PSAS

It's Up To You

Public health communicators, nonprofits, health agencies, and some major brands are all aligned on one thing: convincing Americans to get a vaccine. For a sizable chunk of the population, that’s a challenge.

• 34% of Americans say they are not likely to get the vaccine, according to a March 8 Ipsos poll, down from 63% back in September.

Enter: the brands

The Ad Council has signed more than 300 brands for its “It’s Up To You” campaign, good for more than $52 million in donations. The PSA push is the largest in the nonprofit's history, which includes classics like Smokey Bear and Rosie the Riveter. 

The ads are running on broadcast, cable, streaming, and audio platforms like Spotify. Google “vaccine” and you might see a programmatic ad. Some spots feature popular spiritual leaders, others former presidents and first ladies. They all direct viewers to the same website for vaccine info. 

• The campaign has already hit 25.3 billion impressions, and it will run indefinitely.

“It impacts everybody; everybody is a target and yet one size doesn’t fit all,” Heidi Arthur, the Ad Council’s chief campaign development officer, told Marketing Brew. 

Participating brands have either donated cold hard $$$ or ad inventory and branded content to the Ad Council’s cause.

Case in point: Unilever is working with retailers and Ad Council partners like CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart for signage and geotargeted audio ads that'll run in late April and early May.

• Unilever spent “several millions” on co-branded work alongside the Ad Council, Rob Master, VP of media and digital engagement at Unilever, told us.

“Americans are looking for trusted voices. Now, more than ever, businesses and brands are oftentimes seen as a trusted voice,” he said.

Do PSA campaigns work? Mostly...

Nancy Reagan’s Just Say No campaign sank like a rock, but most find more success, said Dr. Suruchi Sood, a community health professor at Drexel University. Sood says the latest efforts stand a chance of working. 

• “With the level of misinformation that’s floating around, referring people to just one site that they can trust is a really good strategy; your message doesn’t get diluted.”

Lingering question: So why are brands from Budweiser to Unilever getting involved?

“The bottom line is they want to make profits,” Sood said. “They create a situation where they get the publicity and people kind of feel like, ‘Oh, this is a trustworthy brand because they really think they care.”

TV

HBO Maxed Out

Sourdough starters and jigsaw puzzles might have to compete with HBO Max—once its ad supported tier launches in June, that is.

• The AT&T-owned streamer now expects to reach between 120 million and 150 million global subscribers by 2025, per Ad Age. 
• For context, Hulu has nearly 40 million paid subscribers in the US, and, as of 2019, 70% of Hulu subs were ad supported. 

So what kind of milkshake is bringing ad buyers to the HBO yard?

Globalization: HBO is itching to travel outside the US post-pandemic, just like the rest of us—which might partly explain why some ad buyers are investing in the relationship early.

• On Friday, HBO Max also announced plans to enter 60 new markets abroad in 2021, per Ad Age. Hulu is basically nonexistent outside the US. 
• “Roughly half of the 2025 subs are expected to be in non-US markets,” WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar told Variety.

Original content: Combine exclusive, juicy HBO dramas dropping with the AVOD version leaving out ads on all HBO original series, and you’ve got a self-driving hype machine. 

SPONSORED BY ATTENTIVE

Informative Text Re: Texts

Attentive just dropped an extremely informative report about texting (and how your brand should be using it).

Their report details how consumers want to engage with brands through texting and how SMS can be a key to customer acquisition and loyalty. 

Attentive surveyed 2,000 US consumers, revealing some tasty texting tidbits like:

• 91% of consumers are interested in signing up for brands’ texts
• 58% want to hear from brands multiple times per week
• Over 50% of consumers are more likely to buy if they get a text with an image, GIF, or video

But marketers, if you want more than those little morsels, you’ll have to download Attentive’s full report here.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Three Tips to Make Social Video Perform Better, Courtesy of the Beauty Industry

This week, video-as-a-service platform QuickFrame figured out how to make its beauty clients’ social video content perform even better. It shared analysis of said clients’ video content across Facebook and Instagram over the last four months with Marketing Brew. 

And good news—the insights apply to social video strategies outside the beauty space, too.  

1. Stop-motion videos = way underrated 

“They drove 58% higher sales, yet received 176% less media investment than the average video.” 

Takeaway: If you need a standout (and easy) social video strategy, take the animation style for a test run. 

2. Product-centric videos >>> 

Videos that centered the product, as opposed to talent talking about the product, garnered 26% higher return on ad spend (ROAS).  

Takeaway: Influencers should show rather than tell—cost per action (CPA) increases by 17% when videos show a person actually using the product.

3. Use testimonials wisely

Beauty marketers looove a testimonial-style video—QuickFrame estimates they’ve invested 110% more in testimonials than any other format. 

But that doesn’t mean they’re a particularly effective sales engine: Testimonials experience a 16% lower ROAS compared to the average video.

Takeaway: If you need a testimonial for your social video content plan, avoid salesy language like the plague this outdated simile. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Subway’s K-drama product placement has made a “night and day” difference on global sales.
• Gatorade remade its iconic Michael Jordan vs. Mia Hamm spot.
• AB InBev unveiled a Travis-Scott branded hard seltzer, because between McDonald’s and Reese’s Puffs, what can’t he sell?
• Sam Adams is advertising a nonalcoholic IPA ahead of this year’s March Madness tournament.  

SPONSORED BY STACKADAPT

The connection between Connected TV and more mo-ney. It exists. StackAdapt partnered with ad industry intelligence firm Advertiser Perceptions to survey over 200 brand decision makers, and the results are in: When used correctly, CTV gives brands a huge competitive advantage. Learn why these movers and shakers increased their CTV ad dollars by 56 percent year-over-year here.

FRENCH PRESS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren't those.

Social: Stories, which will come for us all someday, have now come to Pinterest. Here’s when to pin a story and when not to for your audience.

Pivot to video: You don’t need a film degree. This simple guide to learning how to edit film will work just fine.

Leadership: Stop micromanaging; we promise it will make you a better boss.

Share your voice. INBOUND 2021—hosted with love by HubSpot—will be digital this year, and they're looking for awesome speakers. If you’re in marketing, sales, or customer success, this is your chance to share your story with over 70 thousand global attendees. Applications close March 16.*

*This is sponsored advertising content 

AD ANTIQUES

Probably the Ad Council's most famous spokesperson, Smokey Bear.

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Marketers check in after one year of WFH
• Reddit’s getting serious with Omnicom
• Disney hits the ice with the NHL