1. Are you getting an email every five minutes this holiday season? Well, you're not alone.According to a recent article in The Washington Post, retailers are sending immense volumes of spam this holiday season.
What's the difference between spam and regular old email? Well, it turns out that judging by
this article, the designation should include brands that send emails based on web site visits and contact with other supposedly anonymous touchpoints.Case in point: A Post reporter visited the True Classics site to seek a media contact for this article and received promotional emails less than five minutes later. Of course, the CAN-SPAM Act requires that email recipients be given a chance to opt out of commercial emails, the article notes. But the standard among reputable
companies is to obtain permission from people prior to sending emails to them or sharing their name. That apparently wasn't done in the case of a Michigan businessman Adam Helfman, who visited a toothbrush company via a Facebook ad, and promptly started getting triggered emails from the firm. (MP)
2. Gannett, a media company that owns USA Today and other outlets, is facing a legal problem that could affect any publisher or company that uses
data.A federal judge has ruled that a suit alleging violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act by Gannett can proceed. The case was filed in June of this year by a consumer named Serge Belozerov. The complaint charged that Gannett had breached the VPPA and shared personally identifiable information on Belozerov with Facebook.
U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton wrote that "at this early juncture plaintiff plausibly pleads a violation of the VPPA's prohibition on
disclosure of PII," and dismissed Gannett's motion to drop the case.
The complaint states that Gannett collects and shares the personal information of visitors to its website and mobile phone application ("app") with third parties through the use of 'cookies,' software development kits and pixels."
3. The metaverse is a big idea, and it's not going away anytime soon. This week, Meta reaffirmed its commitment to the metaverse. The
company will continue allocating 20% of its costs to Reality Labs, the division dedicated to its metaverse ambitions .Marketers don’t seem as bullish, though. According to a recentr survey, which more than 450 of you answered, 50% selected the metaverse as the year’s most overhyped trend out of 12 options. Among the reasons shared:“Companies still struggle with getting their employees to master Teams, Zoom, and Slack. The metaverse is going to be a long way off.”“It’s too costly, no one
really knows what to do with it yet, and consumers haven’t adopted it.” “Not all brands can live in the metaverse. Just because it’s new and shiny doesn’t mean it’s a perfect fit for all...or even most."
4. It’s no secret that brands have been pulling out all the stops to get people talking about their products this year. From Velveeta martinis to pants made of Chipotle napkins, these companies went to great lengths to reach customers in
creative ways and make headlines—and it worked. As brands keep finding new ways to advertise their products, are marketers worried about unconventional campaigns feeling stale or becoming oversaturated? According to those involved in some of this year’s most out-there campaigns, the road signs aren’t pointing to a slowdown in 2023.
Act-vertisingWhile Velveeta has a base media plan for traditional advertising, Kelsey Rice, senior brand manager, brand communications at Kraft Heinz
for brands like Velveeta, told us it dedicates a small portion of its budget to creating moments that “will drive relevancy for [its] brand and culture.”
The focus this year, she said, was physically bringing its “La Dolce Velveeta” slogan to life. This manifested in campaigns like the “Veltini,” cheese-scented nail polish and Foodie Call: A meal delivery hotline. (MD)
5.The NFL has signed a deal with Google that will see it distribute the
NFL Sunday Ticket, a popular service that allows football fans to watch every game from their favorite teams, on YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels. The deal is reported to be worth $2 billion annually for seven seasons, but could increase if certain benchmarks are reached.The league also reportedly plans to license the commercial rights in restaurants and bars for another $200 million.
The deal could be worth more — as much as $3 billion annually — including the
revenue-sharing agreement it has with YouTube for meeting certain subscriber levels and if the NFL sells its non-residential rights.
6. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has signed papers to waive an extradition hearing in the Bahamas, clearing a path for him to be flown to the U.S. for prosecution, according to multiple reports.Bankman-Fried will return to court on Wednesday, which could lead to him being flown to the U.S., where
federal prosecutors have charged him with eight counts of fraud and money laundering charges. The crypto exchange collapsed and filed for bankruptcy last month after losing billions in customer assets through unauthorized trading patterns.
8. In a move that will probably surprise no one, the European Union has opened an investigation into Broadcom's proposed $61 billion acquisition of VMware. The EU is concerned about the potential
for Broadcom to use its control over VMware to impede competing hardware companies from developing products that work well with VMware's software.
This decision will delay until May the EU's final decision on approving the acquisition, which means that Broadcom could have a tougher time getting VMware into the fold than some of its previous software deals (like CA Technologies). This also shows why VMware, by virtue of its prevalence in corporate data centers, is such a unique asset in the
world of enterprise software. VMware rose to prominence largely because of its integration partnerships with hundreds of other software and hardware companies, which means any changes Broadcom might make could have far-reaching consequences.
9. As the holiday season gets underway, U.S. consumers are spending more than ever.According to a survey conducted by ICSC on Super Saturday, which was this past weekend, over 189 million people—or over 73
percent of U.S. consumers—shopped that day. This is a record number for this prominent shopping holiday and shows that consumers are still in the mood to buy gifts despite economic uncertainty. A majority (54 percent) of shoppers noted they spent more than they planned; 56 percent spent using debit cards, 47 percent used credit cards, and 46 percent used cash. More highlights from the survey include: 70 percent of consumers shopped in a physical store on Super Saturday,
while 29 percent shopped at Amazon or other pure-play online retailers; Fifty percent of shoppers took advantage of buying online and picking up in-store. Shoppers identified the lowest prices (51 percent), in-stock products (46 percent), and ease of checkout (36 percent) as the primary factors in choosing where to shop;.
10. What's your favorite way to use TikTok? Do you like to listen to new music, watch how-to videos or just relax and
scroll? The answer may surprise you. Based on a survey of 1,368 users, most people (44%) will go and listen to a new song they’ve discovered on TikTok, or prepare a food or beverage recipe (35%). And when it comes to business and marketing-related activities: 28% followed a new brand after seeing it on TikTok; 27% purchased a product; 17% started wearing specific apparel; 12% traveled to another city or country. With creators recommending things all over TikTok, just imagine how brands,
merchants and even local businesses could benefit... Why do people use TikTok? 43% claim they’re looking for—you’ve guessed it—mindless entertainment. But 23% use it for product discovery and 20% want to keep up with brands. Why we care: While getting users to listen to a new song might not seem like a big deal, there is massive behavioral power in TikTok’s feed. So if you’re using the platform and not running influencer campaigns, you might be missing out on some big
11. The creator of Fortnite has agreed to pay $520M over allegations that it violated children's privacy laws and used misleading gaming features that tricked customers into shelling out millions of dollars.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Monday that Epic Games collected the personal information of children under 13 without notifying their parents or obtaining parental consent, as well as enabling real-time voice and text communications for children
and teens by default. The settlement over privacy violations amounts to $275 million and requires that Epic adopt robust default privacy settings for children and teens, guaranteeing that voice and text communications are turned off by default.
