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- TikTok abandons ecommerce expansion in Europe and US
- Meta Looking for a Social Impact Partner Manager
- WWE signs Logan Paul
- Disney Creators Lab
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Great Reads
Influencers more integral than ever to marketers
Influencers on social media have become so integral to the process of selling merchandise that they’ve become appendages to the largest marketing organizations in the world.
Why it matters: Online creators, whether on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok, have not only been filling a role to pitch products, but also to plug gaps in creativity as advertising agencies have shrunk.
Driving the news: During a panel I moderated last week at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in France, I asked head marketers from Dove and Pernod Ricard if creators have become more or less part-time employees.
Pam Forbus, CMO of Pernod Ricard North America, and Dove's global CMO Alessandro Manfredi both answered yes, with Manfredi adding that his organization is "keen now in hiring more people internally that manage [and] build relationships with influencers.”
Marques Brownlee on the Rise of TikTok and YouTube’s “Stature”
I feel like there’s different prototypical shapes of a creator arc. A lot of them start with a spike, maybe something goes viral, and they try their best to sustain it. A lot of people start by making a bunch of stuff and then something hooks, and then it’s like a shelf. Mine has just been like a steady ramp — nothing too crazy. Nothing really blew up in the beginning or anything like that. But the pandemic was interesting because we had this wave where everyone had a bump because more people were at home watching content, so it’s been fascinating to watch what everyone’s post-pandemic activity looks like.
I hear from a lot of creators who say, “Diversify your presence. You need to be on more [platforms] than one.” How have you been thinking about that, given that you got your start on YouTube and that’s probably still your bread and butter?
Right, definitely still the bread and butter. But I do think diversifying is evergreen good advice for pretty much any creator looking to turn [this into] their job. But it’s not just diversifying, that’s the end of it. You want to find the best ways for you to diversify. So for some creators, they teach a lot of stuff, so a lot of them will make their own course or do something along those lines. I just did one with David Blaine, who’s kind of like an online creator now, which is cool.
Discord is another one where we have this community that’s super, super enthusiastic about tech and wants to talk about it all the time, so we have these Discord channels and this premium section of our community."
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Campaign Insights
How Disney Creators Lab Is Providing Influencers With New Brand Opportunities
Despite the controversy surrounding payment, Disney Creators Lab was a success with a multitude of influencers wanting to take part. The program was set up to help smaller influencers gain a larger audience and potentially have the chance to make social media their full-time careers.
Disney has been working with content creators for many years, forming the hashtag #DisneyCreators to use across their written content. These influencers have previously produced work for the Disney Parks blog as well as given reviews of the latest rides. As such, the Disney Creators Lab can be viewed as a new recruitment process to help the brand collaborate with more niche influencers.
Disney Creators Lab also aims to showcase these theme parks in a more approachable way. Thus, potential customers can see what the parks have to offer from the perspective of an experienced influencer. In turn, these influencers have the potential to uncover hidden gems and secrets that traditional advertising may not be able to show.
The rise of virtual influencers and what that means for fashion
The concept of virtual influencers did not exist at all when Lil Miquela was launched. The concept of “influencers” itself was very new. Since then, a variety of digital influencers have shown up, their numbers becoming increasingly large in the post-pandemic era.
The fashion industry is always going steady with the trends. It hasn’t failed to walk hand in hand with the metaverse. Popular brands have already started profiting from digital influencers. In 2019, Calvin Klein teamed up with Bella Hadid and Lil Miquela for a campaign. Though this campaign ended up bringing in a lot of negative attention, as it was being accused of queer-baiting, it garnered a lot of engagement.
Tiffany & Co. partnered with a metaverse character by the name of Ayayi, to promote its Knot Collection. While some brands worked with already popular characters, other brands took the initiative to create their own. Others collaborated with already popular ones. Some fashion brands are creating their own virtual influencers as well. For example, Prada, launched a virtual influencer by the name of ‘Candy’ to promote the relaunch of their perfume.
Why Škoda Hacked Influencer Video Reviews of Rival Brands
Automotive brand Škoda is all too aware that it is not the leading car brand in France, so for the launch of its new vehicle, the Škoda Fabia, it decided to use that underdog status to effect, by hacking online reviews of more popular cars in the country and adding its own ads in the background.
The “Review Hacking” campaign has seen Škoda pay YouTube to insert digital posters of the new car in the background on reviews for French rivals such as Peugeot, Renault and Citroën which between them share almost half the country’s market.
Created by Track DDB, the insight that led to the idea came from the growing number of people who watch online reviews and virtual test drives of a car before making a final decision of what to purchase.
This led to a partnership with three YouTube influencers who specialize in creating car reviews, taking three of their existing video reviews of rival models—the Clio, the Peugeot 208 and the Citroën C3—and adding billboards promoting the Škoda Fabia within the backgrounds of each..
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Interesting People
Caylyn Sheldon: Bring History Alive With Vivid, Funny Content Creation
“I wanted to make sure that I created content that was something original, but also something that has a commonality with trends. A lot of people tend to find success by sort of picking their niche, and since history has kind of been my thing ever since I can remember it was easy to pick that as my niche.”
In addition to originality and choosing a niche, Caylyn stresses the importance of having passion for your content. Scheduling her content at optimal times has also been helpful for her growth.
“One thing that I found really helpful was doing research on the best times to post and…how some days of the week tend to perform better than others. Sometimes, I’m in a bit of an interesting position too because I’m living in London right now… and I noticed sometimes when I traveled back to the states to visit family, I have to readjust my schedule.”
She explains that not adjusting the posting times usually results in lower views and engagement, cementing the importance of choosing optimal posting times.
Jacey Duprie talks how ‘influencer life’ almost cost her marriage
The demands of the blog worked well with her ability to hyper-focus on her passions, which she later learned were part of a constellation of symptoms related to an attention deficit disorder (ADD) diagnosis.
“I would go to my laptop before I would brush my teeth. I would be in bed with my laptop. I was just so obsessed.”
But as the blog expanded into an Instagram account and six-figure promotional deals with brands like Amazon, Cotton Inc, eBay and Old Navy, cracks began to emerge in the picture-perfect life Duprie was creating.
There was a $US60,000 ($A88,000) tax bill she had to pay. Because Duprie was still considered up-and-coming at the time, she found it challenging to bring in free merchandise from brands. It had become a vicious cycle: She had to spend money on clothing and accessories to make money, through people buying from affiliate links posted on her blog. At that point, Duprie discovered the art of the “pull”: Go into a clothing store, borrow what she wanted, pay a 10 per cent restocking fee, and return the rest of the items. In this way, a $US2000 ($A3000) haul was whittled down to $US200 ($A300).
WWE signs social media influencer Logan Paul to multi-event deal
Social media influencer Logan Paul has signed a deal with WWE, the organization announced on Thursday.
The pact is a multi-event deal, sources told ESPN, that will push into 2023. Paul will compete in the ring at multiple WWE premium live events (formerly called pay-per-views by the company) and will make TV appearances in between based on storylines.
Paul appeared at WrestleMania 37 in April 2021 alongside WWE superstar Sami Zayn before he made his in-ring debut at WrestleMania 38 this year in a tag-team match with The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio and his son, Dominik Mysterio.
Rahul Titus Appointed as Ogilvy’s Global Head of Influence
Ogilvy PR has named industry leader Rahul Titus as the first global head of influence. Since 2017, Rahul has worked with Ogilvy’s Influence team in the UK to establish the agency’s dominant position and authority in this space.
In this new role for the agency, Rahul will build on the existing momentum by scaling Ogilvy’s Influence capabilities across the global Ogilvy network. Rahul will continue to expand the Influence footprint in partnership with the agency’s earned and social teams , and will work closely with other Ogilvy businesses to unlock new growth opportunities through Influence-enabled content and experiences. Rahul will continue to have a strong base in the UK as he leads the Global team to drive Influence forward for clients, reporting to Ogilvy PR global CEO, Julianna Richter.
“Rahul has been a driving force behind Ogilvy’s Influence offer - creating a differentiated point of view on how Influencers and those partnering with them must play a responsible role in culture and society and developing new IP, including a unique B2B offering we are introducing now to our clients. Influence is a huge growth opportunity for Ogilvy, sitting at the intersections of our modern, creative communications capabilities. Rahul’s depth and expertise will help us quickly strengthen our unique offering globally, driving value for more clients and prospects in this rapidly changing landscape,” said Julianna Richter, global CEO, Ogilvy PR.
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Industry News
College Football 2.0: Players primed to influence future of sport as NIL, athletes' rights expand
"I think the last two years have been pretty pivotal," said Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association. "I think it's made clear how critical college football players are to this industry, that it's big business."
Huma started the NCPA in the 1990s after watching injustices spring up during his time playing at UCLA. One teammate received a full-game suspended after receiving money for groceries from an agent. Another struggled to pay healthcare bills after suffering an injury in a voluntary summer practice. (NCAA legislation at the time prevented schools from contributing to such medical bills.)
Progress toward increased rights for athletes has since begun moving much quicker since U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark NCAA v. Alston case last June that restrictions on name, image and likeness legislation violated antitrust law. In the year since NIL went into effect, college athletes have not only capitalized monetarily but gained an increased understanding of the value that had long been kept from them.
"It happened so fast and there was such a push for it," Stanford wide receiver Elijah Higgins said. "Players began to understand their rights. Players began to understand how much money was actually on the table. Players started to understand how wrong it was for them to not be able to use their own name, image and likeness to benefit themselves."
TikTok is testing the ability to restrict livestreams to viewers who are 18
TikTok is testing a new setting that lets users restrict their livestreams to viewers who are 18 years of age and above. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that the new setting is currently in limited testing with select users.
Screenshots of the new setting shared by product intelligence firm Watchful.ai show that users who have access to the new option can navigate to their settings and toggle the “mature themes” button to restrict their LIVE to adults. The app notes that “only viewers 18 and above can see your LIVE” if you turn it on. Once you turn on the setting, TikTok will notify you that LIVE videos tagged 18+ will still be removed if they violate the app’s community guidelines, which include policies on nudity, sexual activity and violence.
It’s important to note that TikTok’s new 18+ restriction setting for livestreams isn’t a way for users to broadcast adult content, as the content is still subject to the app’s policies. Instead, it’s a way for creators to prevent minors from encountering content that’s aimed toward an adult audience or may be uninteresting to them.
Meta Looking for a Social Impact Partner Manager
Meta is seeking a detail-oriented Partner Manager to help with partner outreach, account management and ongoing support for the Public Figure & Creator Partnerships team. Partnerships is a rapid growth organization that connects people with the public figures, creators and media publishers they care about. This individual will work directly with the Social Impact Creator Partnerships Lead to develop scalable programs that support mission-driven partners and the causes they care about. This role will require a high attention to detail and operational skills, establishing new processes to ensure partners are successful creating awareness for causes they care about.
The successful candidate will be passionate about the way Meta can work with a range of partners from nonprofits and advocacy organizations to public figures, creators and brands/businesses to strengthen communities. This individual will be joining a dynamic team and play a pivotal role in representing partners, while building impactful product experiences for people through partnerships.
Socialites Group and Flying Tiger Marketing announce merger
Socialites is joining forces with Flying Tiger Marketing to offer clients a complete suite of social media marketing services across western and eastern markets.
Founded in 2020, Flying Tiger has gained a reputation for helping brands better understand the Chinese market.
Offering a range of services from social media and influencer marketing to the set-up and management of e-commerce platforms, Flying Tiger’s client portfolio includes Sydney Opera House, Jeuneora, the Australian Made Programme, Elle + Riley and Blackhawk Network.
Core to the agency’s service offering are strategic partnerships with both the Alibaba Group and Tencent’s WeChat platform.
Flying Tiger’s founder and managing partner Ken Freer says he is delighted to be joining forces with Socialites.
“Flying Tiger and Socialites have been working closely for some time, with each agency complimenting the other’s service offering. By bringing the two agencies together, we will be able to offer our clients a complete suite of social media marketing services to support clients across both western and eastern markets.”
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Great Paywalled Content
TikTok abandons ecommerce expansion in Europe and US - Financial Times
TikTok has abandoned plans to expand its live ecommerce initiative in Europe and the US, after the social media platform’s foray into QVC-style shopping in the UK was hit by internal problems and struggled to gain traction with consumers.
The Chinese-owned company’s venture called “TikTok Shop” was launched in the UK last year, its first market outside Asia. Brands and influencers broadcast live and sell products through a clickable orange basket on the screen of the viral short-video app.
Livestream commerce is seen as the future of shopping by social media platforms. They take a commission on sales, with rivals YouTube and Instagram developing similar features in Europe. The model has proved lucrative for TikTok parent ByteDance, which has seen sales on Chinese sister app Douyin more than triple year on year, selling more than 10bn products.
TikTok had planned to launch the feature in Germany, France, Italy and Spain in the first half of this year, before expanding into the US later in 2022, according to several people briefed on the matter.
But the expansion plans have been dropped after the UK project failed to meet targets and influencers dropped out of the scheme, three people said.
YouTube relies on beauty to bolster shoppable livestream and short video features - Glossy
As the original platform that gave rise to the beauty influencer, YouTube is ramping up its shopping links features with a focus on beauty as the catalyst.
When YouTube unveiled its shoppable links capability on its TikTok-like Shorts feature in June, beauty was its go-to category to unveil the feature. Debuting the tool for the first time at the YouTube Beauty Festival held last month, YouTube used the event to showcase its expanding livestream shopping capabilities as it taps into the social shopping revolution happening across platforms.
“Shopping is a huge white space,” said Derek Blasberg, head of fashion and beauty partnerships at YouTube. “Beauty is one of our biggest categories for YouTube Shopping, and we only expect it to keep growing.”
To get brands on board with the feature, YouTube published a study with advertising and PR company Publicis and consultancy TalkShoppe with findings that 70% of YouTube viewers say they bought a brand as a result of seeing it on YouTube.
Bridget Dolan, managing director of YouTube shopping partnerships, highlighted the fact that beauty creators have been on YouTube “from the very beginning.”
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