that makes Ricky who he is today
  • [31:43] Ricky’s advice to his younger self
  • [34:34] What marketers should be learning more about
  • [39:19] The biggest threat and opportunity to marketers

Resources Mentioned:

Follow the podcast:

Connect with the Guest:

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 brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.

Study Shows Facebook’s Interest Targeting Is Inaccurate Nearly 30% Of The Time

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This week in social media news, a study by North Carolina State University finds Facebook’s interest targeting is inaccurate about 30 percent of the time, Pinterest expands its creator fund to support underrepresented influencers and Twitter tests a feature that enables two accounts to co-author a single tweet.

Researchers Find 30% Of Interest Categories Facebook Creates For Users Are Inaccurate 

A study conducted by North Carolina State University revealed that the interest categories Facebook creates for users so advertisers can target consumers are accurate only about two-thirds of the time. The 34-page paper, “Analyzing the Impact and Accuracy of Facebook Activity on Facebook’s Ad-Interest Inference Process,” found that 33 percent of Facebook’s inferred interests were inaccurate or irrelevant.

Why it matters: If Facebook is unable to guarantee that 100 percent of the inferred interests of Facebook users aren’t actually of interest, advertisers are potentially wasting two-thirds of their advertising spend on users who aren’t even interested in the ads they’re serving them on Facebook.

The details: The researchers evaluated which activities resulted in interests and found that very naive activities, such as only viewing/scrolling through a page, led to an interest inference. They found 33.22 percent of the inferred interests were inaccurate or irrelevant.

To understand if their findings hold for a large and diverse sample, the university recruited 147 individuals globally to download a Google Chrome extension. 

The participants reported a similar range of inaccuracy—29 percent—as observed in the researchers’ controlled experiments.

The details of Facebook’s algorithms creating these inferences “remain a black box,” said the researchers, adding that Facebook doesn’t seem to factor in sentiment when collecting interests. For example, posting a negative comment on a Harry Potter page led to interests in Harry Potter and Daniel Radcliffe.

Pinterest Expands Creator Fund To Support International And Underrepresented Creators

Pinterest recently announced updates to its Creator Fund, including new opportunities for creators of color, creators with disabilities and members of the LGBTQIA+ community to participate and receive hands-on support.

Pinterest will announce a new fund cycle every quarter, with each cycle focused on a different content area. For its first 2022 cycle—fashion and beauty—Pinterest invites US influencers in the space to apply. Future cycles will include topics like food, lifestyle and wellness.

Why it matters: The Pinterest Creator Fund has helped prominent creators increase their presence on the app and earn substantial followings—for some, as many as 75 percent more followers after completion of the platform’s program. 

According to Pinterest, dividing each cycle by content area will facilitate community building, personalized training and deeper insights.

For marketers, the expansion means more diverse storytelling and the ability to create impactful pins. 

The details: Pinterest, which just increased its creator fund to $1.2 million, has decided to expand the program with the following updates:

  • This year’s first cycle will be sponsored by L’Oréal USA, which will be directly reaching out to content creators about possible partnerships and gifting beauty products. 
  • The program has also been expanded to five weeks, affording creators more time and resources to develop their skills and execute strategies.
  • Some creators will receive $25,000 in the form of a cash grant, ad credits and an equipment stipend. Those individuals will also receive a first look at new Pinterest products.
  • The US-based fund will be expanding to include underrepresented creators in Brazil and the UK later this year.
  • The fashion and beauty cycle is open to US creators who fit the following criteria and apply through Pinterest’s online form: they specialize in fashion or beauty content; identify as one of the following underrepresented creator groups: people of color, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQIA+ community; currently have between 1,000 and 10,000 followers on Pinterest, or on other platforms; have not yet monetized your content, on Pinterest or on other platforms; and have made at least one Idea Pin.

Twitter Tests Feature Allowing Two Accounts To Co-Author Single Tweet

Twitter has recently begun exploring the ability for two users to co-author a single tweet, according to TechCrunch.

Why it matters: Other than simply encouraging collaboration on the app, the feature will enable brands to engage with other brands—at the time of collab launches—and followers in a new way that will likely boost visibility of their messaging. 

The details: Twitter’s co-author feature, which is still in the development phase, would afford two accounts to author one tweet. According to app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi, who has been posting evidence of the feature’s development since at least December 2021, there seems to be a new dialog box from Twitter about how the tweet collaborations could work. 

The change may have come in response to Instagram’s Collabs feature launched late last year that enables two accounts to co-author a Reel or post. According to Paluzzi, Twitter users seeking to engage the feature will only be able to co-author with public users who follow already you and who accept the invite. The co-authored tweets will be shared with followers on both accounts as both avatars appear on the top left side of the post.

Report: What Makes A Great Customer Experience

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Customers have changed the way they engage with brands and crave greater control over their communication with them. But one-way communication just isn’t useful anymore, as Sinch’s annual customer experience report found that 89 percent of consumers want two-way conversations via messaging channels and apps.

To help brands deliver smarter customer experiences, Sinch surveyed about 3.000 consumers globally. Its report, Brave New World: Customer Experience in 2022, shows that the key to sustainable business growth is delivering rich interactions that add value.

From 2019 to 2020, consumers who received “abandoned cart” reminders more than doubled in countries including the US, Canada, Germany and India. It’s unclear what these shoppers’ next steps were, but Sinch found that more than half of customers are frustrated when they receive mobile messages they can’t reply to.

When asked what they want from their in-message interactions:

  • 90 percent of consumers said support or to ask follow-up questions
  • 89 percent want to arrange returns, exchanges or refunds
  • 77 percent said to complete health assessments with doctors
  • 69 percent want to be able to fill out loan applications

Still, one-way messages can be useful and even expected. Businesses must find ways to increase these messages’ value, namely by building the possibility of action into them. For example, package arrival notifications are helpful and relied upon by many industries and consumers. But giving shoppers the ability to change the timing, recipient or location of the delivery without having to reach out to a separate customer support line can boost the value of the engagement.

Sinch’s tips for giving customers real business value via messaging:

  • Let customers check delivery times in Messenger or WhatsApp. Offer options in the text stream to customize notifications or arrange a return—about 90 percent say they’d like this two-way option.
  • Don’t just send a fraud alert to a banking customer. Give customers options, like to freeze a card or request a replacement using conversational artificial intelligence in the messaging stream or banking app.
  • Turn on two-way functionality across all channels, including email and messaging. Let AI-driven chatbots answer routine queries and send more complex ones to online resources or customer service.
  • Don’t ignore the power of SMS for confirming a restaurant reservation, approving a big-ticket purchase or refilling a prescription.

Rich Media

Businesses that are already aware of the type of help their customers most often need and the questions their customers ask shouldn’t wait to reach out with rich media and personalized support. Brands must be proactive when it comes to adding extra value to the customer experience. In doing so, businesses can create higher quality dialogue, and increase satisfaction and brand loyalty.

The types of messages consumers would find most useful include:

  • Video tutorials based on a recent purchase (83 percent)
  • Personalized video tours (81 percent)
  • Buying guide based on previous purchases or activity (76 percent)

Social

Brands are increasingly utilizing the social commerce tools that TikTok and Instagram afford, but unfortunately many still treat these platforms as one-way opportunities to promote—as opposed to tools for conversation. That’s alarming given that 48 percent of respondents said they shop on social media channels but that brands don’t engage with them there. 

Roughly 25 percent of consumers that do message brands on social media report that the response time is one day or more—something these individuals say will make them less likely to purchase from that company on social channels. And fifty-two percent of respondents said it takes brands several hours to respond.

Trust

Eighty-seven percent of consumers across all generations avoid buying from brands they don’t trust, especially boomers. To earn consumers’ trust, brands should aim to create positive experiences and convey strong data security. The banking sector, for example, has reported a strong correlation between trust, positive experiences and data security.

Delving deeper into this phenomenon, Sinch’s research found that high-trust relationships between banks and customers are overwhelmingly associated with banks that answer questions quickly, protect their customers’ interests, know their customers’ needs, offer useful financial advice and keep information and accounts secure.

Even within a high-trust relationship, many consumers, especially older ones, are reluctant to talk about financial matters via messaging. Still, brands can find ways to reassure customers as Sinch found only 15 percent of younger generations are unpersuadable.

Here’s what would make customers more comfortable discussing sensitive financial matters via mobile messaging:  

  • Connecting with a human instead of a chatbot (54 percent) 
  • Receiving clear verification from the bank that mobile conversations are secure (37 percent)
  • Using the messaging feature inside of a secure banking app (32 percent)
  • Being able to switch from a chatbot to a live customer service agent (29 percent)

In the healthcare industry too, mobile messaging has the potential to become customers’ top choice. Perhaps due to the potentially emotional nature of the interactions in this space, 62 percent of respondents are comfortable discussing personal or sensitive health matters via mobile messaging. 

In addition, 89 percent of respondents would like to receive medical tests results via messaging, 87 percent want answers to medical questions via messaging channels and 77 percent want the option of filling out health assessments on their phones.

Sinch’s tips for smoothing the path from first point of contact to purchase include:

  • Give customers control over their experiences by offering real-time visibility into inventory, staffing availability and wait times.
  • Rather than send a one-way “abandoned cart” reminder or “back in stock” message, notify customers with a buy button inside the messaging stream.
  • Don’t make customers remember awkward IDs and complex passwords. New mobile identity and security solutions offer one-step sign-ins using the customer’s cell phone number.
  • Offer features such as mobile badges that confirm callers’ identities.

Chatbots

Interactions with chatbots are growing with 76 percent of shoppers having interacted with one in 2021 – up from 51 percent in 2020. Of these, over half appreciate the immediate availability of an automated response. But rather than view chatbots as a standalone solution, brands should let customers escalate complex issues instantly from a messaging chat to a voice call. In fact, 95 percent of respondents said this option would be useful.

Nordstrom Chief Marketing Officer Scott Meden Retires

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This week in leadership updates, Nordstrom’s chief marketer Scott Meden retires, InnoGames promotes Felix Janzen to CMO, CasperLabs taps Michael Dobak as CMO and more.

Nordstrom Chief Marketing Officer Scott Meden Announces Retirement

After a 37-year career at Nordstrom, the retailer’s chief marketing officer Scott Meden is retiring.

Before becoming CMO of Nordstrom in 2016, some of Meden’s roles at the company included general merchandising manager of shoes and president of Nordstrom Rack, respectively.

Meden’s replacement hasn’t been named.

InnoGames Elevates Felix Janzen To Chief Marketing Officer

Felix Janzen has moved up from marketing director to CMO at InnoGames, reports Pocket Gamer.

Janzen first joined InnoGames in 2012 as head of performance marketing. Before InnoGames, he held the same title at Goodgame Studios.

Michael Dobak Named CasperLabs Chief Marketing Officer

CasperLabs has appointed Michael Dobak, the former CMO of BLOCKv, as CMO.

Previously, Dobak was the regional chief executive officer for Ogilvy offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Denver and Atlanta.

Arbonne Appoints Jorden Bell As Chief Marketing Officer

Arbonne has hired Jordan Bell as CMO. 

Bell joins the company from Stella & Dot where she was chief brand officer.

Trend Set: BeReal, Coolest Brands

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Ayzenberg Junior Strategist Ashley Otah recounts this week’s trends.

BeReal

Let’s be real. The new social media platform on the scene, ‘BeReal,’ dubs itself the simplest photo-sharing app. The app is trending around college campuses and is being utilized the same way as “casual Instagram,” but this time more casually. With no filters, no likes, and an allotted window to take the image, there is less time for grandiose efforts to capture the perfect picture. Its growth from 2021 to 2022, especially the apps jump in popularity in February 2022, showcases an undeniable desire from consumers to have less pressure around how they navigate the world digitally. Keeping it casual is cool, and all the bells and whistles brands are offering need to adjust to user behaviors.

Coolest Brands

Cool kids club. The newer generation in town, kids aged seven to fourteen, has let it be known what brands they do and don’t vibe with. According to Beano Brain, YouTube, Netflix, and Mcdonald’s, top the 50 coolest brands for kids and teens. But, of course, the gaming giants that landed on the list are also not to be missed. Digital platforms and gaming outlets such as Roblox, Minecraft, and more keep the younger generations informed and connected. As the true digital natives that already care deeply about sustainability and social issues grow into their own, their deep knowledge of the landscape should be empowered and elevated.

GIFs

To gif or not to jif. TikTok has added a new addition to its arsenal of creative tools. The GIPHY integration will unlock a new way for users to tap into offerings not all platforms have. For example, gifs, sometimes associated with older demographics, don’t hold the same weight as they used to when integrated within apps like TikTok. Bridging the gap and allowing various users to feel connected and included with in-app experiences builds brand affinity and creates a fun experience for all.

Professional Accounts

Keep it profesh. Twitter’s professional accounts roll out for all users. Users can opt-in or out of the professional profile that allows ‘businesses, brands, creators, and publishers to grow and strengthen their presence on Twitter.’ The future success looks like the integration of professionalism with a dash of social presence for brands and creators alike.

Watch History

Somebody’s watching me. TikTok is now testing a ‘watch history’ feature to allow users to find content that easily gets lost down the rabbit hole. After watching a handful of videos, some find locating specific videos to watch again, share, or save an uphill battle. The testing and even addition of this new feature close a gap that many find helpful. Users are seeking out brand offerings that seem minuscule and like afterthoughts to simplify their in-app experiences.

For OOH Advertisers, The Sky Is No Limit

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At SXSW, Paramount+ caused a big commotion when it deployed 400 LED-equipped drones to form an out-of-home (OOH) ad – a massive QR code suspended in midair – to promote its Halo series. But a new ad format is making it clear that not even the sky is the limit for OOH advertisers.

Now, running digital OOH ads in the freezer aisle is an option thanks to a startup called Cooler Screens, whose interactive technology has been transforming clear freezer doors of major retailers like Walgreens and CVS into opaque digital displays that showcase product inventory and promos.

Using a system of motion sensors and cameras, the screens display exactly what’s inside the freezers as well as product prices, deals, nutritional information and paid ads.

All for the purpose of streamlining the store shopping experience and enabling brands to connect with consumers at point-of-sale. The Cooler Screens’ targeted digital ads deliver at the “moment of truth,” right as consumers decide which product to pull out of the fridge, Cooler Screens chief executive Arsen Avakian said.

The Chicago-based startup has nearly 10,000 screens in stores, which are viewed by about 90 million consumers monthly, according to the company. Avakian told CNN he developed the concept after watching in-store customers use their phones to search for product information and reviews.

Companies pay Cooler Screens to run screen ads and retailers receive a cut. Walgreens started testing the screens in 2018 and has since expanded the pilot to several thousand locations nationwide, reports CNN. Other major retailers including Kroger, CVS, GetGo and Chevron are launching their own tests.

The screens irked some Walgreens customers. One Twitter user vented, “@Walgreens NOBODY needs TV screen replacing doors in your cooler aisles…. Stop,” while another lamented the screens, saying they “made me watch an ad before it allowed me to know which door held the frozen pizzas.”

Still, the DOOH concept has piqued the interest of Nestle, Coke, Pepsi and Kraft Heinz, and has raised over $100 million from backers like Verizon and Microsoft. In June 2020, Verizon and Cooler Screens inked a long-term agreement that would see Verizon Business powering the screens’ digital media and merchandising platform.

Verizon said it would be the primary supplier of DOOH ads in top Walgreen store locations in the US including Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle, reaching over 75 million shoppers monthly within a year, according to a press release.

Like the massive QR code Paramount+ launched in the sky, the Cooler Screens might be perceived as intrusive by shoppers. But Avakian sees it as an expected growing pain. In response, he said the company plans to educate customers about the digital displays and launch features like voice recognition so shoppers can ask about prices or item locations.

The company also wants to bring its digital displays to a range of retailers including those in beauty, consumer electronics and home improvement.

Projected to reach $27 billion by 2025, DOOH advertising is a booming market and an appealing marketing tactic because it allows advertisers to track ad performance in real-time. They can test, modify and update creative mid-campaign based on metrics, making DOOH a cost-effective way to reach consumers in high-traffic areas.

The tech-fueled, visually dynamic format has proven especially useful for the industry after the pandemic devastated the OOH media segment, spending on which dropped by 29.7 percent in 2020.

Jose Cuervo’s Metaverse Distillery Will Open This Summer

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One metaverse margarita coming right up. This summer, Jose Cuervo will open the first distillery on virtual platform Decentraland to quench younger consumers’ thirst for virtual experiences, limited edition products and tequila education.

In a 3D hologram rendering, a star- and purple cloud-studded night sky sets the backdrop for the turquoise Jose Tradicional Distillery, whose perimeter is dotted with agave plants. Adjacent to the distillery is a large, lighted dance floor, presumably where some of the events will take place once it opens.

To bring the “metadistillery” to life, the tequila brand has teamed with Bompas & Parr, which will dream up the distillery’s aesthetic and consumer experience. M2 Studio will create the virtual space in Decentraland and program the user experience.

According to a Drizly retail report, 2022 could be the year that tequila outsells vodka, as nearly 80 percent of retailers plan to carry more tequila this year – on par with bourbon and 40 points ahead of vodka. These findings mirror sales trends on Drizly, where over the past few years tequila’s share of spirits sales has grown by 13 percent while vodka’s share has declined by 2 percent.

As the retail and entertainment industries discern the metaverse as a strategic priority and new frontier for business—from Decentraland’s inaugural metaverse fashion week to The Sandbox’s and Warner Media Group’s music venue—the spirits market has an opportunity to ride their coattails. Buying digital ad space in concerts and events and building brand awareness by launching NFTs that can be used to customize avatars are just a few examples of how. Beer brands like Bud Light and Miller Lite have already dipped their toes into the metaverse with limited edition NFTs and virtual bars.

And soon, users’ avatars can make some money by auditioning and starring in fashion shows, music videos and animated series, providing drinks brands yet another opportunity to advertise and engage users in the metaverse.

One spirits brand is betting big on this new world. Starting with 1,056 cocktail-themed NFTs, woman-owned Vodka brand Wisher Vodka launched in the metaverse before selling at brick-and-mortar retailers. Each Wisher Vodka NFT includes a case of vodka, merchandise, limited edition wearables for Decentraland and access to metaverse events.