Letter No. 893: That Atlanta Episode and Disney

DTC Media: One is known as an entertainment savant of sorts: he is a writer, rapper, actor, director, comedian, film and television producer. Donald Glover’s show “Atlanta” can be watched on Hulu, a streaming property owned by the Walt Disney Company.

One is known for his successful replacement of Michael Eisner and his ensuing acquisition of Pixar films, returning the Walt Disney Corporation to its animation roots. Bob Iger also led negotiations to acquire Marvel Entertainment, and then three years later acquired LucasFilm. And six years after that, Disney purchased assets from Fox. But most importantly, Iger self-identifies as a centrist and has been appointed to positions by two of America’s most powerful political families: The Clintons and The Trumps. According to his Wikipedia page, Iger considered a 2020 election run but later chose to discard his political ambitions. (Read More...)

In a plot twist, Disney is bringing back CEO Bob Iger

Source No. 1 / Quartz: Two years ago, Bob Iger left Disney after being chief for 15 years but he's now back at the helm of the entertainment giant. The 71-year-old, who spent four decades at the firm, is returning as Disney's CEO effective immediately, the company said in a Nov. 20 press release.

Disney senior staff rebellion final nail in Bob Chapek's CEO coffin

Source No. 2 / Fortune: Almost immediately after Disney renewed the contract of embattled CEO Bob Chapek in June, a mutiny began. According to corresponding reports by both the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times that cited people familiar with the matter, senior figures within the company's top brass including finance chief Christine McCarthy started to warn boardroom directors over the summer that the entertainment giant was heading in the wrong direction and campaigned for him to go.

The new DTC Power List was updated for November 16 with new data for 700 companies; the list his been re-adjusted to measure historical performance. New updates and a new list is coming for this Friday's member letter. Join here to gain access to this growing list. 

Shopify is testing a new universal search feature

Google may have a new shopping competitor on its hands. Shopify is testing a new feature in its app that allows customers to search across all merchants on the platform. How it works. The new "Search for anything" search box enables you to search for items previously purchased, merchants matching the search term, and products sold by any Shopify merchants.

Editor's Note: This is long-awaited and it works well. 

How to optimize a retail media strategy

Practical / MTR: According to a forecast by GroupM, retail media will generate $101 billion in revenue this year, and $160 billion annually in five years, making this a perfect time for retailers and brands to get in on the action and leverage one of the fastest-growing markets for digital advertising.

The next frontier in eCom packaging: reusable bags and boxes

Logistics / Retail Dive: First published on Listen to the article 6 min Like Returnity, zero-waste brand Trashless is branching off from its original model into other reusable possibilities. The company delivers glass-bottle milk to over 50 local convenience stores and coffee shops. It also currently delivers several hundred food, bath and beauty products to several thousand direct customers in Austin.

Heading into the Holiday, Amazon wins the price war

Data / WWD: In Profitero's latest "U.S. Price Wars" study, Amazon came out on top with the lowest online price points across 15 categories and against 13 of the top retailers - which included Walmart, Target and Home Depot. The e-commerce analytics firm said in a statement that the online giant's prices "were an average 13 percent less expensive than competitors.

Amazon's customer satisfaction slips with shoppers

Data / WSJ: For nearly three decades, Amazon.com Inc. has been defined by its obsession over customers. Recent information, however, suggests that consumer enthusiasm about the country's largest online retailer has slipped. The number of Amazon customers who said they were "extremely" or "very satisfied" with the company in a recent survey has fallen, measuring at 79% in 2022, according to investment firm Evercore ISI.

Editor's Note: Amazon's defense against antitrust, thus far, has been that customers love Amazon. This could present problems if the trend persists. Read this from the archives. 

Pinduoduo's sister shopping app Temu tops US App Store

eCommerce / TechCrunch: Temu, a shopping app operated by the parent firm of China's e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, has risen from obscurity in the last few months. After becoming the No. 1 shopping app in the U.S. App Store back in September, the marketplace took the crown of free U.S.

Why is Temu relevant? Read this one from the archives. 

Member Brief: Think of this visually for a moment. The (content) fortress is growing mightier by the month; its walls higher and its moats wider. The taxes on the kingdoms surrounding the fortress are rising as well. That fortress is Apple, and the kingdoms surrounding it are Meta, Twitter, Snapchat and all else with the exception of, perhaps, TikTok and a few of the growing retail media networks. When I first explained this, I was right about one point and wrong about the other:

By upgrading its privacy practices, Apple will impair large ad networks that have grown with the help of those end users. This could potentially cripple Facebook’s current model with its new privacy demands. Apple has also opened the door to an unintentional adjustment to its privacy mandate. In doing so, the Mark Zuckerberg-led advertising company (and social network) will adopt a new way to accomplish its most critical objectives: revenue growth and user utility.

Apple has successfully impaired large advertising networks. But Meta has not yet adopted a new way to identify revenue growth and user utility. Now, Apple has dealt an additional – and brutal – blow to Meta. This latest development in the tech giants’ feud is one that makes clear just how much small brands and influencers will be affected by the crackdowns on Facebook and Instagram’s ad businesses. (Read More...)