It’s NewFronts this week, with all sorts of announcements. What sticks? We’ll see as we go through the year. The thing that really stood out to me was Conde Nast announcing 175 pilots. That’s putting the idea of throwing ideas on the wall to see what sticks to the extreme. Are there really 175 concepts that can be reasonably tested this year? Why not 40, why not 10? It just seems terribly wasteful.
Notable stories this week
- Can branded content go programmatic? Via Ari from TripleLift at Programmatic IO.
- A bold call, “Economic losses due to bot fraud are expected to total $5.8 billion globally this year, but for the first time ever more fraud will be stopped in 2019 than will succeed,” finds the fourth periodic “Bot Baseline” report from the ANA and White Ops.
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- But that bold call, appears to be working by confining the buying and selling environment and making each step observable.
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- Facebook pivots to privacy, a wrap on F8. The outtake is more pay to play. In a way, making Facebook closer and closer to how brands activate through YouTube.
- An update on PureWow (Gallery Media Group) and how its doing as part of the Vayner group. Expecting mid eight figure revenue this year.
- Shopify announces integration with Facebook Dynamic Ads and SnapChat Story Ads. Surely open web is next?
- On Airbnb’s new video strategy. More content = more bookings. But, only if it’s seen.
- Snaps first CMO gets it. This can’t have been an easy hire to find.
- Medium is creating four new publications based off reader demand.
- YouTube is making all of its originals free. All Originals will include an ad supported window.
Deals/M&A
- MediaMonks acquires Caramel Pictures to boost their content production capabilities.
- Cheddar sells to Altice Networks for $200m. I think Jon has made his point.
- Verizon seeks a buyer for Tumblr.
Campaign of the week
- What to do in the event of an active shooter for March for our Lives. Telling (and showing) a story is a million times more powerful than a banner ad.
- Bring your beer to work day, with Heineken 0.0% and stars from The Office.
- Submit your own and view the best campaigns of 2019.
Smartest commentary
- “It sounds paradoxical, but you can’t get engagement without engagement,” Nair says. “So even if you’re mainly interested in performance marketing and driving sales, it’s really essential to add some good brand-personality content — if only to remain visible in this crowded marketplace.” – Harikesh Nair, Professor Marketing at Stanford
- “Our filter is does our [content] help people? You’re investing time with us. You have to trust us. It’s completely different than doing 11 Ways You Know You Grew Up In Chicago and trying to get it to trend on Facebook.” – Neil Vogel, CEO, Dotdash
Datapoints of note
- On average US adults will spend 3 hours 43 minutes per day on mobile devices.
- 51.7% of US social network users will be mobile-only in 2019.
Events
- C3 – 5/6-5/8, New York, New York.
- JW Insights – 5/29, New York, New York
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