SOCIAL MEDIA

Ghosting has Entered the Chat

Breaking: You can now get ghosted on more apps than Tinder. In the past two weeks, a bunch of different social media platforms followed in Snapchat and Instagram’s footsteps and added “disappearing” features—including Twitter.

• On Tuesday, Twitter launched Fleets: disappearing posts after 24 hours that make it easier than ever to share your fleeting thoughts with others. 
• The feature lives in the tiny and massive shadows of LinkedIn and Instagram Stories, respectively.

The lingering question: When it comes to social media marketing, will Fleets be more of an Instagram or a LinkedIn?

You can Fleet if you want to, you can leave your friends behind

Before you copy and paste your Instagram Story or Snapchat strategy into Twitter (LOL, if only it were that simple), there are two things to consider. 

The platform’s audience: With any new social media platform feature, it’s important to weigh the obvious: whether the platform’s users will even use it. With vanishing features, that could be correlated with…  

• Age—if you look at the average age of a LinkedIn user vs. a Snapchat user, it seems to imply that younger users might be more interested in ephemeral formats than older ones… 
• …or the type of content on the platform—I have many a tweet I wish would just disappear.
  

Your brand’s audience: “We recommend brands design these ‘fleeting’ messages for their biggest fans and followers,” Stacy Minero, global head of Twitter ArtHouse, told Marketing Brew. “Fleets are highly visual and feel personal, offering another great space for brands to tease new launches or comment on what’s happening,” said Minero. 

In fact, there are big differences between B2B and B2C marketers’ enthusiasm regarding stories: 

• In a global May 2019 survey on formats that agencies, B2B, and B2C brand marketers consider “critical for their company’s marketing efforts,” 36.1% of B2C respondents said ephemeral content was critical, whereas only 18.8% of B2B companies agreed, per Incite Group data shared by eMarketer. 

My takeaway: Fleets is still a brand new feature, so it’s probably a little soon for social media marketers to go all in. Dabble in Fleets if you think they sound perfect for your brand’s audience on Twitter, or sit back and keep tabs on the feature if you’re still unsure. 

TV

Fire Festival

As of Tuesday, the Fire TV loyalists among you will finally be able to toggle between Baby Yoda, Emily (in Paris, that is), and Tony Soprano all in one place. HBO Max will be available on all Amazon Fire TV devices and Prime. 

• After the WarnerMedia-owned streaming service launched in May, a monthslong debate about who would control HBO Max user data on Amazon devices ensued.
• Amazon Fire is the No. 2 connected TV provider in the U.S., with 32% market share as of May. Roku is the top dog, with 38%.

Why it matters to marketers: HBO Max’s VIP entrance to the Amazon Fire party should propel HBO Max past its current 8.6 million monthly active users (MAUs). 

• Amazon-induced viewer growth + HBO Max’s ad-supported tier launching next year = more premium CTV inventory on the horizon for marketers. 

Looking ahead: Perhaps the Amazon/WarnerMedia agreement could provide an outline for HBO Max/Roku negotiations, helping build interest in CTV advertising even further by adding more inventory to the mix. 

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AGENCIES

WPP is Once Again Asking Two Agencies to Merge

Last week, WPP merged legacy creative agency Grey and its newer digital-focused acquisition AKQA into AKQA Group. This week, WPP announced a new merger—this time between commerce agency Geometry and experience shop VMLY&R. 

• Under the name VMLY&R Commerce, Geometry’s Beth Ann Kaminkow will serve as global CEO, working closely with VMLY&R global CEO Jon Cook.

Marketing Brew spoke with AKQA CEO Ajaz Ahmed and Grey CEO Michael Houston to get the inside story.

On why so many WPP mergers are happening: “Advantages of combining several business units into a single larger organization…include getting access to new capabilities, new markets, [and] being able to build career growth for our people,” Ahmed said. “Instead of competing, the business units are collaborating with one another on behalf of [their] people, clients and the work. The larger canvas we now have for our people and shared capabilities represents the scale to make a meaningful difference to our industry.”

On week 1 of the AKQA Group merger: “We’ve hit the ground running and already won our first assignment together with plenty of discussions in progress about more. The client reaction has been enthusiastic and supportive,” Houston said. “We have considerable respect for each agency and culture, and that’s why we have kept both our unique identities while sharing a common…framework for the way we run the combined organization.”

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Mars is buying granola bar brand Kind North America. 
• IPG Mediabrands will use NewsGuard’s content ratings system for U.S. digital news media buys.
• Mediaocean is stepping up its game and automating local TV media-planning and media-buying tools.
• Canvas Worldwide has been appointed craft beer company Lagunitas’s U.S. media agency of record.

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ADWEEK OR ADWEAK?

Which headlines are real marketing news, and which one is satirical à la Twitter account ADWEAK?

1. Brands Increasingly Seek Indie Shops During Pandemic
2. Pornhub’s Ad Network Has A Demand-Side Platform
3. Tumblr Tests Stories Feature
4. Amazon Unveils Online Pharmacy

Keep scrolling for the answer.

AD ANTIQUES

eBay

This holiday season, give the gift of a child delivering a cigarette. I’m not sure if that’s the best part of this 1946 Philip Morris cigarette ad, or if it’s the text at the bottom that says “ALWAYS BETTER…BETTER ALL WAYS.” 

ADWEEK OR ADWEAK? ANSWER

C. isn’t real, unfortunately #TumblrForever <3.

ICYMI

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

• We asked branding experts for their opinions on Google Suite’s rebrand
• How to land a marketing job at a publisher
• Nasdaq launched an ESG campaign with CNN