INFLUENCERS

Influencers Take a Different Kind of Shot

Monday morning marked the first U.S. Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccination. The shot heard around the country felt like hope.

But you know what shot felt even more meaningful to me? Seeing one of my former sorority sisters, now a healthcare worker, getting the vaccine via her Instagram story. 

Perhaps that feeling—that I know someone who got the vaccine—explains why health organizations are tapping influencers to encourage vaccination. 

• The World Health Organization (WHO), the Ad Council, and the United Kingdom’s National Health Service have all worked influencer marketing into pro-vaccine campaigns.
• “Influencers can be very helpful in spreading awareness about benefits of vaccines and advocating for vaccine acceptance,” Tarik Jašarević, a spokesperson for the WHO, told Recode.

Some backstory

All three of the organizations mentioned above have enormous marketing campaigns behind vaccine awareness. Influencer marketing’s significant role in those campaigns furthers the idea that the marketing sector is quickly becoming more mature.

The enormous campaigns part: As one example, in late November, the Ad Council set a lofty goal—raise a minimum of $50 million to fund a Covid-19 vaccine awareness campaign. It could go down in U.S. history as one of the nation’s largest-ever public health campaigns. 

The more mature part: At this point, we shouldn’t be surprised that marketers use influencers for more than just selling hair growth vitamins. 

• Last week, The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) introduced an industry standards-setting group, the Influencer Marketing Advisory Board. 
• And the American Influencer Council (AIC), a new-ish influencer trade group, is making its own vaccine awareness push. The AIC created an online resource center with creator guidelines on making vaccine info available to their audiences.

As to how involved influencers could be in these public health PSAs, the sky’s the limit. 

• It’s too early to know the ins and outs of how far U.S. influencer efforts will go (plans are still in development). But the U.K., which rolled out the vaccine before the U.S., could provide a blueprint. 
• For instance, the U.K.’s NHS has plans to enlist public figures, from soccer player Marcus Rashford to members of the British royal family, per The Guardian.

My takeaway: Influencer marketing’s debut into the broader marketing world has been a long 2020 coming. And the strategy has immense potential to work for organizations like WHO and the Ad Council—if executed correctly, of course. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Reddit is the New Reels is the New TikTok

Reddit pulled something deep out of my subconscious late Sunday night—Dubsmash, an interactive video app created in 2014. In its first ever acquisition, Reddit bought the app and will integrate its video tools into its own platform. 

• What was once a lip syncing app is now becoming a social video app à la TikTok, because according to Dubsmash, imitation is the highest form of flattery. 
• “Since launching video in 2017, we’ve seen significant growth of video on Reddit (over 2x in 2020 alone) that has been amplified by the community’s creativity,” a Reddit spokesperson said, per Adweek. 

Does anyone use Dubsmash? It may not have a ton of notoriety, but Dubsmash has a small-but-solid user base—one-quarter of Black teens use it. Overall, it has 1 billion monthly video views to the 37 billion TikTok boasts each month on average. 

Big picture: Reddit’s 2020 was a quest for more marketers to flock to the platform. It has created a trending takeover ad product, invested in new ad verification tools, and doubled down on brand safety. Now, it's setting its sights on user generated video content—because that’s what it takes to keep up with the ad platform Joneses of 2021.

SPONSORED BY WETRANSFER

Calling All Creatives

The saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” So could you say, “A global pandemic is the mother of creativity?” 

Well, according to some 35,000 creatives and loyal fans of WeTransfer, the answer is a resounding “Yes times thirty-five thousand.”

Every year, WeTransfer asks thousands of people in their community about their creative ideas. The result is the Ideas Report, a roundup of insights from all over the globe about the unpredictable nature of creativity.

2020 was a weird one. So to help make sense of it all, WeTransfer gathered five powerful creative minds to share their five wisest words for getting through it.

Here’s a glimpse:

• “Move from isolation to intimacy”—Holley M. Kholi-Murchison, artist and entrepreneur
• “Making prevents that sinking feeling”—Natasha Jen, partner at Pentagram
• “Don’t let doubt define you”—Alice Aedy, filmmaker and activist

WeTransfer’s interactive report is chock full of content to help you feel more inspired, more engaged, and well, a little less alone.

Experience the entire 2020 WeTransfer Ideas Report right here.

CMOS

m/Six Taps WFA Global Diversity Ambassador Belinda Smith as CEO

Earlier this week, global media network m/Six named Belinda Smith—Marketing Brew’s unofficial queen—Americas CEO. 

• m/Six handles media for EA, where Smith previously served as head of global marketing intelligence. 
• Pre-EA, Smith was 360i’s director of programmatic strategy, as well as IAB’s director of industry initiatives.

That’s how many folks know of Smith—but we know her as one of the strongest voices leading the Black Lives Matter movement within the marketing industry. 

Salient Smith quotes, for reference: 

• “Ultimately, an organisation that includes different perspectives, experiences, family set-ups, and needs is far better able to cope with both today and tomorrow.”—Smith and WFA colleague Jerry Daykin in Marketing Week.
• “When we get really excitable and want to change, we don't have the tools to do it.”—Smith on extending diversity efforts across the marketing supply chain.

Looking ahead: Smith will continue to serve as global diversity ambassador with the World Federation of Advertisers. Look out for m/Six’s becoming a leader in the agency diversity and inclusion space under Smith’s leadership. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Amazon Fire TV’s monthly active users surpassed Roku’s this month.
• Twitter unveiled new brand safety measures for advertisers. 
• Publicis Imagine won Hulu’s U.S. media buying and planning responsibilities without so much as a review.
• Uber is letting brands offer vouchers for rides and Uber Eats meals. 

SPONSORED BY VALIDITY

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ADWEEK OR ADWEAK?

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

1. Hydrow, a Rowing Rival to Peloton, is Building its Brand
2. McDonald's Celebrates 'Golden M' Hairdo with Virtual Barbershop
3. Ugly Sweaters are 2020’s Coolest Holiday Marketing Idea
4. DTC Sustainable Sunglasses Startup Targets Consumers on the Ski Slopes

Keep scrolling for the answer.

AD ANTIQUES

Pinterest

In honor of the snowstorm hitting the East Coast today, a 1990 Johnnie Walker ad that made me say “Same, girl.”

ADWEEK OR ADWEAK? ANSWER

The DTC sustainable sunglasses startup headline is fake. It is, however, how I referred to Ray-Ban in a Morning Brew Slack thread yesterday.

ICYMI

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

• Victoria’s Secret Appoints Martha Pease as CMO to Clean Up Ed Razek’s Mess
• Meet Gif Engine Optimization, SEO’s Little Sister
• Atlanta’s Marketing Community Wants You to Take The A Pledge for Diversity and Inclusion