SOCIAL MEDIA

Screams From Facebook Business’s Pit

For marketers, the Facebook universe is like quicksand—easy to get caught in, but difficult to pull yourself out of the longer you stay in. 

So it’s fitting that, as small and medium sized business (SMB) marketers grow to depend on FB’s expanding e-commerce tools, they’re also forced to reckon with “New Facebook”—the site’s latest web redesign—whether they like it or not.

The e-commerce part

In Q2, retail e-commerce was up 31.8% year over year, per U.S. Census Bureau data cited in Digiday. Facebook is continuing to capitalize on that surge in online shopping with an increased focus on e-commerce:

• Instagram Shop, Facebook’s own virtual marketplace, launched in July. It’s now being tested for the Facebook app. 
• And FB doesn’t seem to be slowing its roll anytime soon—it’s hiring for senior-level roles supporting its e-commerce functions. 

Stay tuned: eMarketer expects social commerce spending in the U.S. to explode from $23.3 billion this year to nearly $38.2 billion in 2022.

Zoom out: DTC brands and SMBs will likely be most affected by these features, as Facebook is already a major sales engine for these companies. 

The new web design part

Cue the quicksand metaphor again. As brands are pulled further into Facebook, the “New Facebook” web design is debuting—and we’re all going to have to block out extra time with our therapists (jk, sort of) to adjust to it. 

In September, “New Facebook” will replace “Classic Facebook” for all users. Marketers have been critical of the new updates:

• Most of the complaints surround the new locations of important tools for marketers, such as Pages, Creator Studio, and Publishing Tools.
• Some marketers hoped that the new update would retire Publishing Tools in favor of improving Creator Studio, but that wish wasn’t granted.
• On Pages, the “About” section is now more obvious to viewers. And Facebook did away with the “My Story,” where brands used to be able to showcase their narrative and a picture on Pages.

My takeaway: From the onslaught of marketers pushing to retire Publishing Tools to DTC brands that wished they could join this summer’s FB boycotts, Facebook has a way of giving marketers what they need and not always what they want.

STRATEGIES

Consumers Get Pinterested In Travel

Hilton, Southwest, Disney, and more travel-focused companies put on ice by COVID-19 recently reallocated some energy toward Pinterest users with deepening wanderlust .

In June, Pinterest searches for… 

• “Vacation spots” surged 260% year over year (YoY). 
• “Airplane essentials” jumped by 170+% YoY. 
• “National parks” rose by 60% YoY.
• “Lake weekend” went up by 41% YoY.  

The brands recently took to the platform to create all kinds of content for stir crazy Pinteresters, from local getaway inspo by Hilton to a virtual version of Disney. 

Will interest continue? “Stretch season” (aka extended summer travel through fall) is about to get into full swing, per MMGY Global research published in August…  

• After being cooped up since March, 54% of U.S. travelers said they're more likely to travel this fall than last.
• And 64% expect to take a “leisure trip” () within the next six months.
• As of June, U.S. 2020 travel industry revenues were set to plummet by $500 billion year over year—TBD if "stretch season" travel can mitigate that.

Bottom line: With warm weather on its way out, content creation from travel brands on Pinterest has accelerated in an effort to stay relevant and on pace with search traffic.

+1: Pinterest is providing tips for travel brands looking to capitalize on these trends.

SPONSORED BY ATTEST

Get The DL On ROI

Proving the ROI of brand building activity can be tricky business, especially when CFOs are set on basing marketing spend on hard-to-get data. 

But now when the C-suite peeps want the ROI deets, we don’t break a sweat. We break out Attest’s "How to do Brand Tracking In-House" report. 

Attest’s comprehensive guide explains how you can use data to demonstrate the ROI of brand activity and expose the impact of creative marketing. And to top it off, this data-driven approach is a fraction of the cost at 10x the speed.

Attest's report explains how to bring brand tracking in-house using our on-demand research platform to run a streamlined brand KPI tracker. You’ll learn from specific examples featuring clients like Microsoft, Walgreens, Gymshark, and Discovery. 

See what can happen when you have your brand health data on demand.

Download the report today.

CAMPAIGNS

Kendra Scott Finds Gold Mine in ‘Gems’

Kendra Scott, the jewelry brand for sorority recruitment everywhere, is tapping into that same audience (college students) to grow its business. 

Zoom out: In an era when experts say colleges don’t fully prepare students for future careers, real-world experience is critical. And as of June, half of all internship openings in the U.S. had been cut because of COVID-19, per AP.

• Perhaps that’s why Kendra Scott’s on-campus brand rep program, Gems, grew nearly 50% year-over-year in 2020, with reps now on more than 80 college campuses. 
• The brand uses Social Ladder, a brand ambassador relationship management app, to assign challenges to reps through which they can accrue points and redeem Kendra Scott prizes.
• In turn, reps get direct access to brand HQ by participating in focus groups with Kendra Scott merchandising and design teams.

Big picture: Campus ambassador programs combine elements of influencer marketing and user generated content. Plus, the opportunity for students to rebuild resumes is even more valuable after a difficult summer for internships.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• 600 & Rising’s former head Nathan Young has also resigned from Periscope. 
• Zenith retained the majority of Reckitt Benckiser’s $308 million U.S. media account.
• TikTok has two new acquisition suitors supporting Oracle’s bid—ByteDance investors General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital. 
• Twitch streamers aren’t happy with Burger King after its most recent marketing stunt using the platform’s donation feature.
• Vulture is doubling its coverage of the podcast industry.

SPONSORED BY DOING THINGS MEDIA

Why make an ad when you could make a MEME?! Ads can be boring. Memes, however, rule. Doing Things Media has a proposition for you: Advertise through memes. But why? Maybe because meme content gets shared 7x more than non-meme content on Instagram. And Doing Things Media, with 55M+ followers, do meme advertising better than anyone else by using their 20+ original meme brands, like Sh*t Head Steve, Doggos Doing Things, Middle Class Fancy, Neat Mom, and Neat Dad. Make memes part of your marketing strategy and do things with Doing Things.

ADWEAK OR ADWEEK?

Which headlines are real marketing news, and which one is from marketing satire Twitter account @ADWEAK? 

1. Pizza Hut Thinking About Producing TV Spot Sometime In 2021
2. KFC Drops Iconic “Finger Lickin’ Good” Slogan, Citing COVID-19
3. Adidas Jumps on “Everything Is Cake” Meme With Hyper-Realistic Sneaker Creation
4. Republicans’ TV Audience Tumbles On Every Network Except Fox

AD ANTIQUES

Duke

A 1953 Elizabeth Arden ad that foreshadowed Glossier’s millennial pink strategy.

ICYMI

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

Facebook’s CMO stepped down

Publicis retained its Kraft Heinz account in media review

There’s a hidden social media marketing lesson in the NYT’s latest ad

ADWEEK OR ADWEAK? ANSWER

We have no idea when Pizza Hut plans on producing a new TV spot. We miss you, Pizza Hut.