TV

P&G Says “OMG, We’re SO Over Upfronts”

So you might have heard that a little company called Procter & Gamble isn’t a huge fan of upfronts anymore. 

During the virtual ANA Media and Measurement Conference on Wednesday, P&G Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard highlighted concerns with the upfronts that Covid-19 has only made more apparent.

• There was some debate as to whether that meant P&G is planning to ditch the upfronts altogether, although a spokesperson later clarified that's not the case. 
• But at the very least, Pritchard called for some major changes in the upfronts process.

P&G’s impact

The world’s largest advertiser criticizing upfronts on a public stage is a big deal. Here are Pritchard’s most potentially influential points from his ANA statements. 

Direct negotiations: Agencies typically negotiate upfront deals on behalf of large brands like P&G…but if one of the biggest advertisers in the world changes its approach, it could start a trend among large advertisers. That could be bad news for the agencies that do this work.

Programmatic push: Prioritizing programmatic buying over more traditional deals gives advertisers more control over ad placement, something we’ve already seen advertisers doing during the pandemic. 

Why buy in bulk? When Pritchard asked marketers why they continue to dive headfirst into often overpriced upfront deals, he invited them to scrutinize a system that's been a force of stability for years.

Hot takes

I asked Aaron Goldman, the CMO of Mediaocean, an ad service and software company, what he made of Pritchard’s statements. 

Expert view: Goldman said that a “seismic shift” is happening in the TV world. Viewer fragmentation across channels has “ironically driven upfront prices up, because guaranteed TV eyeballs have become a prized, scarce resource,” he said. Goldman also thinks the rise of streaming + network ad load reductions will = an acceleration of this trend. 

Looking ahead: This year’s upfronts season already frustrated a lot of marketers. Pritchard’s call to action could be the push TV ad buyers need to force networks and agencies into making change.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Reels Get Bigger

Instagram might have just made Reels 100% more engaging—it extended the max length of a Reels video from 15 to 30 seconds. 

• Because TikTok videos have a max of 60 seconds, this update just brought Reels a quarter closer to TikTok’s long time limit.
• In the words of NYT writers Taylor Lorenz and Brian X. Chen, “I have never made a 15-second dance video.”

Speaking of engaging: Brian Bosche, the co-founder of Slope (acquired by Smartsheet), told Marketing Brew that Reels is Reely working when it comes to engagement metrics. 

“I have nearly 1.1M views on my last 10 Reels videos with only 8,800 followers. In comparison, I have only 700K views on my last 10 TikTok videos with 313,000 followers. The engagement is more consistent on Reels now as well,” said Bosche. 

My takeaway: Perhaps there’s something to that “Instagram will dominate TikTok because it has many, many more users” argument after all. But all will be revealed in (more than 30 seconds’) time .

SPONSORED BY CONCERT LOCAL

There’s Nothing Small About the Importance of Local News

In an era of 24/7 breaking news, the importance of local news has never been bigger.

When these outlets fail, communities across the country are cut off from vital information they need to stay safe and informed.

That’s why Vox Media has partnered with global research firm Nielsen to test if local news sites can be powerful marketing tools. 

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 news property as opposed to national outlets.

Local news has never been more important, and the stakes have never been higher.

Prevent news deserts, become a champion of local news, and boost your brand. Check out Vox’s study to see how.

BRANDING

Ikea Is a Bland Now

Most of us think of Ikea as a big corporate entity that serves the masses with meatballs and futons. But its latest OOH campaign seems to be targeting a more specific audience.

• Mother London created the campaign, called “Tomorrow starts tonight,” to promote Ikea’s bedding products and highlight the importance of a good night’s sleep. 
• The resulting posters are a play on ads from…dare I say…blands promoting products that make up for not having a good night’s sleep, like Goop’s anti-aging cream. 

Low-stakes hot take: The campaign’s design elements, from the sans serif font to the clean lines, could make viewers associate Ikea with more modern competitors like Feather and Buffy. 

My takeaway: “Tomorrow starts tonight” uses DTC-style branding to associate Ikea with higher-quality, pricier DTC products—which could make its own products more appealing.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Facebook removed the 20% text limit on ad images this week. 
• Salesforce is set to drop its new customer data platform next month, after a year-long wait. 
• Match hired Ayni Raimondi, a former Everlane exec, as its new VP of brand. 
• Reddit rolled out new brand safety controls for its ad inventory.
• CNN shut down Great Big Story, which was supposed to rival BuzzFeed and Vice’s millennial content mills.

SPONSORED BY ITERABLE

Does your marketing strategy stack up? We've shared Iterable’s secret sauce to user segmentation and now it's time to evaluate your personalization tactics. What approach do you use to engage with target users? How do you use intent data to build your campaigns? Take Iterable’s personalization maturity model quiz today and see where your strategy scores. Get started here to level up to individualization.

FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to make you fancy

CMOs: Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman’s CMO Series had a stellar week. Watch his conversations with Matthew Kobach, Director of Content Marketing at Fast, and Trufan CEO Swish Goswami. Also, PSA: Laundry Service CMO Mike Mikho and Foundation CEO Ross Simmonds are up next. RSVP here. 

Microbrowsers: Whether you’re a martech expert or have no clue what a microbrowser is, read this article on how to optimize branded content for the handheld web to maximize engagement. 

Events: You might have heard about this in Wednesday’s newsletter, but ICYMI, I’m hosting another CMO panel with Edelman on October 1. RSVP here if you’re interested in hearing from Reddit COO Jen Wong, EA Marketing EVP Chris Bruzzo, Citi CMO Carla Hassan, and more. 

Emojis: Here’s how putting emojis in subject lines affects your email open rate .

METRICS & MEDIA

Stat: Nike is doing surprisingly well for a retailer during the pandemic amid mass bankruptcies—its recent social media engagement levels broke records and generated nearly 5 billion social media impressions.

Quote: “So much of the industry has been shaped and shaken by Black culture, but filtered through the lens of majority-white agency talent, and then pitched to their (also mostly white) startup and multinational clients, to media outlets that are just more of the same.”—600 & Rising co-founder Bennett D. Bennett for his special Adweek package, “Black Is the Answer. Black Is the Future.” 

Read: How TikTok + Covid-19 = a fully transformed influencer marketing scene. 

ICYMI

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

• My new favorite digital OOH campaign lives on top of NYC cabs
• T-Mobile is doing a major media review after its Sprint merger
• Trick or treat marketers: Here’s how to handle the new holiday season