June

It’s the end of another month, and so, it’s time for the latest edition of ‘The target marketer’. While your usual author Natasha is away, I’ll be filling in, sharing with you the top stories in the marketing world that have caught my eye. Let’s dive right in.?

Next-level TV shopping

Have you ever watched an advert for kitchen roll and thought to yourself ”Whoops! That’s what I meant to pick up from the store”??

What if you didn’t have to plan yet another trip to the local supermarket to get it? What if it was a shoppable ad, and you could have it delivered to your house the very next day??

Shoppable ads have been an area of interest for ecommerce brands for a while now, with Amazon naturally leading the way. Following in the footsteps of social commerce platforms, the idea is that shoppers will be able to add items to shopping carts as they see them on screen. And, recently, Amazon has been experimenting with new formats like carousel and interactive ads that allow viewers to shop from a pause screen.

Amazon’s pitch is simple and effective: “we’re a huge streaming service (155 million monthly viewers) and we’re where they most often go to shop”, making it even more enticing for brands to set up their own Amazon storefronts. But they’re not the only ones taking shoppable TV ads seriously.?

The Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service Max, recently announced that it would be joining Peacock, Disney+, and Roku in their mission to create a “seamless and integrated shopping experience” for its viewers. So, it seems like everybody is on board.?

What about you? As both marketers and shoppers, it seems like an exciting opportunity, but as we grapple with rising ad costs, does this feel like an opportunity, or a pipedream??

Exciting updates coming to YouTube

As a content marketer, I’m always looking out for exciting updates that can help me and my team get the best results from our hard work.?

Recently, YouTube has delivered some awesome new updates that will make it easier to optimize and improve video marketing results. And, as we all know, video is a content trend that’s not going anywhere, so these updates as wholly welcome.?

Firstly, YouTube has begun rolling out ‘test and compare’. This allows content creators to test which thumbnail generates the highest watch time share and automatically optimizes it for best results.?

YouTube is also making it easier to share your channel using QR codes. Gone are the days of copying and pasting your channel link to encourage new subscribers. A simple QR code will mean you can share your channel online and offline with ease. That’s fantastic news for marketers out there regularly attending events or roadshows.?

These are just two of some of the cool updates coming to the social media platform, but we think they’re going to be big for marketers looking to grow and expand their subscriber numbers. Check out Creator Insider for more updates.

AI joins the race towards Paris 2024

While most of us in Europe and South America are focusing on the football championships turning neighbors into rivals, the rest of the world is gearing up for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.?

The media giant, NBC has the broadcasting rights to the event, meaning its preparing for a huge influx of users over the 19-day competition. As marketers, we know how this can be a blessing, and a curse as they face the big question: how to turn new viewers into loyal subscribers.?

Well, that’s where NBC is turning to AI with the launch of A.I. Michaels . Opted in users will receive a daily highlight reel of their favorite events accompanied by a AI-generated voiceover stylized on legendary sportscaster Al (that’s A L) Michaels.?

This time, unlike the team over at OpenAI, NBC has worked in collaboration to deliver hyper-personalized content to their audience. It’s an exciting example of AI being used in content creation.?

EU vs. big tech

The EU is flexing its muscles when it comes to big tech companies. Recently, the supranational union has brought charges to Microsoft and Apple (again).?

Microsoft has been charged with antitrust violations. The tech giants have been accused of breaching competition rules by bundling its Teams collaboration tool with Office 365 and Microsoft 365.?

Apple is facing a similar charge. This time around its App Store. The European Commission claims Apple has breached Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules by failing to let App Store developers freely tell users about failing to let App Store developers freely tell users about alternate payment options outside of Apple’s ecosystem. This comes hot on the heels of its recent fine for a similar breach on its music streaming service.?

But Apple aren’t taking it sitting down. The tech company recently announced that it would withhold several ?features from European users — including its new Apple Intelligence and iPhone mirroring — because it claims the Digital Markets Act could create privacy or security risks. Now that’s fighting talk.?

While this won’t have repercussions for most of our marketers, I thought it was worth noting this month. Very few of us are working for giant companies that have the power to ride roughshod over the little companies. Maintaining free and fair competition is vital work.?