‘Don’t Call Me A Gamer,’ Say Mobile Gamers

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Over a third of Americans play mobile games every day, but a majority don’t consider themselves to be “gamers,” according to the latest data from AppLovin.

The Mobile Gamer Insights Report studies the behavior of over 4,000 smartphone owners in the US and UK, including 2,062 US general respondents aged 16 or older. The research was conducted by Censuswide between December 21 and 28, 2018. The report defines Gen Z as those ages 16-24 and Boomers as respondents over the age of 55.

AppLovin found that 67 percent of respondents play mobile games 3-4 times per week, but would not consider themselves to be a “gamer.” This sentiment is more prevalent among female players. Forty percent of women that have played mobile games on their smartphones do so every day but only 24 percent would consider themselves a “gamer.” On the other hand, 36 percent of male respondents claim the title proudly.

Older generations are much less likely to call themselves a “gamer.” Thirty-three percent of adults aged 55 and over play mobile games daily and yet 85 percent shy away from the title “gamer.” Meanwhile, half of Gen Z (53 percent) would consider themselves “gamers.”

This data reveals that mobile gamers are varied in age, gender and genre preferences—something brands should keep in mind when targeting the demographic.

AppLovin’s report echoes the 2015 findings of Pew Research, although comparing the two suggests a wider acceptance of what being a “gamer” means among Americans. A survey of 2,001 US adults found that 15 percent of men called themselves a “gamer,” compared to only six percent of women.

Casual games like match-3 puzzles are the most popular genre among players at 33 percent, followed by strategy games at 16 percent. Mobile titles are generally designed for quick gameplay sessions and many are free to play.

It’s no surprise, then, that AppLovin found just over half—55 percent—of US respondents play mobile games to pass the time, such as in a doctor’s office waiting room or while commuting. Relaxation is another common reason for picking up the phone at 44 percent.

“Growth in the casual game market continues to accelerate year after year,” said Alex Malafeev, co-founder of Sensor Tower in a statement. “In 2018, our research indicates a 20 percent increase in casual mobile games across both Google Play and the App Store’s top 10 mobile games as compared to 2017.”

According to SuperData Research, mobile games accounted for $61.3 billion of digital video game revenue in 2018—nearly twice as much games on PC.

How Beauty Brands Are Standing Out From The Crowd In 2019

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As the beauty market is getting increasingly saturated, the competition is getting tougher and brands have to be on their toes with effective marketing strategies to stay in the game. From Instagrammable stores to conversation–sparking content on social channels–they must flex their creative muscle to deliver spectacular campaigns.

The most successful of these brands know that the way a product is discovered and hyped about is more important than, well, the product itself.

With that in mind, let’s look at how the leading cosmetic brands are successfully winning their audiences in 2019.

Doing More With Influencers

Per a survey from an influencer marketing agency, Mediakix, 2019 is a year of rapid growth and innovation for the influencer marketing industry. In fact, the survey predicts a 65 percent increase in spending on influencer marketing this year. With the beauty industry relying heavily on influencers to spark brand interest, this may be especially true for this vertical.

And it’s not just about sending out beautifully crafted PR boxes anymore for review—brands are starting to take more creative approaches to create content that includes influencers.

“The Face Awards” by NYX is a great example of this, with professional beauty vloggers and everyday makeup enthusiasts battling for recognition of their makeup prowess. The climax of the campaign is the “Beauty Vlogger of the Year” award, which is an audience-selected award for the best video.

Creating Useful (And Fun) AR Experiences

The global beauty market is predicted to grow to $750 billion by 2024, according to Inkwood research and taking in consideration the beauty industry being one of the most trends-driven, it’s only natural that cosmetic companies are trusting innovative technology to remain competitive.

One great example of this is by Sephora. Sephora’s Virtual Artist AR feature allows Sephora app users to virtually try on the various lip, eye and cheek make-up; inspires them with looks created by Sephora artists and offers other innovative perks, such as virtual make-up tutorials and color match tool.

AList Shares Beauty Brands Marketing In 2019

Neutrogena’s MaskiD is another great example of using technology in beauty marketing. An app offered by the company analyzes the user’s face, measures the size of it and creates a custom mask to fit, at the same time suggesting targeted treatments. All the masks have unique shapes and color patterns to cater to different skin needs.

Consumers are looking for more and more personalized experiences and products. With the help of new technology, brands are able to create such deep personalized experiences for them to boost customer satisfaction and drive sales.

Retail Remains Important For Beauty 

Needless to say, today, the retail environment is shaped more by how people consume than by what they consume. Reports show that a huge chunk of today’s consumer force cares a lot about their in-store experiences. According to the report, the retail experience encouraged 41 percent of the study participants to buy, while only 10 percent were influenced by a brand’s website.

Giorgio Armani Beauty recently created an elaborate pop-up experience in Los Angeles with Armani Beauty Box. The scarlet red shop was “guarded” by a giant golden gorilla statue, named Uri, which was the creation of Italian artist Marcantonio Raimondi Malerba. The full-sized gorilla is a replica of the one Giorgio Armani has at his home in Milan.

AList Shares Beauty Brands Marketing In 2019

The pop-up store celebrated Hollywood glamour and offered Instagrammable experiences in front of the mirror in a movie director’s chair, red carpet moments with newly introduced products and virtual makeup application stations and iPads set to record and post guests’ makeup consultations on social platforms.

Empowering Micro Influencers

During her live interview with Kara Swisher’s for Swisher’s Recode Decode podcast, Emily Weiss, the Glossier’s founder and CEO said, “At Glossier, something we’ve always stayed very true to, since pre-launch, day one, is that every single person is an influencer.”

The brand known for “millennial pink” packaging has made ubiquitous the Instagram “Top Shelfie” via its media site Into The Gloss, elevating the everyday beauty routine to something akin to high art.

AList Shares Beauty Brands Marketing In 2019

Similarly to Glossier’s philosophy, Sephora’s “Sephoria” event was a place where everyone received the influencer treatment. Guests were able to mingle with celebrities and well-known beauty and fashion bloggers and walk through an Instagrammable experience featuring the many brands lining the walls at Sephora’s retail stores.

AList shares Sephora Sephoria House of Beauty

What is great about these approaches is that both Glossier and Sephora believe that making a regular customer an influencer doesn’t take away from the brand’s exclusivity, but actually translates into giving their fans a voice and empowering them.

Turning To The Inner Forces 

Diversity and authenticity are among the main values of the contemporary consumer. They expect the brand to have and demonstrate core values, as well as being inclusive and mindful. Some brands understand this quite well and demonstrate these qualities in campaigns featuring their own talented employees.

French beauty care brand, L’Occitane. L’Occitane also shined a light on their employees with a “No Filter Needed” campaign which ran in February. Featuring 10 of its employees from a variety of departments and specialties across the company—from in-store teams to their supply chain—and representing women across age ranges.

Caroline Le Roch, L’Occitane regional managing director, told Glossy that this move was rather strategic, as it ties back to larger company initiatives.

“Sustainability has been at the heart of our brand,” she said. “And for us, women’s empowerment is a key component in that. We feel that gender equality in the workplace and women feeling they are part of the bigger decision-making process are extremely important. We wanted to highlight that here, by showing how powerful our women are.”

These Marketing Podcasts Are Actually Worth Your Time

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There are a lot of marketing podcasts to choose from, but the most popular doesn’t necessarily mean the best. The podcasts below do a great job of informing, refreshing, interviewing and some even add a little humor. Check out the seven podcasts we think every marketer should listen to.

Drunk Marketing

Connor Clay and Chellsea Mastroine discuss marketing and other random things—like pork chops—while they sip on some drinks. The team has talked about more mainstream topics like Super Bowl ads—but also personal things, as in one episode when Clay talked about taking a Twitter break to regain his attention span. This podcast is easily is digestible and charmingly relatable.

Marketing With Wharton’s Hip Hop Prof

Wharton marketing professor Americus Reed—aka the Hip Hop Prof—hosts the podcast that covers a range of marketing topics. He takes deep dives with experts and podcast also covers the latest marketing research—like using love to build brand relationships. Reed is himself a personal branding expert and leans into this podcast with knowledge and personality.

Household Name

Like a crime podcast, former NPR reporter Dan Bobkoff goes back into the history of famous brands—like Martha Stewart’s trial and come back and TGI Friday’s sexy past. Bobkoff interviews several people to bring the rich and complex timeline of the biggest household name brands.

Marketing Today With Alan Hart

Host Alan Hart talks to CMOs and other marketing leaders to get tips and insight into their strategies. In one episode, Hart spoke with Kristi Argyilan, senior SVP of Marketing at Target, about how the company reached the Gen Z audience. In another episode, he has a discussion with author Seth Godin on his latest book This is Marketing: You Can’t be Seen Until You Learn To See.

The Marketing Companion

Marketing experts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster, bring humor to the latest trends and issues in marketing. The podcast goes into the challenges of launching new technology like driverless cars. The Marketing Companion has also covered emotional connections with brands, who rules the internet, the relevance of social media marketing and of course the most important of all the consequences of mercury in retrograde.

Marketing Geeks

Justin Womack and Andros Sturgeon of Marketing Geeks tackle current events like the Fyre Festival marketing and organic marketing of Burning Man as well as creating a compelling email marketing headline to grab your audience.

Social Pros

This podcast is all about social media and content marketing. Hosts Jay Baer and Adam Brown interview with leading social media experts and discuss topics ranging from influencer marketing, AI and even one devoted to How Purple Became the Most Effective Advertiser on Facebook. Each episode ranges from 30 minutes to an hour.

Who Is Your Target Customer?

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An excerpt from Zack Miller’s upcoming book ‘Anomaly: How to Finally Stand Out From the Crowd’.

Brands spend billions a year using the shotgun approach of spraying their message and praying someone will call or reach out to their company. It’s effective to learn who your target customer is and reach out to them directly, especially when you’re just getting started.

Who is your audience and what do they need? The process of learning as much about a person or business as you can is the definition of target customer research. Picture this: You’re a CrossFitter, vegan, stay-at-home female athlete, but you receive advertisements for men’s work boots. Seems odd, and it is. All too often brands and personalities are targeting their customers completely wrong. They’re wasting time and money trying to get attention from people who will never become their customers.

There are people around you right now primed and ready to become your customer. I like to call this low-hanging fruit. Some of these people you likely already know. Someone somewhere is looking for you and what you have to offer. It’s up to you to figure out who and where they are. Your target customer is someone who meets a series of criteria that you determine from dissecting your current customer base. If you don’t have a current base, you’ll make some predictions and edit as you gain more information. This is called a customer pivot.

Standard demographics such as age, gender, height, weight, and race can be used, but it’s harder to use only those. Look for a deeper understanding with things like where they vacation, what they eat, where they went to school, brands they wear, where they live, what they like and follow on social media, what language they speak, and how adventurous they are.

If you sign up for a Winc membership (a fantastic wine of the month club), you’re asked a series of questions in order to better understand your palate. Questions range from, “How do you like your coffee?” and “Would you jump out of an airplane?” to “What are your favorite fruits?” and whether or not you like steak, scallops, or spicy food. These questions help them better understand you to provide you with wine you’re more likely to enjoy. What’s stopping you from doing this with your brand in order to provide your customers with the products, services, or content that will most resonate with them? Nothing.

Let’s say you have a sample size of 1,000 current followers or customers. That’s not a bad-size list. It’s one that could provide you with some financial success if you took a little time and energy to better understand who they are. You can do this by creating a poll or survey with targeted questions based on what you need to know about them. You can poll your network through a Facebook post, LinkedIn Group question, or even through an email to your network with a series of questions. You’ll also want to get standard data like college level completed, age, gender, and race. You may learn that one demographic is an overwhelming majority of your customer base, and you can create marketing campaigns that speak to those trends.

Knowing your target customer is a multistep process. You need to know: Who are they? What do they look like? Where can I find them? and What appeals to them? If you don’t answer all four of these, you’ll miss out on key information and likely never convert any of them into customers.

There are lots of ways you can start learning about your target customers. You can leverage your personal network and survey or interview a select group of people who you believe fit the bill of your target customer. By doing this you’re getting direct one-to-one knowledge as to what their pain points and problems are. A pain point or problem is the challenge your prospect is currently experiencing.

It could be as simple as needing groceries delivered from the grocery store, or as complex as a serious health issue. The problem doesn’t matter. What matters is if you can solve their problem and create a relationship, or if you can’t, help them find someone else who can.

If you have a solution they’re looking for, you can start putting them into your sales funnel, which we will go into more detail about in a later section.

Compile a list of assumptions of what you think the problem is, and then create surveys asking questions around those problems. Send it out to the list you have compiled. Collect all of their data from the surveys and paste it into a spreadsheet. As you progress with your target customers, ask if you can update them on what you’re working on.

With every person you have a conversation with, ask if there’s someone else that you could be talking to. Maybe they know someone else that fits your target customer profile. This could be called a referral, but since you’re not selling anything yet, it’s more of a warm lead. A warm lead indicates that the person has either shown interest, or someone has informed you that they may be a good fit. A cold lead means the person has shown no sign of interest, and you’re just testing the waters. If they say yes, ask how you should contact the new person or group.

Let’s say you create a marketing and branding set for one demographic, but then learn that you were wrong, or something changes with that demographic and it’s no longer your target customer. Any marketing that you were using should be edited or removed as it’ll be speaking to someone you have proven is not a good fit.

Now that you have a better understanding of how to consume Anomaly, you’ll be taken through three parts: Understanding the Sales Funnel, Becoming the Anomaly, and Anomalies in the Wild. Understanding the Sales Funnel will detail why it takes multiple steps to get the results you desire. Becoming the Anomaly details techniques that get amazing results. Finally, Anomalies in the Wild walks you through case studies of individuals and companies who have become an anomaly by using specific tools and/or mediums.

Roadmap

  1. Determine your target audience/customer using standard demographics like age, gender, race, annual income, plus deep demographics like where they hang out, how they speak, what do they like, where do they spend money, what do they drive, where did they go to school, etc.
  2. What are three unique identifiers of your target customer?
  3. What challenges or pain points do your targets have?
  4. What type of questions are they asking you?
  5. Select 5 to 10 keywords and key phrases that your targets use in their vernacular and what they search online. Don’t get cute.

 

CMO Council: Relationship Building Goes Far Beyond Passive Listening

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Consumer voices are everywhere in this connected world, but listening and interpreting those voices often proves difficult according to a new report by the CMO Council. Marketers often rely too much on passive responses, make assumptions about their consumers or simply forget there is a person on the receiving end of a campaign.

The CMO Council partnered with Harte Hankes to explore the ways in which customer voices are elevated in the marketing process. An online audit was conducted in the second half of 2018 and 152 senior marketing executives participated. Findings of the audit were published on Tuesday in a report called “Bringing a Human Voice to Customer Choice.”

Participating marketers agreed that making assumptions about a consumer weakens the foundation of a relationship. When asked to name the biggest relationship-building challenge, the most popular response—at 41 percent—was remembering that they are building relationships, “not just deploying campaigns.”

In addition to remembering the relationship, 29 percent admit that they struggle to remember that a customer is actually human as opposed to just an inbox or target.

Some of this disconnect may be attributed to the way in which marketers do listen to their customers. The audit found that a majority of marketers lean on tried and true methods of gaining customer insight such as email and form submissions, but are trading comfort for a lack of real-time behavioral cues.

While reactionary posts such as complaints allow a brand to react quickly, they rarely provide a real-time view into intentions, behaviors, needs or even aspirations, explains the CMO Council.

“They are postcards of a customer’s life when marketers are looking for a real-time movie.”

There may be another reason for huddling in the narrow comfort zone of reactionary customer feedback—being proactive means having to understand massive amounts of data. Nearly a third of marketers consider Big Data to be their top challenge, while 34 percent name dark data. Thirty-six percent say the greatest challenge will be aggregating, analyzing and utilizing small data.

Small data may offer “micro-moments of opportunity” to marketers, but only 10 percent of respondents believe their organization is fully prepared to take advantage of them. Likewise, just 36 percent of respondents consider themselves “fairly prepared” to implement points of connection across the Internet of Things (IoT), but not entirely confident in their ability to act in real time.

“Marketers have made the connection between growth and profitability and the ability to reach, engage and build relationships with customers,” observes the CMO Council. “Building a relationship can often start by asking a simple question and then having the patience and maturity to step back and listen to the answer.”

The findings of this study mirror sentiments and observations made in the 2018 report, “Turn Up The Volume: Rethinking Where and How Customer Voice Enhances Experience.”

While the report focused on social media, it concluded that the same number (150) of European marketers aren’t listening to consumers in a way that would build lasting relationships. Just 27 percent said they actively listen for the voice of the customer, while another 36 percent listen with a limited scope.

Facebook Launches Cryptocurrency; Twitter Develops ‘Hide Replies’

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This week in social media news, Facebook is working on launching its own cryptocurrency, Twitter is in the process of developing “Hide Replies” feature, TikTok promises to be the next big thing for marketers, Twitter introduces new Twiter Business podcast, Facebook announces premium video advertising option, Snapchat updates “Explore” with Snap ads courses for marketers, Instagram is spotted testing new title option for Instagram Live, Tinder is launching a Spring Break mode, brands are pulling their advertising from YouTube, Instagram is testing a public “Collections” feature similar to Pinterest boards and survey reveals how consumers sort out brand authenticity on social media.

Facebook To Launch Its Cryptocurrency 

The New York Times reported on Thursday that several internet outfits, including Facebook, are planning to launch new cryptocurrencies in 2019 that will make it easy for users to send money to contacts in their messager, similar to Venmo and PayPal.

Why it matters: Since products, such as Venmo have already proved popular with consumers, it is reasonable to predict that with cryptocurrency, Facebook will add more value to the platform and its users.

The details: According to The New York Times, the company is almost ready to start selling the Facebook coin to consumers. The company is also looking to operate with different foreign currencies, besides the dollar. In addition, Facebook is taking apart its messaging infrastructure and connecting Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. The incorporation, which could take over a year, would extend the reach of Facebook’s digital currency across the 2.7 billion people who use one of the three apps each month.

Facebook’s Workplace Reached 2 Million Paying Users

On Friday, Facebook released updated numbers on its Workplace performance in a blog post, claiming the platform now sees 2 million paid users.

Why it matters: The report demonstrated that Workplace is different from the competitor Slack and highlighted the Workplace’s success in an area that Slack, Microsoft Teams are also chasing, which is enterprise users.

The details:  The report said that Workplace now serves 150 companies with more than 10,000 users each on the platform. These companies include corporate giants, such as Nestle, Danone and Delta Airlines and startups, like Farfetch. “We put these people at the center of everything we do. Whether it’s releasing new features like Safety Check so frontline workers can get the support they need in a crisis; leveraging industry-leading machine learning technology from Facebook to help ease the burden of email overload; or building best-of-breed integrations with companies like Microsoft, Google, ServiceNow, Okta, Box and Netskope so our customers can get more from the SaaS apps they already use,” the report stated.

Twitter Is Working On “Hide Replies” Feature Release 

Twitter is developing a feature that would let users hide replies to their tweets, TechCrunch reported on Thursday. The “Hide Tweet” feature was first discovered by Jane Manchun Wong, who shared her findings on Twitter.

Why it matters: The feature will allow the users to “mute” toxic or unreasonable comments.

The details: “Hide Replies” wouldn’t let the users permanently hide replies to tweets, but it would make those replies more difficult to see. Michelle Yasmeen Haq, senior product manager at Twitter, confirmed in a statement for CNBC that the “Hide Tweet” and “View Hidden Tweets” controls are currently in development, as part of its drive to promote “healthy” conversations on the platform. By giving users the option to hide replies, Yasmeen Haq said, Twitter can “balance the product experience between the original Tweeter and the audience.”

Twitter Offers ‘Character Count,’ The New @TwitterBusiness Podcast

Twitter announced on Wednesday the launch of their new “Character Count” podcast for marketers.

Why it matters: The podcast aims to help marketers and advertisers feel supported and inspired by the expert guests and the Twitter Business team.

The details: In each episode of “Character Count,” you can expect to hear about Twitter’s most interesting advertising stories and learn the mechanics of the most effective campaign, as well as find out more about Twitter’s audience.

“We’ll hear how @MontereyAq uses memes to raise ocean awareness, how @Dropbox builds warmth with their customers, how @SimonBooks brought a legacy brand online—and more,” the statement from Twitter said.

Will TikTok Be Relevant To Marketers?

According to Digiday, TikTok has already started testing ads in the US, with GrubHub being among the first to try out the ad units. The question of the platform sticking around, however, still stands. SocialMediaToday is sorting it out.

Why it matters: New social media platforms pop up all the time, promising to become “the next big thing.” Most, however, don’t make it. It is important to analyze their relevance to marketers at an early stage.

The details: According to a SocialMediaToday analysis, TikTok has good chances at sticking around. Although the platform is quite similar to other brief video content tools, such as Vine, it’s is growing fast. What also sets TikTok apart is that besides providing an alternative outlet for creative expression to the users, the features offered in western markets were first tested among the platform’s native, Chinese userbase first.

TikTok is still testing waters with its ad options, but its Chinese version, “Douyin” is living proof of the company’s experience and understanding of the subject, as Douyin has more than 300 million monthly active users.

Facebook Announces ‘Facebook Showcase’ Premium Video Advertising Option

Facebook announced in a statement on Tuesday the launch of “Facebook Showcase” ad program.

Why it matters: The program should provide wider opportunities for advertisers to increase brand awareness in connection to the most popular “Watch” shows. Also, according to the statement, “Showcase” can help advertisers reach younger audiences that are not easily reachable on TV. “Over the past three months, 43% of people in the US who watched In-Stream Reserve-eligible content on Facebook were 18-34 years old,2 compared to 28% of TV viewers,” the statement said.

The details: Showcase is currently available for campaigns in the US and the products offered include:

  • In-Stream Reserve. This product allows advertisers to reach people watching video from a selection of numerous publishers and creators.
  • In-Stream Reserve Categories allows advertisers to reach people within contextually relevant content.
  • Sponsorships give advertisers an opportunity to be the exclusive sponsor of a program.

Snapchat Launches Updated Snap Ads Education Courses for Marketers

Snapchat recently announced in a statement that its “Explore” education courses will be upgraded with a new range of tools and insights for marketers and advertisers.

Why it matters: Snapchat ad education courses is a useful source offering many educational course options, which touch upon nearly everything: from ad formats to data analytics.

The details: Snap ads is a convenient addendum to the “Explore” platform. It will provide informative overviews of the various Snap ad options and tips on how they can be utilized. In addition, the tool includes an updated Snap ads accreditation program.

Instagram Spotted Testing New Title Option for Instagram Live

SocialMediaToday reported on Wednesday that Instagram is testing new title option for Instagram Live.

Why it matters: The new title frame might help users to better engage others with their Live stream content.

The details: According to SocialMediaToday, the tip was shared on Twitter by user Giuseppe Foresta (and Matt Navarra). The new option appeared at the top of the Instagram Live launch tile, prompting the users to “add a title for your viewers.”

Tinder Launches a Spring Break Mode

TechCrunch reported on Tuesday that the dating app Tinder is launching a new feature “Spring Break mode” for the college-aged users, which will allow them to look up potential matches in their Spring Break destinations.

Why it matters: “Spring Break, like Tinder, is a staple for many college students across the country. We’ve historically seen huge upticks in Tinder usage during Spring Break in these destinations, and we are excited to give users the unique experience to connect before they pack their bags,” Jenny Campbell, chief marketing officer at Tinder, told TechCrunch in a statement.

The details: Spring Break mode will be working starting March 4 through March 31, 2019,  and will cover 20 popular destinations, such as Cabo, Lake Havasu, Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans, Puerto Rico, Puerto Vallarta, San Diego and others. To opt in, Tinder U users will have to look for the Spring Break card and when they see it, select their Spring Break destination to see who else is going. This destination will then be displayed to potential matches through their profiles.

Nestle, Disney Pull YouTube Ads

Bloomberg reported that Disney is pulling its advertising spend from YouTube, along with a laundry list of other other companies including Nestle SA and Epic Games after a blogger, Matt Watson, released a 20-minute video on the platform about comments on YouTube being used to aid a “soft-core pedophilia ring.”

Why it matters: This is ultimately a brand safety issue. If the brands can’t control where the ads appear they will pull them for the time being.

The details: “Any content–including comments–that endangers minors is abhorrent and we have clear policies prohibiting this on YouTube. We took immediate action by deleting accounts and channels, reporting illegal activity to authorities and disabling violative comments,” a spokeswoman for YouTube said in an email to Bloomberg. YouTube also published an updated policy about how it will handle content that is not appropriate.

YouTube Pulls Ads From Anti-Vaccine Videos 

According to BuzzFeed News, YouTube also had to remove ads on videos that advocate against vaccination after advertisers complained about programmatic ad placements on such videos.

Why it matters: These videos fall under YouTube’s policy, which prohibits the monetization of videos with “dangerous and harmful” content which again, affects the reputation of the brands advertising.

The details: BuzzFeed News found that even for queries like “are vaccines safe?” YouTube usually pulls results from credible sources, such as a children’s hospitals’ data but its “Up Next” algorithm frequently suggested recommendations for anti-vaccination clips.

Seven different advertisers told BuzzFeed News they were unaware that their ads were appearing on videos that advocate against vaccinating children, and contacted YouTube to terminate the programmatic placements.

“We have strict policies that govern what videos we allow ads to appear on, and videos that promote anti-vaccination content are a violation of those policies. We enforce these policies vigorously, and if we find a video that violates them, we immediately take action and remove ads,” a YouTube spokesperson said in an email statement to BuzzFeed News.

Instagram Is Testing Public “Collections” Feature 

TechCrunch reported that Instagram is looking to challenge Pinterest. Code buried in Instagram for Android shows the company has prototyped an option to create public “Collections,” similar to Pinterest boards, to which multiple users can contribute.

Why it matters: Instagram public “Collections” could certainly inspire a new medium of content curation on the platform, enabling the users to “collect” their “bucket list” items, shopping wish lists or travel destinations.

The details: Instagram didn’t confirm testing to TechCrunch, but the “Make Collection Public” option was discovered by reverse engineering specialist Jane Manchun Wong. Wong was able to generate a screenshot of the prototype, which showed the ability to toggle on public visibility for a Collection, and tag contributors who can also add to the Collection.

Booking.com Urges Travel Daydreamers To ‘Just Book It Already’

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Travel brand Booking.com isn’t beating around the bush with its latest call to action. A new campaign called “Be a Booker” encourages consumers to stop dreaming about their next trip and finally make it happen.

Booking.com debuted its latest national campaign on Monday, celebrating those who travel and shaming those who are content to just “pin, post and swipe.” Social media makes it easy to dream about travel, especially on Instagram where popular influencers go to extraordinary lengths for their next “travel brag” post. Not surprisingly, a majority of travelers depicted in the “Be a Booker” campaign are young and virtually all “bookers” do so with a mobile phone.

At first glance, the campaign appears to cater only to those who actually finalize their plans, i.e. existing customers. One spot called “Ask Your Boss Later,” however, promotes impulse booking by highlighting the site’s free cancellation policy. This message is clearly aimed at those who hesitate; the “others” in a travel booking scenario.

“By creating a community of ‘bookers,’ Booking.com is aiming to celebrate the people who take action and empower others to experience the world, no matter where that is,” Pepijn Rijvers, chief marketing officer at Booking.com explained in a press release. “Booking.com wants to inspire ‘bookers’ and as a leading tech company, assure them that we’ll do all the work to take the friction out of the travel process to help them plan their trip in a seamless way.”

“Be a Booker” launched nationally on Monday and will air on primetime TV and online channels. The campaign includes a mix of 60-second and 30-second spots as well as four separate 15-second spots dubbed ”’Ask Your Boss Later,” “What You’re Looking For,” “Big Plans” and “L.A. Baby.”

Booking.com cited a 2018 study by Victorinox that found 76 percent of Americans wanting to spend more of their free time traveling. This statistic, says Booking.com, means that US consumers have an opportunity to take advantage of accommodations and daily deals featured in the campaign.

Throughout each ad, Happy travelers cavort in restaurants, hotel rooms and on the road, reminding consumers that the service isn’t just for finding a place to sleep. These visuals are a nod to Booking.com’s Experiences portal, which just launched in September.

In addition to experiences offered around a traveler’s destination, Booking.com has offered exclusive events such as a meet-and-greet with DJ Khaled and a Halloween-themed night for two inside The San Francisco Dungeon.

 

Wingstop Debuts ‘Where Flavor Gets Its Wings’ Digital And Experiential Campaign

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Wingstop launched its most extensive advertising campaign yet called ‘Where Flavor Gets Its Wings,’ to showcase their variety of flavors.

Along with TV spots, Wingstop is hitting the road on their ‘Flavor World’ tour. Food trucks will travel across the country so consumers can sample their wings. The first stop was at Los Angeles’ LA Live venue followed by the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

“We’re embarking on an amazing journey to excite people so they can overcome the flavor indifference that keeps them stuck with bland and predictable fast food choices,” said Maurice Cooper, Wingstop chief marketing officer in a statement.

“Where Flavor Gets Its Wings is the first campaign we’ve launched that speaks to any eating occasion. Our longtime fans of Wingstop and the masses demanded a better flavor experience and will agree that Wingstop fits every lifestyle moment that food and flavor enhances.”

Eleven winners—one fan for each of Wingstop’s chicken wing flavors—will earn free wings for a year if they discover a green ticket inside their wing boats. Participants will also get the chance opportunity to star in their virtual Wingstop ad through a custom VR experience.

Recently, the company rolled out updates to their website and app, introducing a calculator feature which assists you in determining how many wings you should order according to how many people in your party and how hungry they are. Alongside this digital and experiential strategy refresh, Wingstop also plans to expand delivery to more markets in the US.

Last February, Wingstop created a special toll-free hotline to help people “looking to step up their romance game or cure hunger pains” for Valentine’s Day. Those who called the 1-844-WING-LUV hotline could hear five response options depending on what number you pressed—one could get Valentine’s night tips and another featured a vocal warm-up routine.

 

 

 

Oscar Night Advertisers Rely On Female Empowerment, Craft To Inspire Viewers

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Advertisers during the 91st Academy Awards vied for audience attention by sending messages of empowerment, craft and a love of film.

Walmart served as the main sponsor for the Academy Awards and turned its marketing efforts not on the celebrities themselves, but those working behind the scenes. For its TV spot, the retail giant partnered with movie stylists who designed custom outfits for six film crew members working in Foley, voice acting, stunts, costumes, styling and catering.

In addition to prominent branding and the hashtag #WalmartFashion used throughout the program, Walmart created a dedicated microsite to the film crew partners and their curated fashion.

The #MeToo movement is still in full swing, so brands no doubt consider the Oscars to be the perfect platform for female empowerment.

Nike continued its “Dream Crazy” campaign with a female-focused ad narrated by Serena Williams. The commercial highlights moments in sports history when women were considered “crazy” for attempting something new.

“So if they want to call you crazy,” says Williams in the spot, “Fine. Show them what crazy can do.”

Cadillac likened stepping up into one of its new SUVs to rising to the occasion, using visuals like a woman of color receiving an award, a female boxer rising from the corner and a man stepping onto the stage to a microphone.

Budweiser enlisted the help of actress Charlize Theron to promote its new reserve lager in a spot that plays on the saying, “Hold my beer.” After ordering a glass of Budweiser reserve lager, Theron notices some men playing pool and it inspires her to challenge them. She goes from activity to activity—pool, darts and arm wrestling—emerging victorious without putting down her beer glass. Oddly enough, as some viewers have pointed out, she never takes a sip, either.

The Academy Awards were designed to honor those who are masters of their craft. This theme resonated in several ad spots, as well.

Rolex turned its attention to Academy Award-winning filmmakers James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, Kathryn Bigelow and Alejandro G. Iñárritu who each give their advice about telling one’s story.

Samsung, fresh off its Galaxy S10 smartphone reveal, teased a new phone during the ceremony that would take “cinematic” pictures.

Budweiser touted its own craftsmanship by shaming other brewers for using corn syrup. Set In its “Dilly Dilly” universe, two thespians take the stage to dramatically read beer ingredients from Miller Light and Bud Light. After hearing that Bud Light does not use corn syrup, one audience member is moved to tears.

The jab at its competitors began at the Super Bowl with Bud Light’s “Special Delivery” spot.

Google took an imaginative approach to its voice assistant marketing by adding its functionality to popular films. As the commercial plays, the events of Deadpool, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Scream, Toby McGuire, Hangover and Lady Bird are all changed when Google Assistant is used.

Hollywood’s biggest night has attracted fewer viewers in recent years, and the 2018 Oscars reached a new low. Despite this, brands pour millions of ad dollars into the televised event for a chance to be associated with celebrity glitz and glamor. According to Kantar Media, the average price of an Oscars-airing ad was $2.11 million in 2018.

 

Shiv Singh: “You Were Either A Coke Drinker Or Pepsi Drinker”

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An excerpt from Rohini Luthra PhD and Shiv Singh’s upcoming book ‘Savvy: Navigating Fake Companies, Fake Leaders and Fake News in the Post-Trust Era’.

The “cola wars” was the name given to the marketing battles that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo fought over the course of three decades to win the hearts and minds of consumers. Through a series of innovative marketing strategies, advertising campaigns, promotions, and product extensions, each company constantly tried to outdo the other and win greater market share. Pepsi, as the challenger brand with the smaller market, often took the lead as disrupter [sic], upending the status quo and catching its competitor off balance. Coca-Cola would respond furiously, fighting to retain the consumers Pepsi was gunning for. The competition became even more fierce when sales stopped growing as consumers moved away from carbonated beverages to healthier drinks.

Consumers avidly took sides in the competition. You were either a Coke drinker or Pepsi drinker, and people rarely drank both or switched sides. Loyalists watched the Super Bowl ads of their brand with glee and disparaged those of the competitor. Researchers of a 2016 study analyzed a database on consumer shopping history for more than sixty-two thousand households across the US. Results showed that consumers were remarkably loyal to their chosen brand. Coca-Cola kept 94 percent of its loyal households from one quarter to the next and Pepsi retained 91 percent of its households.

Inside the companies, loyalty and the competitive spirit were intense. Having worked for PepsiCo, one of the co-authors has firsthand knowledge of how the cola wars affected the company. As an employee, you never ever drank Coca-Cola products. We all knew that to be caught with a Coke in our hand was company betrayal. But that hardly mattered, as few, if any, employees wanted to drink a Coke. The cola wars were personal. We took the competition very seriously- the mere sight of a Coca-Cola was an irritant. Business partners were strongly encouraged to only serve Pepsi at meetings and to hide all Coca-Cola products. PepsiCo leaders were known to leave social events in a huff if Coca-Cola products were being served. One year, at the annual sales meeting, a PepsiCo manager even distributed floormats depicting a crushed coke can with the message, “wipe your feet here” on it to the thousands of attendees attending as a way to motivate the sales teams to crush the competition. Employees knew that. if they were to leave PepsiCo and join the Coca-Cola Company they’d been seen as making peace with the devil! No one ever did that. And in case you were wondering, all of this was true for Coke too. In 2013, a Coke driver was fired for drinking a Pepsi in the back room of a California store after completing a delivery. He’d been with Coca-Cola for twelve years.

Yet, as in the Robber’s Cave experiment, when the companies were given an opportunity to collaborate for a greater good, they became effective partners. In 2012 they joined forces against Mayor Bloomberg’s health campaign linking consumption of sodas to obesity in New York City. Bloomberg proposed a Soda Ban which would limit the same of soft drinks over sixteen ounces. Coca-Cola and Pepsi launched a PR assault against the ban, and both together and individually lobbied against health bills designed to reduce consumption of their products. They wanted to educate consumers about obesity in a more balanced fashion, emphasizing what they were doing to help.

Then, in 2015, they came together again to help veterans get jobs, jointly running public service announcements encouraging companies to hire veterans. In those ads, each company’s CEO raised a toast to veterans (with their favorite cola in their hands.) As we’ve seen, the two companies can certainly partner, but why would they? Both have masterfully engineered bias to their benefit. For employees and consumers, being loyal to one group over the other satisfies the fundamental human motivation to belong.

Get Savvy Now－How To Fight The Need To Belong

  • What happens when we don’t conform: Studies have found that non-conforming employees report being more confident and engaged in their work, display greater creativity, and receive higher ratings on performance and innovativeness from their supervisors. Make space in your company for non-conformity.
  • Why some people don’t conform: About 1/4 of subjects in Asch’s study never agreed with the erroneous judgment of the majority. Those that resisted said (1) they were confident of their own judgment and (2) felt like they had to be true to their own perceptions.
  • Combating groupthink: In combating conformity and groupthink, managers should (1) emphasize the need all viewpoints, including dissenting ones; and (2) build a culture that encourages critical thinking and transparency. When you hire, look for heterogeneous employees.
  1. Hold off on voicing your own opinions: Being a manager means that you shouldn’t be the first to speak. Try to create an environment where your teams develop their opinions first and then come to you for validation.
  2. Devil’s advocate: Always assign one person to play the devil’s advocate when trying to solve a problem. Discuss the final idea with outsiders to get impartial opinions.
  3. Welcome competition: Don’t treat your competitors like they’re enemies. It can lead to a culture of ingroup bias where you’re not only disrespectful to your competitors, but also blind to their strengths and advantages. Competition is healthy, it makes us work harder and more creatively. However, even as we compete, we should find ways to partner around shared values.