Fix/Lite - LinkedIn edition Feb 28
Monday February 28
This is the Linkedin version of Fridays?Fix/Insider newsletter.?
Insiders get Fix?first thing Friday & the mid week Deep Dives on newTV & Merchant.?Upgrade?& expense it - money well spent
( and?the audio version is back?- by popular demand)
Merchant
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Web Smith of 2PM has done a great deck on commerce trends and?it was well covered in Hustle?where they pulled out the 8 key trends.?Full report here.
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You should also read?the Stratechery piece on Shopifys evolution. And listen to the?new Benedict Evans podcast on Retail. There is so much opportunity for brands and Merchants here.
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Lots more analysis in our merchant Deep Dive on Wednesday - insight from Tesco on their media network, retail trends from Eagle Eye, insight into Amazon shoppers from Jungle Scout and Colin Lewis.
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In Fast Last Mile everyone is trying out different models. For example Waitrose have their own delivery service, built as their partnership with Ocado deteriorated and M&S took their place. But whilst owning their customer makes sense they closed their Rapid service and are now focusing on the partnership?with Deliveroo for - as Bloomberg put it - 10 minute hummus
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This is happening across markets -?US supermarket Albertsons has partnered with DoorDash?for 30 minute delivery. This builds on their current same day service also using Doordash. Apart from the delivery time the key difference is the range of goods. For the same day service customers choose from 40k items, but for 30 minute delivery it's choosing from 6k.
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The issue for CPG is deciding what they want featured in which service. Which then leads to decisions on Merchant Media - how do I best support these products with media buys?.
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Everyone is doing Merchant Media including - of course Albertsons?- who?announced a partnership with CitrusAds and Merkle late last year.
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The news that?Walmart made $2.1bn?from their Merchant Media business will only encourage more
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Adtech
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We saw seismic shifts last week in adtech. The Google announcement that they will degrade tracking in apps and The Trade Desk remodelling the programmatic model are fundamental changes. Now we see some reflection from a number of people on these changes and their implications?
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Brian Morrissey talks of?end of an era of ad targeting?and summarises the key issues, but solutions are still hard to come by.
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Almost two years ago?the UK industry was stung by the findings of an ISBA and PWC report that showed a huge (15%) hole in the middle of the industry, where money just disappeared. The?trade bodies have come together with a solution?that should go some way to minimising this loss.?
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It's three documents which encourage all parts of a chain to share details of what is being bought and sold. Brands have welcomed this and we hope the rest of the industry is equally positive and the process becomes standard practice. I'm sure it's not perfect but if everyone supports it, issues and inconsistencies can be rooted out
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The Drum reports that?Nielsen and The Trade Desk are to join forces for 'big data solution' to online measurement?
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Another Mobile Operator looks ready to quit the ad business. When SingTel bought Amobee in 2012, it started a trend, but most MNOs have subsequently sold their ad business and now?Singtel are exploring a sale.
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They have acquired lots of businesses over the years and given the consolidation we see in adtech, can they command a decent price? It could be that their TV business is the jewel in their crown, with customers like ITV
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The team at Digiday know their stuff and their?WTF is Google’s Topics??is a good take on what looks like the best bet for the future of targeting online.
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newTV
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In this week's newTV deep dive we dug into streaming, social video and sports as usual but also focused on some interesting moves in the UK - which I think hint at the future of Channel 4. If you would like to sample what our Insiders enjoy every week let me know.
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This is a really useful?summary of how all the SVOD services did over Q4?
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The Roku results are out too and their shareholder letter (PDF) is worth reading - very bullish;
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Roku have also announced a smart trick to reduce ad spoofing and fraud - a digital watermark that thwarts scammers who pretend PCs are streaming TV devices, where ads have a higher value as they are viewed on a large screen probably with sound?
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But the Roku share price is now just a quarter of what it was in July - someone is going to get a bargain.
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Few people know more about the TV and film industry than Peter Chernin - who ran Fox and then News Corp.?This podcast interview is good.
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领英推荐
Social
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I covered the news from?TikTok encouraging longer videos?in our newTV Fix, but it’s worth sharing here too - reminding us just how dynamic this space is, with everyone reacting to the competitions moves. Watching how people are using the platform is really informative - and inspiring.
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The introduction of?DMA (Designated Market Area) geo targeting?on TikTok last year led to?some smart use cases?and the potential is clear
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We continue to find good case studies for Good TikTok Creative -?this week we looked at Job ads?- but have not yet featured Gucci. But is their use of TikTok trainspotter?Francis Bourgeois?really?the blueprint for modern marketing?
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Gucci do get modern culture and marketing - as their web3 presence the Vault shows. Described as?an experimental concept space?and?launched with a tweet?we will be watching this.
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Lots happening with Snap too - a clever and useful iteration of the Snap Map -?enabling people to show their live locations to a specific friend?- for 15 minutes or a few hours. With good safeguards built in this should be well used. And while we often hear how much?creators get paid I was intrigued to see?a Snap creator earning $750k for building AR lenses.
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Meta have invested in a games studio?co founded by the founder of Zynga - the firm behind one time Facebook sensation Farmville. PlayCo describes itself as an "instant gaming" company and the games remind me of the?Mini Games?which are so popular on WeChat, except these games are designed to be played with a friend. It’s not a huge investment - $40m and the firm raised $100m at series A, valuing them at $1bn.
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The Psychology of TikTok.?How the popular social media app affects our brain, our behaviour, and our mental health
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Audio
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Whilst the fall out from Joe Rogan continues, Spotify keep building out their advertising capabilities. They have?acquired two firms that help them improve measurement; Podsights and Chartable.
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One company that doesn't need much convincing about podcasts is Squarespace. The founder started advertising in them in 2009 and is still investing substantial budgets?
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web3
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Spending more and more time on Web3 - sifting through, trying to separate the charatans from the ideas that really will shake up the world.
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Still reading lots of explanations as each seems to add a little bit more clarity -?like this one. And?this Economist podcast?is helpful. As is this advice;?Why B2B folks need to learn about Web 3.0 now. And the?Goldman Sachs report?I mentioned last week is really good.
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I am looking for use cases that make sense - like this;?Alfa Romeo Launches New Car Complete With NFT?- smart idea of using an NFT as a type of log book to record servicing etc. The idea of NFTs enabling access to music makes sense so this?Universal partnership with Curio?looks good
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But there are real issues. In the interview with ex Disney CEO Bob Iger he mentions web3;
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And the idea that?a NFT portfolio is worth $1bn?is nonsense. Who remembers the railings of Hyde Park being covered in terrible paintings every Sunday? Most NFT art is the digital equivalent of that.
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If you want to see a collection of art that is truly worth that sort of money get along to Sothebys to see the?Macklowe collection
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Plus+
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Scott Galloway on how Apple can become a $trillion company?( but no mention of Ads)
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