Blog
Bridging commentary on the art & science of content; content marketing, branded content, native advertising and the analytics, attribution and intelligence that powers it.
Edition #501 On quiet periods, AI search (lots there) and a return to brand marketing. Ahead of earnings, public companies enter what is known as a quiet period. Where they won’t comment on stories or make big announcements. This is to clear the air and avoid any unfair releases or advantages. And to give focus to the earnings. Now, savvy reporters and activists will sometimes use this window, to drop news, knowing the firm can’t or won’t respond. Continue reading
Edition #500 Facebook has creators backs again, Substacks secret weapon & more AI summaries. In 2014 I wrote on my personal blog about a year of health and wellbeing. And that year was pivotal, but it also really was the start of a decade of continuing to improve on health & fitness. That year we also started a newsletter called This Week in Native Ads. And I know some readers will remember that! As you’ve come along for the… Continue reading
Edition #499 Huge edit post the Fourth of July, F1 movie sold real sponsorships to the tune of $40m and influencers, do we need them? Huge edition this week after a one week hiatus. I reviewed over 200 stories on the shortlist, so it took a bit. Fill up a cup of coffee and enjoy. There was a bunch of measurement stories this week, one featuring data from Kochava, talking about how MMM’s are uncovering drastic opportunities… Continue reading
Edition #498 Instagram opening up to Google, David Droga on 37 years & is Apple’s branded integration going too far? Apple has really stepped up their brand integrations this year, promoting Severance on Apple.com and the F1 Movie through Maps, Haptic Trailers & Tim Cook joining in with a few tweets. Showing enthusiasm from the top. Apple even created a custom camera using iPhone parts to film parts of the movie! But maybe they went too far this week in… Continue reading
Edition #497 Will pMax (& others) go multi modal? WhatsApp Ads & Cannes. Privacy advocacy is working, WhatsApp launched its ads product this week. The ads are limited the to the updates section (away from your messages). But at launch, they share exactly what data will feed into those placements. Why? All the advocacy for privacy is paying off, users are savvier, it’s best to launch and just go on the front foot here is what we are… Continue reading
Edition #496 UGC/influencer spend surpasses traditional media, Cannes & loads of AI stories. For readers heading to Cannes, you might enjoy this fun/informative guide I put together How to Sound Smart (and Stay Sane) at Cannes. Grab the PDF to read on the go. Safe travels. There’s even a section for those whose partners are going but they aren’t! AdAge has a piece on how e.l.f and Microsoft quickly turned around content collaborations with TikTok influencer Oliver… Continue reading
Edition #495 On AI’s infinite use cases, NY tech week & entry level jobs. We don’t create enough content anymore, which is why algorithmic feeds are needed to help find other content we might like. But with AI tools, ironically that may change, with people using AI to create more responsive memes, or responses or dynamic content. It’s been New York Tech Week this week, which just seems to get bigger and bigger! AI dominated the conversation with… Continue reading
Edition #494 Einstein – “if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”. Last week I swapped out how we send this, so you may notice some changes as we fine tune the set up. Love your feedback! This makes my process to send a bit easier/streamlined. I really enjoyed Alex Schultz’s post on how to do things you can’t measure, this is my approach or lens on measurement, simple, practical and anchored in the business… Continue reading
Edition #493 What diffusion models have to do with advertising (and what are they?) Google AI Mode & managing expectations. I’d kept hearing about diffusion as it relates to AI, and didn’t actually know what it meant. So this week I took a gander, in essence a diffusion model, builds an understanding of how diffuse something this, so that you can work it back to a high fidelity result. How it works is by taking (say a picture) and… Continue reading
Edition #492 Lots of AI changes in flux, WhatsApp sponsored content on Netflix & Microsoft Ads 2.0. I think it’s kind of interesting that Google is talking about re-building search with AI at its core. It makes sense, AI slop could mess up results, what’s the best tool to handle it? AI itself. Checks out. Google has also been hitting its stride with its AI solutions. BUT also, Microsoft opted to scrap Xandr DSP, in light of just building for… Continue reading