Digital Debrief 3.27.2024

Here's what's happening in the digital world this week:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Search?

• X (formerly Twitter) is broadening access to its AI chatbot, Grok , making it available to all Premium subscribers, not just those in the higher-tier Premium+ package. Launched as X's answer to ChatGPT, Grok uses X's post data for timely and relevant responses. Initially limited to the $16/month Premium+ subscribers, this expansion aims to increase Grok's use and test its value among a wider audience. However, this move could impact the perceived value of the Premium+ subscription. Elon Musk, X's owner, hints at a more powerful Grok version for Premium+ users to maintain its appeal. This strategy aligns with Musk's focus on growing subscriber revenue and reducing ad dependency despite the platform being far from its ambitious subscriber and user activity targets.
• Merkle , a company under Dentsu, has launched Intelligent Messaging , a new tool that combines AI and human interaction to enhance brand communications across social and messaging platforms. This solution aims to provide seamless, always-on conversational experiences throughout the customer journey, leveraging AI-powered chatbots and human teams. It supports integration with various e-commerce and CRM platforms, facilitating direct interactions from ads to messaging on platforms like Messenger, WhatsApp, or Instagram. Through a partnership with the Meta Messaging Alliance, Merkle offers clients early access to new products, positioning Intelligent Messaging as a strategic asset for brands seeking to personalize customer experiences and streamline the path to purchase.
• Accenture is enhancing its content creation capabilities through partnerships with Adobe and Nvidia , focusing on personalized content production and supply chain transformation via generative AI. The collaboration with Adobe involves integrating Adobe Firefly Custom Models into Accenture Song's offerings, targeting retail, automotive, and healthcare industries. Accenture's work with Nvidia for the Jaguar Land Rover brand Defender leverages real-time graphics and AI for luxury marketing experiences. These initiatives mark Accenture's commitment to meeting the growing demand for scalable, industry-specific, generative AI solutions, building on a significant investment in AI technology.

Marketing, Influencer & Advertising?

• Manischewitz , a brand traditionally known for its kosher food offerings, is undergoing a rebranding initiative to broaden its appeal beyond the kosher aisle and attract a more diverse consumer base. The brand's makeover includes a new logo, a warmer color palette, and marketing materials featuring illustrations inspired by New Yorker cartoons and phonetic spellings of Yiddish food terms to make its products more accessible. This rebranding effort, led by agency Jones Knowles Ritchie, coincides with launching new products and an advertising campaign ahead of Passover, aiming to make Manischewitz a gateway to Jewish culture and culinary traditions for a wider audience.
• Pure Leaf Iced Tea , in collaboration with the Pepsi Lipton Partnership, has introduced a new zero-sugar, zero-calorie sweet tea and launched the "Unbelievably Sweet Files " campaign featuring "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" actors Emily Alyn Lind and Celeste O’Connor. The campaign encourages consumers to share their "unbelievable stories " to win prizes, which ties into a broader strategy by PepsiCo and Coca-Cola to offer healthier beverage alternatives amid increasing consumer demand. This initiative marks a significant move to attract consumers interested in zero-sugar options. Pure Leaf also embarks on a tasting tour across several U.S. cities to promote the new product.

• Nike is ramping up its marketing efforts, focusing on bolder , more impactful campaigns as part of its recovery strategy, highlighted by its upcoming "Olympics Air for Athletes" campaign for the Summer Olympics in Paris. This shift comes alongside a consolidation of marketing initiatives and a new marketing chief appointment, aiming to rejuvenate the brand amidst flat growth and direct-to-consumer challenges. This strategy is part of a broader four-pronged turnaround plan, emphasizing sport, product innovation, and reinforcing wholesale relationships to boost consumer engagement and sales.
• NielsenIQ partnered with McDonald's USA to introduce a new Cultural Resonance module within its Bases Ad360 ad-testing suite, aiming to enhance advertisements' cultural relevance and inclusivity. This module assesses cultural factors in ads, offering insights to avoid implicit bias and better connect with diverse audiences. Integrated with neuroscience methods, it provides a quantitative approach to evaluate and improve ad effectiveness against industry benchmarks, supporting advertisers in developing strategies that authentically resonate with consumers.
• Levi's launches "The Floor Is Yours" campaign, created by TBWA\Chiat\Day, marking a shift from self-expression to becoming the "unofficial uniform for progress." This new direction focuses on inspiring action and movement, symbolized by a dance metaphor in the anthem spot. The campaign, celebrating the 10th anniversary of "Live in Levi’s," aims to engage consumers directly by inviting them to create content, reinforcing Levi’s stance on active involvement and progress.

• Mtn Dew engages gamers and outdoor enthusiasts with two new yearlong rewards programs , offering specially marked packaging with codes redeemable for prizes from brands like Xbox, GoPro, and Hydro Flask. The Outdoor Gear Program targets outdoor lovers with gear and experiences. At the same time, the Mtn Dew Gaming Rewards Program, in partnership with Xbox, caters to gamers with an always-on marketplace for redeeming points for gaming gear and exclusive drops. These initiatives highlight Mtn Dew's strategy to connect with niche audiences through culturally relevant marketing and partnerships.
• Chips Ahoy is unveiling its most significant recipe reformulation in nearly a decade, accompanied by a celebrity-led campaign with Keke Palmer , new packaging, and a chance to win a trip to a branded luxury beach house in Malibu. The updated recipe, featuring higher cocoa content and Madagascar vanilla, will be promoted through digital channels, and the revamped packaging will highlight the changes. The initiative aims to engage consumers and highlight the brand's refreshed identity and improved cookie formula.

• Google has expanded its advertising partnership with Disney , enabling Display and Video 360 advertisers to extend their campaigns to a broader range of Disney properties through the Disney Real-time Ad Exchange (DRAX). Building on the initial integration with Disney+, this collaboration allows advertisers to leverage Disney's vast audience across platforms like Hulu, Disney+, and YouTube, enhancing reach, frequency control, and unified reporting for streaming advertisements. The partnership also introduces expanded measurement solutions and the ability to secure instant deals, offering premium ad placements across Disney's engaging content ecosystem.

Social Media

LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn is rolling out its Pages Messaging feature to all businesses, enabling direct communication between companies and users via a new "Message" button on company profiles. This feature, which can be managed alongside personal messages by administrators, facilitates more accessible contact and conversation organization. Additionally, LinkedIn is enhancing messaging capabilities through integrations with third-party platforms like Hootsuite and Zoho, allowing companies to handle communications at scale. This update highlights the growing role of direct messaging as a vital tool for professional networking and engagement on the platform.
• LinkedIn introduces dynamic UTM parameters for ad campaign tracking, allowing marketers to incorporate custom tracking elements into their campaign URLs. This feature facilitates the analysis of campaign origins and performance without relying on third-party cookies or IP addresses, thereby enhancing privacy compliance. Set to be available globally in English by the end of March 2024, this update offers marketers a more refined tool for measuring the effectiveness of their LinkedIn campaigns.

Meta:

• Instagram has updated its hashtag search functionality , now directing users to a comprehensive search results page for a hashtag instead of only showing "Top Posts." This change allows for a broader exploration of related content, including accounts, audio, places, and reels, similar to the experience within the Explore tab. This adjustment aims to enhance profile discovery across the app and encourage users to explore diverse content types related to their interests. The update is designed to improve user engagement by providing a more integrated and expansive view of hashtag-related content.
• Meta is expanding Threads' integration with the Fediverse , allowing users over 18 in the U.S., Canada, and Japan to share their Threads posts with ActivityPub compliant servers, such as Mastodon and WordPress. This enables broader content sharing and interaction from Fediverse users without needing a Threads account. However, initial limitations include regional restrictions and the inability to see likes or replies from Fediverse users on Threads. Despite Meta's efforts to engage with the decentralized social media space, many Fediverse admins have resisted Meta's participation, reflecting ongoing tensions about control and privacy in the digital landscape.

TikTok:

• TikTok is establishing a Youth Council to incorporate feedback from teens on safety and content concerns directly into its decision-making processes. This initiative aims to reassure parents and address criticisms about the app's impact on young users. The council consists of 15 teens from various countries, focusing on teen well-being and inclusion for 2024. TikTok's research with YouGov also seeks to understand family conversations about online safety, highlighting areas like bullying and body image as significant concerns. This move is part of TikTok's effort to enhance safety measures and demonstrate its commitment to a positive community impact.
• In collaboration with HubSpot, TikTok has released a comprehensive 25-page guide focused on effective lead-generation strategies within the app. Targeted at APAC marketers, the guide encompasses TikTok ads best practices, campaign planning, case studies, and integration tips for managing campaigns via HubSpot. Key aspects include an overview of TikTok's lead generation tools, workflow suggestions, lead ads and form best practices, creative tips, and a detailed case study. This resource is available for download with email signup, offering valuable insights for marketers looking to optimize their lead-generation efforts on TikTok.

YouTube:

• YouTube continues to enhance its analytics tools by introducing audience segments into its "Audience Retention" report, allowing channel managers to analyze engagement differences between new, returning, subscribed, and non-subscribed viewers. Additionally, YouTube is streamlining its pre-upload checks and offering new channel display customization options, aiming to refine content strategies and simplify the upload process for creators.
• YouTube advises channel managers against deleting old videos , as highlighted by YouTube Product Lead Todd Beaupre . Video removal can negatively affect a channel's algorithmic ranking and trustworthiness in the platform's recommendation system, making it harder for YouTube to connect viewers with the content they'll enjoy. This practice disrupts the viewer experience and complicates the algorithm's ability to assess a channel's value, potentially reducing overall channel ranking and reach.
• YouTube is testing a new AI-powered feature to help viewers skip to the most engaging parts of a video. It enhances user experience by allowing them to jump to segments with higher viewership. Additionally, YouTube is expanding its Shorts Remix feature to enable creators to remix already remixed Shorts, fostering more collaborative and creative content interaction. Currently in a limited experiment in the U.S. with Premium subscribers, these updates aim to adapt to changing viewer behaviors and preferences for more concise and interactive video content.

Snapchat:

• Snap has announced a new partnership with Integral Ad Science (IAS) to enhance brand safety for advertisers on Snapchat. This collaboration aims to offer detailed insights into ad placements within the app, ensuring ads appear alongside safe and suitable content aligned with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) framework . Initial assessments suggest high brand safety levels, with Snapchat's public content like Spotlight and Creator Stories being 99% brand-safe. Additionally, Snap is introducing more brand safety controls for advertisers, including a new setting for ads only to appear next to pre-checked premiere content. This move is part of Snap's broader strategy to increase ad spend and regain business momentum by providing advertisers with greater brand safety assurance.

Reddit:?

• Reddit 's shares surged 67% in early trading following its IPO , marking its transition to a publicly listed company. Despite not being profitable and having slower growth compared to other major social platforms, Reddit's potential, mainly through its AI data licensing deals , including a significant agreement with Google , has intrigued investors. With over 73 million daily active users and $804 million in revenue in 2023, Reddit's strategic shifts and content moderation efforts have increased its appeal to advertisers and AI developers. However, the FTC scrutinizes its data licensing practices, presenting potential challenges.

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