Elon Musk's recent move to make stock awards to employees at a "roughly $20 billion valuation" suggests faith is needed to own Twitter stock, given the company's current struggles. Twitter's equity value has most likely been wiped out completely, after loading it up with $13 billion in debt and losing half its
advertisers, making it much harder for Musk to rebuild the company's revenue and profits to lift its valuation to a level that justifies the price he paid for it, given the slowing growth of the digital ad market.
Amazon is warning customers about items that have been "frequently returned" before they make a purchase in an attempt to reduce the
number of returns. Returns have become a costly issue for the e-commerce industry as a whole, especially during the pandemic, and Amazon's move is an attempt to address this problem. The warning advises customers to check product details and customer reviews before making a purchase.
Comscore is expanding its 48-hour reporting "Pulse"
measurement service for all local TV stations and national TV networks in all 210 markets, allowing for faster availability of viewing data for local TV stations than previously possible. Pulse provides data that can offer 93% predictability, and it is the only solution to report viewing in 48 hours for every local TV market nationally. Comscore, along with VideoAmp, has been chosen by Warner Bros. Discovery as a preferred currency provider for this year's TV upfront.
According to Antenna, there has been a rise in both cancellations and additions in the streaming business, with cancellations growing 49% from the previous year and additions climbing 18% in 2022. Netflix is now at 25% overall share, down 43% versus three years ago, while Hulu dipped to 16% from 24% and Disney+ remained at 13%. The lower-cost
monthly fees of cheaper ad-supported options have contributed to the growth of streamers over the last three years, with 32% of premium streamers' gross subscriber additions taking on ad-supported options in 2022. This is up from 26% in 2021.
Beyond Ordinary Events, Inc. and POSSIBLE have announced that Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, will speak at
the prestigious marquee marketing event, along with Linda Yaccarino, Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships at NBCUniversal. The keynote is titled "Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships" and will explore the future of Twitter and its role in cultural conversations. The session will take place on April 18 at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. POSSIBLE is a new event that brings together business leaders and visionaries from technology, media, entertainment, and culture.
Over 100 business leaders will be in attendance, including LL COOL J, Jon Bon Jovi, Alex Rodriguez, Steve Stoute, Linda Lee, and Karin Timpone. Elon Musk leads SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and Twitter, and his presence at the event may be aimed at convincing advertisers that Twitter is not a hate site.
The Advertising Research
Foundation (ARF) has called on the ad industry to replace the current definition of a "TV household" with a broader "TV-accessible household" definition. The new term encompasses traditional linear TV viewing as well as non-linear methods such as over-the-top and ad-supported video-on-demand services. The ARF's recommendation would increase the denominator that TV ratings are derived from by about 4%, and the average rating would fall accordingly. The study shows 5% of US households no
longer have a conventional TV set, while 41% of households with a TV watch professionally produced programming on a device daily.
Twitter's new verification checkmark policy, which excludes "legacy" checkmarks for non-paying users, coincides with Twitter CEO Elon Musk's plans for his Twitter Blue subscription offering. Musk believes
that paid verification could address Twitter's bot problem and generate revenue, but this approach may not be effective in practice. Selling verification checkmarks devalues their perceived value, and few users may be willing to pay for them. Despite Musk's belief that he is in touch with the public's perspective, it remains unclear whether users will be willing to pay $8 for a blue tick.
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a rule change aimed at ensuring subscription cancellations are as easy as sign-ups. Although this will include streaming services, analyst Alan Wolk believes that it will not affect the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu as they already make cancelling easy. The proposed amendment to the 1973 Negative Option Rule aims to save consumers time and money and will impact other companies selling other
types of subscription, rather than streaming. A rise in subscription cycling is seen as a growing challenge for streaming services, but many users do not cancel as they think there may be something they want to watch later.
CTV advertising has grown in recent years, with viewer time spent on ad-supported CTV increasing 55% from 2020 to the end
of 2022, according to TVision's latest report. As investment in CTV advertising grows, media buyers and sellers need more information and greater transparency on co-viewing rates to better understand the value of a CTV impression. Industry co-viewing rates vary by app, content, household composition, and time of day, so advertisers need to be clear on where their ads are running and how engaged the audience is. Better CTV audience measurement can uncover hidden efficiencies for
advertisers, as they can purchase fewer impressions to achieve their goals if they factor accurate co-viewing rates into their advertising campaigns.
Robert Frati, Chief Sales and Success Officer of Salesforce's Slack unit, is leaving at the end of April after spending over 17 years at both companies. Frati joined Slack in 2016 as its
first-ever Vice President of Sales and helped bring a more formal sales culture to the company. His role also includes working with customers after they purchase Slack's software to ensure they're happy with it. His departure comes as both Slack and Salesforce are seeing slowing revenue growth amid a broad pullback in technology spending.
Utah
has become the first US state to regulate the use of social media apps by minors. The state has introduced bills that restrict minors’ access to popular social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, limiting their social media use between 10:30 pm and 6:30 am and the information social apps can collect from young users. Minors would also need age verification and parental permission to open social media accounts. Utah’s move comes as Washington increases scrutiny of social media
platforms and lawmakers call for better protection for minors.
Walmart is laying off hundreds of employees at five of its e-commerce facilities across the United States, as the retailer prepares for a potentially difficult year. Walmart, the largest private employer in the US, is trimming its workforce as many retailers are anticipating
flat or declining sales. Walmart is forecasting slower sales growth for its upcoming fiscal year, including in its e-commerce business. The retailer is controlling labour costs to maintain profits in the face of uncertainty around inflation and the shift back to services after a COVID-19 pandemic-related spending boom.
The marketing industry is
undergoing rapid evolution driven by emerging technologies, cultural shifts, and the deluge of data. This convergence is expected to lead to marketing's Fifth Paradigm. The article highlights the impact of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), smart speakers, wearables, and autonomous cars on the marketing industry. For instance, IoT devices are expected to provide opportunities for marketers to deliver hyper-personalized experiences to consumers. However, the
increased data will require marketers to reorganize their data infrastructure and capabilities to handle the volume and complexity. Similarly, smart speakers and wearables are expected to provide new levels of insight into the consumer journey and opportunities for marketers to interact with consumers more effectively. Finally, autonomous cars will provide opportunities for creative marketers to capture consumer attention while they are in the car. As the data deluge continues to impact the
marketing industry, companies must adapt their strategies to leverage new technologies and opportunities.