METRICS

The TVs have their on you

TVision, a burgeoning television metrics company, is all about the eyeballs. Literally.

Through a console placed under the television, TVision tracks who’s watching the tube, who’s in the room, and whether they’re actually paying attention, by tracking eyeball movement, second by second...not creepy at all.

Like Nielsen, the industry’s benchmark for audience measurement, TVision scales those metrics across the country. For reference, Nielsen is in ~121 million homes. TVision is in about 5,000, and as with Nielsen, all participating families are compensated. 

Quality > Quantity

“We are really trying to avoid the race to the bottom...If you just focus on CPMs, you’re going into the supermarket and buying the cheapest possible food,” Yan Liu, TVision’s CEO and cofounder, told Marketing Brew. “It’s much easier to pitch this concept to OTT platforms; they’re accustomed to a viewability guarantee.”

Case in point: This month, AB inBev worked TVision into an agreement with A+E Network, with viewership guarantees. When the data showed when and where Budweiser’s audience would be actively watching, the brand redirected spend and netted 7.6% more viewable impressions than in the previous quarter.

• Another network will be including TVision in negotiations this month, and two more networks are signed on for Q2, though Liu declined to say which networks. 
• TVision also counts PepsiCo, Hulu, Roku, and Fox as clients.

Eyes wide shut

Marketing Brew spoke with a media buyer at a large agency, on the condition of anonymity because they aren’t allowed to speak to the media, who said their office is split on whether TVision is the real deal or just a chunk of pyrite buried in the sand. 

• “I’m struggling to see the full value, whether the engagement is attributed to the creative, the programming,” they said. “I’m not sure you can separate the noise.”

The buyer said TVision might make sense to gauge whether people are getting tired of a campaign, but an annual subscription (which is what TVision hopes to sell) might not.

Zoom out: Time will tell if TVision’s concept will be adopted across the industry, but Roku’s acquisition of Nielsen’s advanced ad biz shows a growing hunger for smarter, faster, more measurable buys across linear and streaming. So maybe it's only a matter of time before all our screens watch us back.

CAMPAIGNS

No One Out-NFTs the Hut

Unless you spent this past week under a rock, you’ve probably seen at least one brand roll out an NFT*. For instance…

• Pizza Hut Canada recently sold...Non-Fungible Pizza ...on Rarible, a crypto platform and marketplace—one slice for $8,824. The NFTs promote the Hut’s four new pizza recipes, per Ad Age. 
• Taco Bell and Charmin also got in on the NFT fun with a $187,000 “Swivel Taco” and $1,822.21 (so far) roll of “NFTP,” respectively. 

*PS: ICYMI, here’s an NFT explainer.

So do brands need an NFT strategy?  

According to Morning Brew’s very own NFT expert, Jamie Wilde, whether or not a branded NFT makes sense depends on what you want out of the experiment.

• “Right now, I think NFT advertising is a gimmick to get social media engagement and headlines. It makes sense for brands that are really tapped into internet culture, and Twitter specifically,” she said. 
• “But as the hype wears away from NFTs and buyers become more interested in the actual ‘collectible’ aspect rather than the ability to resell them for more (speculation), which I think will happen, I still think creating NFTs could be a fun brand building move,” she added.

SPONSORED BY ATTENTIVE

Meet Your Customers on Mobile

All that tapping, scrolling, and thumbing through our phones means we’re doing bigger things on a smaller screen—including shopping. So when brands want to drop consumers a line, they know SMS is their best bet. 

And Attentive’s guide helps make sure your texts aren’t left unread. They’ve compiled best-in-class text messaging examples from brands, including Mented, ELOQUII, and Pura Vida, to help your brand get inspired.

With 56.7% of consumers primarily using mobile when shopping online, you’d be remiss to miss out on this mobile-first marketing goodness.

There’s no shortage of text messaging strategies that brands can implement to maximize revenue this coming year. The guide features 32 examples—including gifting ideas, daily deal campaigns, abandoned cart reminders, and more. 

Start building your best SMS strategy. Get Attentive’s guide today. 

INFLUENCERS

Why Marie Kondo Sparks Influencer Marketing Joy

Marie Kondo has (finally) teamed with Poshmark, sparking major joy for the secondhand social commerce retailer, which credited Kondo with its 2019 “boom.”

• Building on that success, the partnership includes a series of TV ads and sweepstakes in which Kondo encourages those tidying up to let their old items “spark joy for someone new on Poshmark.” 

So what makes the Kondo/Poshmark relationship work? Two things, actually. 

One: Timing. While Marie Kondo helped make Poshmark relevant in 2019, pandemic-driven store closures took online resale to even higher heights in 2020.

• For instance, Goodwill of Greater Washington’s chief operating officer, Michael Frohm, told The Washington Post that donations rose 20% (or “three temporary warehouses”) year over year in 2020. 

Two: Authenticity. “Authenticity…is the core of successful influencer marketing, especially for celebrities. [Kondo’s] partnership with Poshmark is a natural extension of her brand,” influencer marketing expert Lindsey Gamble told Marketing Brew. 

• “Most brands look to artificially create a relationship between the celebrity and their product or service, instead of leveraging celebrities that already align with their brand,” he continued. 

Bottom line: Kondo sweeps other celeb influencers because she’s selling her own philosophy rather than a brand’s. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Amazon Prime became the new home of Thursday Night Football, and will around spend around $1 billion annually to secure rights it hopes will bring in new viewers and ad dollars.
• Nintendo’s first theme park opened this week in Japan, with more slated to open in Singapore and the US.
• Michelob Ultra is running a bitcoin sweepstakes as part of an “enemy of the artificial” campaign for its organic hard seltzer.
• LeBron James left Coke after 17 years for PepsiCo's new energy drink, entering a competitive market that grew 7% in 2020.

SPONSORED BY STACKADAPT

CTV is more than it seems. It’s how advertisers can be competitive and capitalize. StackAdapt and Advertiser Perceptions surveyed over 200 agency and brand advertising decision makers across the US to get the scoop on how you can use CTV to your advantage. Uncover best practices for leveraging CTV with their research-driven report today.*

FRENCH PRESS

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

Goodbyes: Be graceful. Here’s what to say when a customer cancels. 

Facebook: Here are 11 design secrets to pop on the platform.

Measuring: Make sure you’re getting your share of voice in multiple cities. Here’s how.

Search: Paid search won’t change things overnight. But here are some incremental steps that can make a difference.

Your digital happy place: INBOUND 2021, hosted with love by HubSpot, is reimagining the way you experience digital events. We know, it’s been a heck of a year, and your screen time is way up. Trust us on this one. Get inspired and learn from some of the best to ever do it. Grab your FREE ticket today.*

*This is sponsored advertising content

METRICS AND MEDIA

Stat: US streaming subscriptions grew 32% to 308.6 million in 2020, according to the Motion Picture Association. Globally, 1.1 billion subscriptions bring in about $61.8 billion in revenue, per the Wall Street Journal.

Quote: “Just because you have a platform for kids, it doesn’t mean the kids are going to stay there,” social media researcher Priya Kumar told Buzzfeed, about Facebook’s attempts to build an “Instagram for kids.”

Read: Here’s Ad Age’s updated live blog showing how marketers have responded to the increase in AAPI hate crimes.

ICYMI

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

• Why this year's St. Patrick’s Day looked a lot like last year’s
• Clubhouse Nabs Talent from Netflix and Instagram
• China’s Privacy Workaround Could Spell Trouble for Apple