STRATEGIES

You & Mr Jones Runs Influencer Marketing’s Glow Up

“Brandtech” holding group You & Mr Jones acquired Collectively, one of the oldest influencer marketing companies in the U.S., last week. You & Mr Jones is the brainchild of former Havas CEO David Jones. 

• The group of 25 companies was founded in 2015 with the goal of leveraging technology’s potential for the larger marketing industry.
• Under this new acquisition, Y&MJ will merge San Francisco influencer marketing agency Collectively with theAmplify, an LA-based influencer marketing firm it bought in 2016.
• Both companies will keep their names, and the amount You & Mr Jones paid for Collectively hasn’t been disclosed.

Problem solving: Any marketer who has worked with influencers knows it can be tough to measure performance. From fake followers to a lack of analytics tools, it’s rough out there. 

• Y&MJ hopes to mend these issues by combining Collectively’s influencer expertise and third-party fraud experts with theAmplify’s resources, such as tracking capabilities for user engagement and a mobile management app for creators.

The influence is real

Pre-pandemic, the influencer marketing industry was forecast to grow from around $8 billion in 2019 to $15 billion in 2022, per Business Insider Intelligence. And despite what you might expect, it doesn't seem like COVID-19 will shake that forecast too much. 

• The industry took a quick hit in March—influencer campaigns dropped 3%— but campaign volume normalized in April and May, per Forrester.
• Jones said that because shooting traditional ads has become more difficult during the pandemic, he's actually seen increased demand for influencer marketing strategies from advertisers. 
• 74% of Collectively influencers saw the engagement levels on their posts rise since March, probably because we all couldn’t stop scrolling Instagram during lockdown. 

Bottom line: Influencer marketing has been relatively resilient in the pandemic—agencies, brands, and followers are all still on board. As influencer marketing preps for a post-lockdown world, You & Mr Jones hopes to solve industry challenges and further boost the sector’s viability.

AGENCIES

600 & Rising President Nathan Young Steps Down

After months of making headlines and change, 600 & Rising President Nathan Young stepped down from the nonprofit aimed at promoting ad agency diversity. The org was founded in June, after the Black Lives Matter protests broke out. 

600 & Rising will take the next 30 days to reassess its leadership structure. Co-founder Bennett D. Bennett hasn’t commented about how his role will change in Young’s absence.

Here’s what happened:

• On July 29, Young tweeted that Adcolor, another pro-diversity industry org, is “completely divorced from reality.” 
• Some found the comment offensive, specifically because Adcolor was started by a Black woman, Tiffany R. Warren.
• By August 7, Young had announced his resignation.

Lasting effects: 600 & Rising recently announced a merger with Hold the PRess, a grassroots organization supporting PR industry diversity. After last week’s events, it will now continue as a separate initiative. 

My takeaway: Almost every major ad agency player, such as Publicis, Wieden+Kennedy, and R/GA, released diversity data and committed to a more inclusive workforce under 600 & Rising’s direction. With Young’s exit, Black advertising professionals who drove 600 & Rising’s success could take more active roles in the nonprofit’s leadership.

CAMPAIGNS

Bagel Bites Reach Across the Aisle

Whether it’s over serious topics like the presidential election or the more lighthearted gif vs. jif debate, Americans are a polarized people. In its first major campaign since the early 2000s, Bagel Bites sticks to the playful end of the spectrum.

• The omnichannel campaign from creative agency Johannes Leonardo has cartoon animals answer “controversial” questions, such as “what’s better, a unicorn or a pony?”
• The thesis? We can all agree that pizza on a bagel rocks.

Chatter chasing

The Kraft Heinz campaign was inspired by its December 2019 study of how online conversations drive “cultural chatter.” The study analyzed what drove engagement on YouTube and Reddit threads. 

The brand created a campaign that mimicked those conversations, likely with the aim of reaching Gen Z. 

Why now? Those December 2019 findings have never been more timely, as online conversations have assumed a new importance in the coronavirus era.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• TikTok and Twitter are in early talks about possibly combining. 
• Facebook Gaming was released as an app on the iOS store. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t have any games yet.
• Mother U.S. hired James Kinney of Giant Spoon as the agency’s first chief talent officer.
• The Big 10 Conference voted to cancel the fall football season.
• B2B ad spend will rise 22.6% year over year in 2020 to 8+ billion dollars, per eMarketer.

FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to make you fancy

Snacks: If you need even more marketing content in your inbox, add Raisin Bread to your diet. It’s not something I baked in quarantine—it’s actually a weekly email featuring a brief but rich Q&A with a real marketer, and a carefully curated link dump. 

Harvard dropouts: Facebook is ever evolving (antitrust regulators might put that differently). Here are the most important updates the platform made in July. 

Vids: If you’re a video content creator, you might want to know what YouTubers are searching for most often during the pandemic.

CMOs: Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman is talking to U of Michigan Marketing Professor Marcus Collins of AdAge’s 40 under 40 this week. RSVP here.

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ICYMI

Catch up on the top Marketing Brew stories from the last few editions. 

Peloton hired two lead marketers instead of one

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