MediaCat Weekly #17 — a love letter to OOH, influencers moving to 9-5, and cosy gaming

Welcome to MediaCat Weekly, our short and sweet newsletter featuring some top stories from the past week, recent conversations, and a round-up of industry news.

This week we say farewell to April's theme on the rise and fall of media. Our contributors wrote about how cinema ads are evolving in line with brands' needs, the power of dynamic creative optimisation, and rise of cosy gaming.

May's theme will be 'people power', exploring the ways in which power is waxing and waning between brands/organisations and people at the moment. Stay tuned for more on that soon. Until then, enjoy this issue.

Why traditional media is still so important in a digital world

By Suzana Lay

Traditional media is still delivering in spades when it comes to awareness. And traditional media is still critical for brand advertising.?You can just about pick any chart of Les Binet and Peter Field to see that traditional channels are more likely to produce large brand effects, drive long-term sales growth, deliver on creativity and boost emotion and fame — all of which perform on business metrics.

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A love letter to OOH and the people behind the posters

By Rob Estreitinho, Benjamin Fishlock and Vikki Ross

Rob and Benjamin walk the readers through the history of OOH and point out some remarkable examples from Alex Taylor, Sue Higgs, James Day and more.

'Behind standout posters there are incredibly sharp and smart people. And the next time we think that a medium is dead or dying, or ‘not quite what it was’, we’d be wise to remind ourselves of this. Ignore the snarky commentators and look at the crafts men and women instead.'

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The rise of influencers moving to 9-5

By MediaCat

Over the past decade a new career pathway has been carved out online. Thanks to social media, fame and money are more attainable than ever, and ‘regular’ people are now afforded similar opportunities to A-listers. For those who manage to hit the big times, influencing or content creation can be a lucrative career. Goldman Sachs analysts say?50 million people worldwide now work as creators, and the industry’s total consumer demand has reached $250 billion.

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Conversations

Podcast: Comedy, tragedy and the science of humour, with Paddy Gilmore: How and when should brands use humour? How do we define humour?

Q&A: Introducing London's newest 3D DOOH on Oxford St: This platform is the first of its kind

News

• The latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report reported that UK’s ad market grew 6.1% in 2023, reaching a total of ￡36.6bn. The report forecasts a 5.8% rise in advertising spend this year, expecting the market to reach ￡38.8bn. read
• Google announced this week that it will, for the third time, delay the third-party cookie phase out. The company had originally set the deadline for the third-party cookie phase out for January 2020, promising that user tracking technology would be eliminated within two years. read

Seen elsewhere

• Media: WPP-owned Ogilvy is creating a new health influencer division, which aims to combat medical misinformation and help the pharma industry connect with emerging social media health trends. (Marketing Beat)
• Tech: US President Joe Biden signed the TikTok "ban" bill into law. ByteDance, TikTok's China-based parent company, will have nine months to a year to divest its US operations or else face a ban. (The Verge)
• Media: Billie Eilish will headline Fortnite's Festival Season 3. Players will also have access to Eilish-themed outfits, instruments and playable jam tracks. (Variety)
• Brands: Apple is reportedly cutting the production of its mixed-reality headset, Apple Vision Pro, due to low demand. (IGN)

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