UPFRONTS

One Stop Stream Shop

This year’s NewFronts presentations have come and gone.

Celebrities like Catherine O’Hara and Miley Cyrus hobnobbed with brands, uncomfortable executives gave PowerPoint presentations detailed looks at the future of the media ecosystem, and streaming and social platforms danced on the graves of linear television.

But presenters spent most of their time showing off shiny new toys to entice media buyers. And we noticed lots of them are trying to help audiences do one simple thing: buy stuff.

Everything is QVC now

During its first-ever appearance at the NewFronts, Amazon unveiled what it dubbed the incredibly sexy “actionable video ads solution," which allows viewers to make a purchase as a brand’s ad is running. Like, immediately.

• In practice, you could tell Alexa to add toilet paper to your Amazon cart after watching a Charmin ad on IMDb TV—or just click your Fire TV remote—without stopping the show.
• Amazon said the new feature is in beta testing so it’s unclear when brands can begin using it.

Not to be outdone, YouTube showed off a new tool called “brand extensions” that can send connected TV viewers a custom URL to their phone—where they’ll presumably make a purchase or learn more about a product—if an ad piques their interest. It’s also adding an e-commerce platform that’ll sit under video ads.

It wasn’t just platforms. Condé Nast, parent to The New Yorker, GQ, Vogue, and Bon Appétit, unveiled Condé Nast Shoppable—perhaps a slightly more exciting name than the other two.

• It’s an in-video feature that allows viewers to purchase whatever a given celebrity is wearing in Vogue’s “7 Days, 7 Looks” series, for instance. 
• And it's only charging advertisers when a transaction actually occurs.

Shoppable advertising isn’t exactly new. Last year, NBC expanded its shoppable ad offerings, including ads with QR codes on linear TV. Hulu’s been working on it for a couple of years, too. 

It’s convenient, especially if you’re a beauty or clothing brand. Even if Ford might not sell an F-150 with a click, it could theoretically send local dealership promos to your phone using YouTube's new tool.

Zoom out: As first party data and contextual advertising get more valuable, there’s more pressure for brands to create “personalized advertising experiences,” Toni Box, VP of social media and content marketing at digital agency ForwardPMX, told Marketing Brew. 

Meeting audiences where they are and making it easier for them to actually buy the stuff they’re seeing in ads is one way to do that. “It’s super appealing—we’re always looking for easy ways to convert,” Box said. — RB

SOCIAL MEDIA

Tip of the Iceberg

On Thursday, Twitter launched a Pandora’s Box of a feature. It’s called Tip Jar, and in theory, it could disrupt brand marketing strategies on the platform. 

• If someone adds a Tip Jar to their profile, users can tip them via services like Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, PayPal, and Venmo. 
• Twitter takes no cut of the profits. Right now, only “creators, journalists, experts, and nonprofits” can receive tips, per Twitter.

There are...a lot of issues here. Obviously, the great part about Tip Jar is that you can send anyone money. The bad part is that you can send anyone money. 

Another bad part: One Twitter user pointed out that if you send a person a tip using PayPal, they'll see your address on the virtual receipt .  

Penny for your thoughts?

We aren’t sure when (or if) brands will be able to use this feature, but we asked the Marketing Brew Twitter community if they’d ever use the feature to tip a brand, and if so, what brand they’d tip. 

@gregswan responded no—but said brands could potentially use the feature to “surprise and delight” superfans. 

@ariberko, who works at 360i on the Chips Ahoy social account, according to their profile, responded with “Well since @ChipsAhoy doesn’t have a Chip OnlyFans yet, I guess this would have to do.” Chips Ahoy’s response? “People would tip us.” Meta. 

One user said they wanted to tip Facebook, but we won’t out them here. 

Click here to read the full thread, and to follow us on Twitter. — PB

SPONSORED BY ATTEST

Don’t Play Marketing Detective

Sometimes understanding how well you know your consumers can feel like an unsolved mystery. But we have good news: Attest is just the detective you need to grow your business with data, and without the guesswork. 

Attest is more than just a survey tool. It lets you deliver the right data, at the right time, to make the right decisions. It can help identify new personas and uncover the next big opportunity with rich, comprehensive insights on changing consumers and competitors.

That means no more making decisions based on assumptions and keeping your fingers crossed. Instead, you can measure your brand health and awareness, and track campaign performance to gain certainty around your marketing activities' ROI.

Dissolve the doubt around your marketing decisions and use consumer research to build your next campaign with confidence. 

Get started with Attest today.

PSA

One nation, jabbed

It’s now been a few months since “I got vaccinated” stickers replaced those “I voted” stickers as the humblebrag accessory of the decade. More than 108 million people have been fully vaccinated, and the Ad Council, whose campaign (the largest in the nonprofit’s history) is underway, can claim some credit. 

• ICYMI, the Ad Council signed up more than 300 brands for its “It’s Up To You” campaign, totaling more than “$77.5 million in media support and related publicity,” according to the org. The campaign debuted in February. 
• PSAs have since run on broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms.
• Some are generic PSAs, like this one.  But others are defintely branded. Budweiser and Google, for instance, have both created ads to spread the “It’s Up To You” message. 

We knew the campaign was going to be big. But is it working? Who’s seen the ads? 

We followed up with the Ad Council, which said more than half of Americans (56%) above the age of 13 saw the campaign as of mid-April. So far, it’s totaled 26.5 million engagements, driving more than three million visits to GetVaccineAnswers.org.

“Especially considering this effort has been in market for less than 10 weeks, it’s promising to see that so many individuals are being exposed to accurate, vetted content about the COVID-19 vaccines,” said the Ad Council’s Chief Campaign Development Officer, Heidi Arthur. “But these numbers reinforce that there are still a lot of people out there with questions who need to be seeing this content as well.” — RB

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Old Navy suspended its Juneteenth campaign following an influencer backlash.
• Publicis Groupe’s healthcare arm is being sued by the state of Massachusetts over its alleged involvement in the state’s opioid crisis. 
• Roku’s recent revenue forecast topped analysts’ expectations as interest in streaming grows.
• TikTok is still number one in global non-gaming app downloads.

SPONSORED BY ROKU

All eyes on Roku. Roku reaches an estimated 148 million people in households nationwide, making it America’s #1 TV streaming platform. It’s no wonder why nine out of ten Ad Age 200 brands choose Roku for engaging with cord cutters—it’s the place to be. TV starts here.

FRENCH PRESS

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

Shopping: Snapchat just shared these 2021 back-to-school shopping insights.

SEO: Do you have a Wordpress site? If so, here are seven ways to improve its SEO.

Social: If you’ve been putting off making a link tree for your brand’s Instagram account, learn how to do it in five easy steps.

Better live: DTC Day Live is a digital-first, virtual conference featuring the best and brightest DTC brands. Topics will include post-pandemic strategy, brand building, and more. Attend and you could even win a Tesla Model 3. Sign up here.*

METRICS & MEDIA

Stat: Remember that Ad Council PSA story? 69% of respondents to a Marketing Brew/Harris Poll survey said they supported brands and celebrities engaging in vaccine education initiatives. 

Quote: “It is not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored,” said Facebook’s oversight board, punting the controversial decision to ban President Trump back to Mark Zuckerberg.

Read: How TikTok survived the Trump administration.

ICYMI

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

• Why brands are letting people opt out of Mother’s Day emails
• Supergoop! launched its first major brand campaign
• Marketing Brew Internship Guide Chapter Three: The Interview