What happened in Marketing: EU fixes Meta, TikTok expands in the US and YouTube rewards Creators
This Week: It feels like social apps are finally moving in the right direction. Well, some of them are. Also, Christmas ads are here.
Next week I will be over-analysing the new Christmas ads on IG. Also, You can watch me,
, , Pollyanna Ward and Sheeza Anjum talk about “How to avoid over-cooking your social strategy”. (Youtube)If you like my work and want to receive the best of marketing every week, You can join my paid newsletter to support the work + get access to our discord & archive.
Top 6 Updates of the Week:
Meta is reducing price of subscription for no ads in EU and also plans to use less data to show ads. (EN)
Youtube launches Jewels - a new was for creators to earn on YouTube. (HP)
TikTok launches Symphony creative studio, AI-powered video-generation tool. (TF)
Google launches new Short-form video ad formats and expands existing features globally. (BG)
Comcast, Disney and IBM are among advertisers returning to X after ad freeze. (MK)
EU Commission fines Meta €797.72 million over abusive practices benefitting Facebook Marketplace. (TG)
Trending 🗞️
Meta to launch Ads on Threads in early 2025. (read)
Snapchat brings location sharing to Family Center. (SP)
Pinterest launches new Holiday shopping features to help you find that perfect gift. (PM)
LinkedIn adds ‘Open to Volunteer’ feature. (LK)
Google will stop serving political advertising in the EU ahead of new regulation in October 2025. (MT)
Snapchat publishes 2024 CitizenSnap company report. (read)
Perplexity AI brings ads to its platform. (TC)
Spotify launches Uninterrupted Video Podcasts, Audience-Driven Payments, and the New Spotify for Creators Platform. (FR)
CMA demands changes to Google Privacy Sandbox after cookie deprecation reversal. (TP)
The Onion acquires Alex Jones’ Infowards in bankruptcy auction. (TG)
But Elon Musk's X Corp. filed notice in Alex Jones' Infowars bankruptcy case
Google publishes Top 100 gifts list inspired by hottest trends from 2024. (CL)
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FTC is planning to investigate Microsoft’s cloud-computing business. (BN)
ChatGPT can now read some of your Mac’s desktop apps. (TC)
Amazon’s Temu competitor Haul is an AI image wasteland. (RM)
Brands are rethink agency compensation models: WFA and MediaSense survey. (SL)
87% believe agencies are resistant to adopt models that require greater transparency in how they make money. And while 75% care about how their agencies make money, only 28% believe they have transparency into how they do.
What Gmail did to Email. (TV)
OpenAI nears launch of AI Agent Tool to automate tasks for users. (January)
Snapchat publishes new study ‘Small Screens, Big Returns’. (read)
The research found that the social ads on mobile (small screen) gave off greater arousal (attention) compared to the ads on a streaming service (big screen). This higher attention paid to small screens translates to higher attention paid to video ads on small screens as well.
Ecosia and Qwant partner on search engine infrastructure to fight Big Tech. (NH)
Crisis hotlines see huge increase before and after Trump win. (AF)
Semrush studied 200,000 AI overviews/keywords: Here’s what they learned:
82% of desktop and 76% of mobile AIOs occurred for keywords with less than 1,000 monthly searches.
Only 5% of SERPs with an AIO also featured PPC ads.
Lost In The Future - Edward Zitron’s write-up on legacy media’s role in rise of authoritarianism. (read)
Direct Digital Holdings posts revenue decline of $50.4 million, or an 85% decline. Sell-side advertising segment Q3 revenue fell to $2.2 million compared to $51.6 million in the same period of 2023. (DH)
Also, Trending 🚊
Freevee is shutting down, its content is already available on Prime Video. (DL)
U.S. Secret Service says You agreed to be tracked with location data. (MA)
Just Eat is selling Grubhub to Marc Lore’s Wonder for $650M. (TL)
New Internet rules will block AI Training Bots. (DR)
Amazon has slashed its US ad spend by $700M this year. (AW)
Too much exposure to hot people is warping our dating standards. (Read) (Watch)
Pepsi brings back stunt marketing in a latest video stunt swapping out burger chain soda. (MD)
Coca Cola is surrounded by controversy because of new AI-generated Christmas ad campaign. (TG)
Mattel apologies after ‘Wicked’ doll packaging links to adult website. (TL)
French news titles sue X over allegedly running their content without payment. (TH)
Dentsu downgrades forecast for 2024 and reports 0.3% organic growth for Q3. (SG)
The classic Ajax logo returns permanently, blanding era is near an end. (SD)
The State of Fashion 2025: Challenge at Every Turn. (report)
Ben & Jerry’s accuses Unilever of seeking to muzzle its Gaza Stance. (AT)
Vulnerable Australians ‘force-fed’ gambling and alcohol ads on Facebook, report finds. (TG)
AI saves Ad agencies a lot of time. Should they still charge by the hour? (WJ)
PEPSI and Regal are transforming a NYC Theatre into the Roman COLAsseum for Exclusive fan event. (RE)
Skims and Dolce & Gabbana are collaborating and the aesthetic campaign announcing the launch are amazing. (OP)
HTTP Archive report shares 61% Of Cookies enable Third-Party Tracking. (SJ)
Creatives urge marketers to resist swing toward ‘conservative’ post-election ad messaging. (DY)
New York Times Tech Guild to return to work, negotiations will go on. (RT)
X sees largest user exodus since Elon Musk takeover. (NN)
Netflix’s ad tier hits 70m users as it rolls out in-house adtech in Canada. (TV)
Wall Street frenzy creates $11bn debt market for AI groups buying Nvidia chips. (RT)
TikTok 🎶
Trump expected to try to halt TikTok ban, allies say. (WP)
TikTok’s new trademark filings suggest it’s doubling down on its US business. (DR)
TikTok announces ‘Veteran Voices’ & $10 million to 10 veteran organisations. (TS)
TikTok upgrades Affiliate marketing program with addition of product links to organic video. (HJ)
TikTok announces BFCM Celebrity-led livestreams, featuring celebs like the D’Amelio family and Nicki Minaj. (TF)
Sports Marketing Guide from TikTok. (DF)
TikTok launches preview feature for viewing thumbnails on profile feed. (LG)
TikTok UK & Ireland awards includes ‘Breakthrough Artist’ category.
TikTok announces integrated Log-In for Lemon8. (IN)
TikTok integrates with Influencer shopping app LTK. (IG)
TikTok’s SoundOn is signing artists and battling labels on the charts. (read)
Instagram & Threads 🗂️
IG experiments with post analytics: ‘Home, Explore, Other’ are ‘Feed, Reshares, Recommendations’. (Test)
IG is also experimenting with ‘View rate past 3 seconds’ metric for reels. (RB)
Instagram CEO confirms the platform doesn’t downgrade branded content. (KN)
Threads is removing ‘Instagram graph import’ from user onboarding flow. (TR)
IG working on AI-generated profile picture creation. (AX)
Adam Mosseri says Threads is still figuring out DMs feature. (AR)
Threads updates drafts limit on Mobile, you can now save up to 100 drafts. (TR)
Instagram has added hyperlink feature for Facebook profile mentions. (FG)
IG tests full-screen mode for reels. (JA)
IG seen rolling out dedicated tab for Story Highlights. (LG)
Meta 😅
Facebook switches to ‘views’ as primary metric for reels, posts and other content. (FB)
Meta updates its ToS with clarified wording around misuse. (ST)
Meta will face antitrust trial over Instagram, WhatsApp acquisitions. (RT)
Meta partners with Universities in EU to expand VR education. (ET)
Mark Zuckerberg isn't personally liable for any harm caused to children by Facebook and Instagram, judge says. (EN)
Meta Horizon Worlds has been taken over by Children. (WD)
Meta for Education’s Beta program launches in partnership with US and UK universities . (FT)
Meta Lab Retail pop-up in Los Angeles. (check)
WhatsApp simplifies sending and selecting multiple images at once. (AP)
China’s Baidu joins Meta in race to make AI-integrated smart glasses. (BT)
WhatsApp’s Message Drafts feature is finally rolling out. (AC)
Meta has filed a patent for Optical ring that enables thumb-to-index gestures. (AP)
WhatsApp for iOS testing QR Code sharing for Channels. (OG)
X (Twitter) 🕹️
X sues to block California’s Deepfake deception act. (EG)
The Guardian has stopped publishing their work on X. (why?)
X’s Grok can now show you post and web results immediately. (DB)
Zoom into video feature is here. (KN)
CNBC reports xAI is raising up to $6B at a $50 billion valuation. (read)
New X users won’t have access to Grok AI’s free tier. (LR)
A Community Note shared on a video tweet can now show up on multiple posts that include the same video. (NM)
Grok will soon get ability to perform a web search. (AK)
Youtube 🕹️
Youtube launches reminders for Shorts and shares new update on longer shorts. (TF)
Youtube testing restyled soundtracks for Shorts. (YT)
Some YouTube Premium users are seeing ads, but YouTube says they shouldn’t be. (BN)
French Media Metrics Firm declares: YouTube is not a TV channel. (Drama)
Spotify takes aim at YouTube with a new revenue-sharing program for creators. (GR)
Google 🔦
Google Gemini app is now available on iPhone. (ER)
Google announces expansion of anchor ads named collapsible anchors. (AR)
Google Map adds product nearby for product searches. (SL)
Google tightens Customer Match rules, warns advertisers about privacy. (KM)
Google Chrome to spotlight Merchant Center Promotions. (SL)
Google search test expandable articles, video and popular products. (ST)
Google is testing the ‘impact’ of removing EU news from search results. (TV)
Google cautions about using Google Trends for Content Ideas. (AT)
New Google Travel ads feed format maybe rolling out. (ST)
Merchant Center adds Sales Events promotion type. (SL)
You can now use Gemini in Google Docs to create AI-generated images. (AP)
Agency News
Droga5 NY lays off 4% of the staff. (AT)
Great British Racing appoints The7stars as new media planning and buying agency. (MO)
Mars launches global agency review. (CL)
BUBBA Burger taps Familiar Creatures as Lead Creative Agency. (FG)
EasyJet appoints Oliver to establish In-house agency. (BW)
5WPR appointed as AOR for Tom Holland’s Non-Alcholic Beer brand, BERO. (NR)
WPP takes total ownership of T&Pm. (AN)
PHD wins $35 million Bosch China media account. (CA)
Chemistry PR & Multimedia purchases, renames and relaunches USPR Network. (ML)
Transurban’s Linkt appoints VML as creative agency of record. (ML)
Principal Financial Group appoints iProspect Brand media AOR. (AD)
Löfbergs appoints ARK Agency as its UK Creative Partner. (MP)
Dentsu Canada and Optable partner to create Merkury. (MD)
OMG, Publicis, Dentsu cited as 'Leaders' In Forrester Media Report. (AJ)
MSQ acquires 350-Strong German CX Agency UDG. (MP)
Special Australia appointed as the new creative agency for The Lottery Corp. (MA)
Turo appoints The General Store to lead creative and unveils first campaign. (MM)
DSW appoints Crispin as Creative AOR. (WJ)
MediaSense buys R3 to head into US and creative reviews. (AH)
Publicis Media acquires Picture Motion, Impact Film-Marketing Agency. (SN)
Keep Left wins Vinnies Victoria social media account. (NH)
Brands & Ads (Christmas)
John Lewis’ Christmas ad campaign is receiving mixed responses, some find it confusing and some love it. (MC)
System1 tested and retested John Lewis Christmas ads, with 2016’s Buster the Boxer winning out.
PlayStation’s new ad campaign ‘Play Has No Limits’ is creative but YT comments are full of trolls: Pay has no limits. (BW)
Tonal’s new brand platform ‘Power Progress’ with campaign focused challenging outdated workout routines and ushers in the future of fitness. (BW)
Sprite’s early Christmas campaign starring Anthony Edwards remixes ‘The Night Before Christmas’. (ANT)
McDonald’s shuns dialogue and food in ‘The Gift of McDonald’s’ Christmas ad. (BW)
Kroger celebrates joy of connecting with food in animated Holiday Campaign ‘The Case of the Disappearing Food’. (PN)
Starbucks ‘Drink In, Drink Out’ stop-motion ad campaign offers a moment of calm when it’s needed most. (MN)
Target debuts ‘weirdly hot’ Santa for a second holiday marketing campaign. (MD)
Central Cee and Maya Jama redefine ‘family’ in JD Sports’ Christmas film. (TD)
Le Chameau goes for a romantic festive walk in Christmas ad campaign. (TD)
JACQUEMUS’s Holiday campaign starring Alex Consani is the talk of the fashion town. It’s IT. (view)
Jameson’s latest ad campaign starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the greatest story almost told. (BT)
Christmas ad titles are __ and __: Peta’s ‘The Girl and the cow’ ad film and Disney’s ‘The Boy and the octopus’ short film.
DoorDash puts fresh spin on family meals for Hispanic Gen Zers. (RB)
Lady Gaga releases GRWM Makeup tutorial showcasing 5 Haus Labs bestsellers. (FC)
O2’s new campaign features an AI-generated Granny fighting and annoying scammers. (KJ)
Chipotle launches ‘All I Want Is Chipotle’ Holiday merch collection. (PT)
Cupcake Vineyards are quite unserious in latest ad campaign. (ST)
Starface, the iconic Gen-Z acne brand has launched Star Market, brand merch store. (IG)
LeBron James stars in Hennessy’s social campaign, he’s pretending to read again or is he? (CA)
O2 shines light on data poverty in Christmas ad campaign. (MG)
Foot Locker celebrates sneaker culture in star-studded holiday campaign.
AI 🤨
Slack’s Fall 2024 Workforce Index shows AI Hype is cooling down. (TC)
Over the past three months, AI adoption rates have stalled in some countries; France saw just two percentage point growth, from 31% to 33% of desk workers trying AI, and the U.S. saw just a single percentage point growth, from 32% to 33% of desk workers.
Google’s AI search experiment: Learn About. (23)
Apple launches Final Cut Pro 11, the one with AI features and future. (AK)
Google releases new update to Machine Learning Crash Course, adding new GenAI topics. (QA)
Particle launches new AI news app to organise and summarise the news + help the publishers. (MY)
OpenAI at one point considered acquiring AI chip startup Cerebras. (TC)
Writer raises $200M Series C at $1.9B valuation. (PR)
Eleven Labs adds Jerry Garcia’s AI voice for book and article reading. (KE)
Bluesky won’t train AI on your posts. (TV)
The email exchanges between Musk and Altman during OpenAI’s early years. (AT)
Microsoft & LinkedIn
LinkedIn testing video button in the post composer. (TR)
Bing Autosuggest adds rich cards, images & more search features. (SJ)
Bayer gets into the AI business with Microsoft. (MT)
LinkedIn publishes 1-page guide to best practices for video. (LN)
Elon Musk targets Microsoft in expanded OpenAI lawsuit. (read)
Microsoft tries to convert Google Chrome users. (AN)
Marketing &….
Klarna files for a US IPO as BNPL preps for a surge in holiday spending. (SN)
Dow Jones wins AI Licensing deals with more than 4,000 news outlets like the AP. (TV)
Zeta Global has responded to Short-seller report. (Invesigation)
Amazon is devloping smart glasses for delivery drivers. (AX)
FanDuel, Verizon deepen NFL integrations with Netflix ad partnerships. (MD)
Nordstrom launches refreshed app to make holiday shopping more seamless. (NS)
Apple’s AI notifications summaries are unintentionally hilarious. (AT)
U.S. new business billings up +9.2% in Q3 2024. (TR)
Dry January unveils first-ever headline partner: BetterHelp. (MB)
Western Union launches new Media Network Business. (RT)
Stack Adapt announced new partnerships with Disney Ads and Shopify.
DemandScience and Terminus merge, keeping data at the center of B2B marketing. (MK)
Tencent Music ended Q3 2024 with 119m people paying for music. (ML)
Sinch introduces RCS features in Customer Dashboard. (TM)
Patreon introduces subscription gifting and discounts. (MT)
Sweetgreen got called out for stealing campaign and merch idea. (AM)
Havas hosts ‘GLP101 Day’ connecting today and tomorrow’s GLP-1 users. (MT)
MarTech Finds & AI
BlockThrough - The Adblock Revenue Recovery platform.
Tenovos - The AI-powered Enterprise Digital Asset Management platform.
Inflection - The modern B2B marketing automation platform.
CheckSERP - The SEO Rank Tracking & Reporting Platform.
Replicant - The Conversational AI platform for Sales & CX teams.
Content Opportunities / Ideas of the week
18 November: Occult Day / National Princess Day / Housing Day / International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Men / National Vichyssoise Day / Mickey Mouse Day / Apple Cider Day.
19 November: Entrepreneurs’ Day / National Kentucky Day / Discovery of Puerto Rico Day / National Play Monopoly Day / World Toilet Day / National Camp Day / International Men’s Day / Women’s Entrepreneurship Day.
20 November: World COPD Day / GIS Day / Black Consciousness Day / Africa Industrialisation Day / National Absurdity Day / World Silambam Day / Transgender Day of Remembrance / Future Teachers of America Day.
21 November: Guinness World Records Day / Beaujolais Nouveau Day / World Pancreatic Cancer Day / World Philosophy Day / Social Enterprise Day / World Television Day / World Hello Day / National Stuffing Day.
22 November: National Flossing Day / National Cranberry Relish Day / Humane Society Anniversary Day / Gladiator 2 releases / Go for a Ride Day.
23 November: National Espresso Day / Doctor Who Day / Fibonacci Day / Family Volunteer Day / National Adoption Day / National Cashew Day.
24 November: Stir-Up Sunday / Aura Awareness Day / Inter Day / International Shift Worker Sunday / National Sardines Day / International Au Pair Day / 111th Grey Cup / National Fairy Bread Day.
The Pulped; Market Data & Studies of the week
Bumble released their 2025 Dating Trends report. (read)
1 in 3 (33%) respondents agree that this year, there have been more conversations on male stereotypes than ever before. But are these narratives actually helpful? 1 in 4 (27%) men surveyed say they feel uncomfortable about these tropes because they can lead to people making assumptions about their character. As we head into 2025, over half of women (53%) surveyed agree that the conversations around masculinity need to evolve to allow men to define what positive masculinity looks like.
By channel, people in the UK are most tolerant of ads on linear (59%), followed by free ad-supported TV (FAST, at 57%). The lowest ad tolerance was found in the 35-44 age group at just 33%. Meanwhile tolerance is higher for Gen Z (49%). (read)
Niched Streamers are doing ok despite the streaming wars. Overall, active subscriptions for niche streamers grew 27 percent last year and 20 percent so far this year, outpacing the biggest streaming services. (NYT)
68% of internet households now own a smart TV and 46% own a streaming media player, an increase from 2020 when 54% and 42% owned these devices, respectively. (US)
Over a third (37%) of 45-54 year olds and 40% of 55-64 year olds stated they make purchases from ads they see online at least every few months – greater than the average of 31%*. (LM)
National TV Spending rises 1% to $3.1B in september, NFL soars. (AD)
As of October 2024, the segment of liberal-identifying Gen Z adults dropped from 41% to 27%, and the segment of self-described conservatives grew from 16% to 23%. (MC)
51% of respondents believed that brands should respond within an hour, with 40% indicating that they’ve made repeat purchases when retailers have responded swiftly. (Consumer Preference)
60% of marketers at companies with over 1,000 employees report expert-level knowledge of AI tools, compared to 40% at smaller organizations. In 2023, 8% of marketers felt AI literacy would not impact their future employability, but in 2024, that number dropped to zero. (report)
Brands more worried about LGBTQ ad backlash than shunning community. The majority of respondents were more apprehensive about representing the LGBTQ community in the wrong way. There was a 55% increase in people saying they didn’t know how to execute an appropriate ad. (Study)
Gen Z are ditching CVs and creating job applications on TikTok instead. (read)
According to a recent study, Sit-stand desks reduce sitting but don’t lower blood pressure, and prolonged standing without movement may harm cardiovascular health. (read)
The study, conducted by Samsung UK and OnePoll, surveyed 1,000 UK adults with invisible and visible disabilities and reveals that over two-thirds (68%) have felt excluded from products or services due to accessibility issues. (more)
NCA’s report stated that two-thirds of consumers have made one or more changes to their purchases to mitigate chocolate price increases: one-third buy what is on sale, 28% buy chocolate less often, and 22% buy a little less. Others (17%) do the opposite and buy larger pack sizes to save over time.
Consumers who noticed shrinkflation, 78% say they have observed it in snack foods and 53% in packaged desserts and sweets. Just under half, 48%, also said they have observed shrinkflation in frozen foods. (PR)
About 80% of teens who use social media say they see content about conspiracy theories in their online feeds, with 20% seeing conspiracy content every day. (FC)
Despite 83% of people saying they have a third place, 74% find something missing in their third place, and 65% can’t find the right fit. So, there’s clearly a gap that needs to be filled, and we think there’s a business and societal opportunity here for brands. (CRC)
27% of shoppers will switch retailers, abandon purchase if they come across locked-up products. (BP)
These are the top apps Gen Z young adults downloaded this year: Temu, TikTok, ChatGPT, Capcut… (TC)
37% of Gen Z and 39% of millennials going on shopping sprees to cope with recent stress, according to the poll by Intuit Credit Karma. (TG)
62.4% of high-income consumers use Instagram to discover products and 27.1% use it to research and evaluate them, according to the report. (read)
Top 10 biggest Brand movers between September and October 2024 were Nivea, Quaker, X, Telegram and Instagram. (read)
India's retail inflation is projected to surge to 6.15% in October, exceeding the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) tolerance threshold of 6%, according to a new report by Union Bank of India. (read)
61% consumers plan to eat their main Thanksgiving meal at home, a slight dip from previous years, providing more opportunities for retailers to push host-friendly gift options. (read)
The optimum retirement savings target amount between Boomers, Millennials, Gen-X and Gen-Z has a roughly 40% differential, but those with over a $1 million networth is more than triple that amount. (US)
Gen X was the age cohort most likely to participate in Small Business Saturday at 55%, followed by Boomers at 54%. Millennials and Gen Z weren’t too far behind at 53%. Besides clothing, the next most popular items were arts and crafts, interior design products for the home and books. (Forbes)
In its latest Gauge Index, Hankook reports that 20% of consumers plan to buy or lease an EV within the next year, a significant increase from only 8% who said the same in 2022. Plus, In 2024, the way Americans perceive their driving personalities has shifted compared to a decade earlier: this year, 57% of drivers see themselves as "thoughtful, responsible, and obedient," down from 65% in 2014. (MK)
Gen Zers and millennials reported significantly more confidence in workplace communication than their Gen X counterparts, at 76% and 77% versus 62%, respectively. (SIA)
7 in 10 consumers that use non-caloric, naturally derived sweeteners report that they would be interested in new options. (SB)
56% professionals feel appreciated or very appreciated at work; of the employees who feel highly appreciated, 94% report loving their workplace and 91% report loving their job. (EN)
