Welcome to Wednesday. Between Cannes, VidCon, and NFT.NYC, and the (probably) thousands of other marketing events happening this week, we’re a little worried that some of the industry’s biggest news has been overshadowed: Murph, Nerf’s faceless mascot.
In today’s edition:
—Kelsey Sutton, Ryan Barwick, Minda Smiley
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Huber & Starke/Getty
Inflation is high. Tech companies are laying off workers in droves. Major banks have forecast a recession.
And streaming services thought their business was hard before.
Added challenge: It was one thing for companies like HBO Max and Hulu to battle for subscribers and ad dollars when the economy was doing well. But economic conditions are souring just as American consumers stand to become choosier with their discretionary spending, meaning streaming services are likely in for a bumpy ride.
“We’re going to see more concentration on tightening up their own business,” Paul Erickson, research director at market research firm Parks Associates, told Marketing Brew. If they haven’t already, he added, streamers are laser-focused on cost-cutting and “looking at increasing the monetization that they’re getting from the existing content they have.”
Cutting the fat
The tide was changing for streaming giants even before the threat of a looming recession. As streaming growth slowed down for giants like Netflix earlier this year, investors began turning their focus to profitability, placing pressure on companies operating streaming services to cut costs and increase their revenues.
That pressure has stung: Netflix has seen its share price fall more than 70% this year, while Disney, which has invested heavily in streaming entertainment, has had a nearly 40% stock-price decline since the beginning of the year. Since Warner Bros. Discovery began trading on the stock market in April, its share price has plunged 45%.
- “There’s a bit of a maturity in how these services are being treated,” explained Liska Schmitz, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group. “It’s akin to moving away from a startup-type valuation to more of a mature-company-type valuation, where you’re not just looking at growth, but you’re actually looking at profitability.”
Downsize: To help right the ship, streamers are eyeing ways to cut costs, and companies like Netflix have already begun laying off employees and paring down new projects. Expensive projects that can help attract talent but often haven’t delivered huge returns, like Netflix’s The Irishman, are also likely on the chopping block across the industry, Erickson said.
“Those big budgets are a thing of the past,” Erickson said. “It’s going to be considerably more controlled, the amount of capital that has been committed to content spend.”
Keep reading here.—KS
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Take a bite outta this success story: HoneyBaked—as in HoneyBaked Ham—faced the unique challenge of managing multiple data sources across three thriving revenue streams: direct-to-consumer shipping, retail, and franchises.
HoneyBaked needed sophisticated customer insights to help them drive sales and deliver a satisfying customer experience. And instead of spiraling under all that data, they turned to Sailthru.
Using Sailthru’s platform, HoneyBaked was able to integrate their existing database systems for a more holistic view into the customer journey. This helped HoneyBaked better understand their customer purchasing habits, insights that helped them optimize their email strategy and create a more actionable marketing plan.
For a deeper cut on the HoneyBaked case—and to see how Sailthru’s data-driven insights can improve your digital marketing efforts—download the case study here.
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Illustration: Francis Scialabba, Photo: Radu Bercan/EyeEm/Getty Images
All right, day two is in the books, and I’m learning how to work a French washing machine. Yesterday was incredibly hot, but so was the espresso. Wednesday morning brought some rain, dampening beach-party prospects.
The rundown: On Tuesday, Google held a press breakfast hosted by the company’s CMO, Lorraine Twohill, emphasizing the company’s accessible marketing efforts. Then, because I couldn’t believe it unless I saw it with my own eyes, I watched Gary Vaynerchuk and Paris Hilton opine about NFTs to a packed theater. Vaynerchuk said now is a good time to get into digital art. Of course he thinks that—he’s got an entire agency dedicated to NFTs.
This was also my first time in the Palais des festivals et des Congrès, which translates to palace of festivals and congresses, and I gotta say…comfy chairs!
The scene: For the most part, many of the big players, like Google, Meta, Twitter, and WPP, all rent out full-fledged beach installations, complete with wooden floors, open bars, and an ocean breeze. If you play your cards right, you can time panels and happy hours while working your way down La Croisette. As one ad-tech vendor put it to me on the plane here, Cannes Lions is a “target-rich environment,” which…I might try to get Morning Brew to throw on a mug.
Later in the day: After desperately searching for a water bottle, I ran into Data.Monks co-founder Christopher Martin, who perfectly described Cannes as the Mos Eisley of media. We chatted about data integration, as one does.
Next, I spoke with Alvin Bowles, VP of business ecosystem partnerships at Meta, to talk about how he’s bringing media buyers into the metaverse, and with David Anderson, a partner and co-head of United Talent Agency’s marketing practice, about why he’s planning for the Super Bowl in June. After a few (non-alcoholic, at least for me) happy hours and dinner, I could taste color.
What else has happened so far:
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Issa Rae talked about diversity and bias in advertising.
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So did Ryan Reynolds.
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Netflix reportedly met with Google to talk about its ad biz.
Overheard at a happy hour: “Integrations are beefy.”—RB
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Sheba
There are a lot of awards given out at Cannes Lions each year (and there never fails to be debate around whether some of the awarded campaigns were nothing more than “scam ads,” aka work created specifically as award-show bait).
At any rate, the crème de la crème is the Grand Prix, awarded to the top dog in each category. Check out some of this year’s Grand Prix winners:
Film Craft: “The Wish” for German supermarket chain Penny, created by Serviceplan Germany Munich
Digital Craft: “Backup Ukraine” for UNESCO and Blue Shield Denmark, created by Virtue Worldwide New York
Entertainment: “Eat a Swede” for the Swedish Food Federation, created by McCann Stockholm
Industry: “Hope Reef” for Mars Petcare cat-food brand Sheba, created by AMV BBDO London
Design: “Portuguese (Re)Constitution” for Penguin Books, created by FCB Lisbon
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Francis Scialabba
There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.
Extra, extra: Work in content marketing? Up your headline game in seven steps.
Apples and oranges: Search queries and keywords are not the same thing. This article explains the difference.
Humblebrag: What you need to know about what makes a great influencer media kit, including examples.
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Looking for the flexibility of remote work? Check out these 100% remote marketing positions on the Marketing Brew Job Board!
Today’s featured openings:
See more jobs or post your job opportunities here.
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Facebook is trying to curtail fake reviews on business pages.
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Crypto brands are starting to rein in their ad spend.
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iHeartMedia is debuting a podcast called Sunday Supper, hosted by NBC ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino and Giant Spoon partner Laura Correnti.
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Kraft macaroni and cheese has a new name and look.
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Stat: 53% of US adults have “changed their eating and drinking habits as a result of inflation,” according to a recent Morning Consult survey.
Quote: “A lot of people have the misconception that there’s some boardroom where we’re coming up with wacky ideas…It’s really very casual. Not to say that there’s no strategy. It’s just very much that social media is changing day-to-day, and TikTok is probably the fastest-moving platform, so we’re very conscious to keep up with it.”—Kerrie Longo, a social media manager at Scrub Daddy, discussing the brand’s TikTok strategy with Ad Age
Read: Art moves to the metaverse (Morning Brew)
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Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.
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Written by
Minda Smiley, Ryan Barwick, and Kelsey Sutton
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