SOCIAL MEDIA

Dear TikTok…

…please stop putting us through this soap opera.

On Friday: The U.S. banned TikTok downloads and planned to ban the app entirely come November 12. 

• As of Friday, at least marketers had the option to stay—an anonymous agency executive told Ad Age that “Trump’s order does not cover media buying, so ad campaigns seem to be OK to run.” 

But then: As of Saturday night, President Trump gave “tentative approval” to a restructured deal preserving TikTok, in which Walmart and Oracle form a corporate entity with a U.S. HQ called TikTok Global, per NPR. 

And as of Sunday night, President Trump delayed the TikTok download ban until September 27. 

Should I stay or should I go? 

With everything that happened this weekend, advertisers on the platform are faced with a difficult decision. Should you continue using the app and live with the chaos, or forgo the wunderkind marketing channel?

The case for TikToking on: 

• At this point, marketers on TikTok are able to strategize around what will likely happen if Trump ends up backpedaling on the deal—there would be a pause in downloads and a potentially full ban after the election. 
• Apparently, there’s no better growth hack for an app than making it a limited time offer like “you only have a week to download our app.” TikTok app downloads increased by 12% on Friday from the day before. 
• Plus, until a full ban goes into effect, TikTok will feel more like an exclusive in-group for users, which could be a good thing for marketers. 

The case for Tik-walking out the door: 

• It either isn’t on-brand for a business to be associated with a platform that the U.S. government flip-flops on calling dangerous for national security…
• ... or it doesn’t want to spend time investing in a channel that could completely disappear in a few months. 

Bottom line: Whether marketers stay or go is a bit of a catch-22, but having a tech-savvy lawyer sit in on the decision-making process probably wouldn’t hurt.

TV

Rokock? Peaku? Yeah, They Reached a Deal

After a summer of deadlocked streaming wars debates, NBCU finally reached a deal with Roku to get its ad-supported streaming service, Peacock, on the connected TV platform. 

Peacock launched in July, and although it’s still unclear exactly when Peacock will be added to Roku’s suite of apps, it’s clear that the addition gives advertisers more reason to invest in NBCU’s new bird.

• Roku controlled 38% of the U.S. streaming-media player market in Q1 and saw significant revenue growth due to cord cutting in Q2. 
• The deal makes Peacock readily accessible to nearly 40 million active U.S. Roku accounts. 
• That potential reach is a big deal for Peacock, which currently stands at about 15 million users across both its ad-supported and ad-free options. 

Zoom out: The other new kid on the block this summer, HBO Max, launched in May and still isn’t on Roku or Amazon Fire TV.

Why this matters: If Peacock continues to become available on CTV platforms like Roku (it still hasn’t reached a deal with Amazon) and increases audience time spent on the platform, it could become a powerful OTT advertising alternative to Hulu.

SPONSORED BY CONCERT LOCAL

Local News Has Big Rewards

Local news is no small fish. It’s vital to the fabric of America. Which is why Vox Media partnered with Nielsen to see if local news sites can also be powerful marketing tools (spoiler alert: they can).

By running with local news outlets, advertisers could be supporting vital journalism, reaching consumers on a personal level, and building an incremental audience (talk about a win-win-win).

Their research indicates that, in many situations, spending local: 

• Builds incremental audiences: 38% of local news site visitors don’t visit national news sites.
• Builds community: National ads are about awareness, but local sites create intimacy.
• Drives action: Local news users are more likely to have taken meaningful action on their local property as opposed to national outlets.

Nowadays, the stakes for local news outlets couldn’t be higher. 

Check out Vox’s study and see what supporting local journalism can do for your advertising today.

PUBLISHING 

Meredith Layoffs

Meredith, the publisher that manages major magazines like People, InStyle, and Shape, laid off 180 staffers last week. Most of those affected worked in ad sales and events roles.

The majority worked for the publisher’s 17 local TV stations, while the minority worked in its magazine arm. 

Two forces that could have contributed: 

• Magna reports that print advertising declined 33% in H1 2020. 
• And local advertising is hurting too—the total local advertising market forecast for 2020 dropped by 10.6% this spring. 

Big picture: The job cuts were “cost-cutting measures due to the revenue losses sustained in the Covid-19 pandemic and represent” a “reallocation of resources to higher-growth areas,” a Meredith spokesperson told Adweek. 

My takeaway: Meredith’s mass layoffs came later in the pandemic than those of other publications, which signals that even after six months of trial and error, publishers are still adapting to Covid-19's negative pressures. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• WeChat’s ban seems to have been averted, as a federal judge blocked an order that would have forced app stores to stop offering it. 
• T-Mobile is reviewing its $2.1 billion media account. 
• HBO swept the Emmys this weekend in the drama category.
• Sandy Hook Promise’s ad also took home an award, winning the 2020 Outstanding Commercial Emmy.

SPONSORED BY ITERABLE

These growth marketing gurus are bestowing their knowledge on you. For the rest of the year, Iterable will be unveiling their four pillars of personalization strategies. This month, it’s all about user segmentation—and why the old ways just won’t cut it with today’s consumers. Iterable’s playbook can help you rethink your segmentation strategy and show you how to create customized experiences. Download their User Segmentation playbook today.

FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to make you fancy

TikToks: With all the TikTok drama going on, you should probably keep this article from Later, on how to convert your TikTok audience into Instagram followers, in your back pocket.

Naps: Retail Brew's Halie LeSavage wrote a case study on how Hill House Home's viral Nap Dress reached its #NapDressSummer popularity. My favorite anecdote from the story: "The brand’s marketing budget was only 5% of total sales and it didn’t have a PR team when demand spiked."

Events: Because these are all still virtual, check out these six key metrics to help quantify online event performance.

In-housing: It seems like anyone and everyone is moving marketing in-house, so Forrester wrote a guide to making that happen at your brand. 

CMO SENTIMENTS

Sign up here for Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman’s CMO Series on LinkedIn, in which he chats with the most important CMOs in the marketing industry. Then read on for three questions that’ll help you get to know these marketing leaders a little better. 

So Katie Perry came on the CMO Series last week. While this Katie Perry is the VP of Marketing at the social investing app Public, she has pop star status here at Marketing Brew. 

Alex Lieberman: What is one marketing word that you can’t stand hearing?

Katie Perry: I don’t really love the word “influencer,” to be honest. It doesn’t seem authentic.

AL: What is the best book you’ve read since January?

KP: Bob Dylan’s Chronicles

AL: Is cereal soup?

KP: No. That’s absolutely ridiculous.

She’s beauty, she’s grace, she doesn’t think cereal is soup. Watch the full interview with Katie Perry here.

ICYMI

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

• OkCupid and other brands want YOU to register to vote
• Aya Kanai is the new head of content and editorial partnerships at Pinterest
• NBCU launched a new kind of ad performance measurement tool