Marketing Dojo #26: A Fan-tastic Evolution.🐛🦋
YouTube's Trends and Culture Report, Google Accused of its Standard Violation, Game Your Way Into Gen Alpha's Hearts.
Hello,
I hope this Wednesday is treating you well!
July 2nd was the midpoint of the year 2023.
We are officially entering the second half. So if you have any new year resolutions that you are yet to start up on - No pressure, but time is running out.
In today’s issue, we will cover:
🦚Youtube’s Fan-tastic Evolution
👧Roblox’s Portal to Gen Alphas
💗Barbie is Painting the Town Pink
😲Google’s Alleged Ad Violations
And a lot more.
If you haven’t already, consider subscribing to this weekly newsletter.
If you are a subscriber, thank you - your support means a lot to me.🙏
With that, let’s dive right in.
The New Era of Fanhood: From Hobbyists to Professional Admirers.
A few weeks ago, I attended a panel discussion where a speaker mentioned the rise of "professional fans", i.e. fan accounts of content creators, brands or influencers that make a living out of curating a fan community.
Youtube released its Culture and Trends Report 2023 ahead of Vidcon, an annual convention for fans, creators, executives, and online brands.
The report from Youtube adds further insight into the evolution of fandom.
47% of Gen Z have watched videos made by fans of specific content, artists, or public figures over the past 12 months.
The evolution of fandom is a trend to watch out for. Youtube characterizes fans into three categories based on the level of engagement - Casual fans, active fans & professional fans.
A few more trends from the report
Everyone's a creator: Generative AI and other tools are allowing more users to become creators. 82% Of people (online 18-44-year-olds) say they've posted video content online (e.g., to Instagram Stories, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat) over the past 12 months.
Video consumption is diversifying and growing across multiple formats - long, short, live & podcasts.
Rise of VTubers: Virtual YouTubers (VTubers) are becoming increasingly popular, with creators using virtual avatars to interact with their audience.
Roblox is Opening Portals to Gen Alpha
I had a bit of an aha moment while listening to Decoder's interview with David Baszucki, the co-founder of Roblox. David Baszucki mentioned portal ads, which made me marvel at the potential of these immersive ad formats.
Roblox is an online game platform and game creation system that allows users to program and play games created by other users. As of May 2023, Roblox has over 66.1 million daily active users and over 214 million monthly active users.
So what are these portal ads?
Portal ads appear in games as a non-clickable image with a door that teleports users into an advertiser's experience.
Eligible game creators can insert ad units in their experiences.
Portal ads pay Robux (Roblox's money) for each successful teleport, which Roblox defines as when a user enters the portal and arrives at the advertiser's experience
A quote from its co-founder during the Decoder interview explains more about the vision around this ad format. It literally re-creates the experience of window shopping in a digital space.
We're very bullish on a new ad unit that I would call a portal ad unit where if I'm a developer and I put a blank portal somewhere in my place, it's dynamically served. The advertisers can choose which developers they want to be with, and I participate as a developer in those earnings. I think the potential here is amazing, massive, because, in 3D, just like when we're in a shopping center, we go into a store like, "We're fans. Let's hang out. Let's check it out." I think those are pretty deep memories. It's also interesting that it doesn't get in front of the user. It's very optional. We're out starting to talk to [an] advertising agency and the early signals we've had are that there's a lot of demand for this. -David Baszucki, Co-founder Roblox
Roblox users spend mindblowing amounts of time on its platform. Here's an image courtesy of Scott Galloway's in-depth article on Roblox.
The daily time spent on the platform, young demographics & immersive experience make the portal ad format one to watch out for.
Immersive ads that are native to the platform can drive represent an opportunity for brands to take advantage of the deeper engagement of Roblox experiences without huge investments.
We Are Living In A Barbie World.
Over the weekend, a friend and I decided to go check out the latest collection of Aldo shoes while we were at the mall. That's where we were greeted by these shocking pink shoes - a limited edition Barbie collection.
Almost on cue, my friend asked, "Are you planning to take your little one for Barbie?" My answer was NO( We barely watch movies).
Still, I gotta give props to the Barbie team for their sick marketing skills. They're everywhere - on memes, in stores, on billboards, and even popping up on my Twitter feed.
Here are a few examples of the incredibly smart marketing stunts
A billboard that has no words but screams Barbie.
An Air BnB for Kens
A very pink XBoX
Courtesy: XBox
I don't want to turn this newsletter pink, hence leaving here the biggest thread on Barbie's marketing.
https://twitter.com/MosheIsaacian/status/1673415496929267712?s=20
Just when one thought Barbie was irrelevant, the movie's marketing team worked extra hard to ensure you feel like we are living in the Barbie world!
A strong box-office opening guaranteed!
Drive More Clicks on YouTube with the New Thumbnail Testing Tool.
Youtube thumbnails are no longer an afterthought. The thumbnails act like billboards that attract viewers to your video content.
Top Youtuber, Mr Beast, has upped the game around thumbnail creation. He has a team of 6 people who work on creating thumbnails even before filming content. They come up with up to 20 variations for each piece of content!
Now, most of us cannot afford an army of people working on thumbnails, but don't worry! Youtube has come up with a new Test and Learn tool for A/B testing Youtube thumbnails.
The Test & Learn tool is in closed beta and is expected to be widely available by early next year.
Ad-Gate in the Making? Google’s Accused of Violating its Ad Standards.
Google runs video ads on Youtube and a network of vetted sites called Google Video Partners. Google charges a premium, promising that the ads it places will run on high-quality sites, in prominent positions, and brands pay for ads that aren't skipped.
However, Adanalytics found that Google didn't follow these standards 80% of the time.
Advertisements from well-known brands like Johnson & Johnson, American Express, and Samsung were placed in non-prominent positions with muted audio.
Adanalytics gathered their data by analyzing campaigns from over 1,100 brands that received billions of ad impressions between 2020 and 2023.
Some brands have begun requesting refunds while Google is reviewing the report's findings. It's not uncommon for advertising on large platforms like Google to seem like a black box. Hence, trust is crucial to keep the digital ad ecosystem functioning.
Google's alleged violation of its advertising standards has raised questions about the transparency of the tech giant's online-ad business.
Instagram Threads is (Almost) Here!
Meta’s Twitter competitor, Threads, will begin rolling out starting July 6th. I am quite excited to hop on to the platform.
7 reasons why I feel that InstagramThreads might be a successful launch:
1. 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: One can easily access Threads using your existing Instagram handle.
2. 𝗡𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: Threads will be available seamlessly to Instagram's 2Bn users. It might not be a quiet town of strangers, as some new Twitter alternatives feel.
3. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮'𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘀: Meta's advertising tools & targeting is best in class. As a brand owner, I am used to working with Meta and am comfortable with Meta's algorithmic spending across platforms & products.
4. 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are usually part of most brands' social media strategy. Typically large brands are slow to set up a presence on newer platforms, given the high failure rates of social media platforms. Extending brand presence to Instagram's text-based app might be an easier sell. A Meta-backed solution promises higher longevity.
5. Meta has a solid record of copying a product or a feature and making it their own.
6. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴: The timing of the launch couldn't be better. Twitter feels chaotic. Jack Dorsey-led Twitter alternative Bluesky is experiencing growing pains. The timing seems perfect for a new player.
7. 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: I am no expert, but Threads is based decentralized social media protocol used by Mastodon called ActivityPub. Decentralized social media creates the potential for lesser platform-led moderation.
From the looks of it, Twitter is set to face a formidable competitor. Will you try the soon-to-be-launched Instagram Threads?
Short Stuff
TikTok is sunsetting its BeReal clone (The buzz around BeReal is over).
Sprinkle some Pepsi over a Hotdog. Pepsi is releasing its first-ever condiment to celebrate July 4th (It felt like an April Fool’s Day prank to me).
Less cringe, more knowledge. LinkedIn is changing its algorithm to promote knowledgeable content by experts that you follow. (End of cringe-LinkedIn?)
That’s a wrap for this week. I hope you have a solid, productive day!
If you learned something new today, leave a like or a comment. It helps make this newsletter more discoverable by others who share similar interests.
Regards,
Garima
P.S: If you get easily distracted (I am perpetually distracted) - I have a solution for you. Binaural beats help me focus on the task at hand, cutting out all kinds of sounds - external and internal. It gets me to the flow state real quick.
I picked up a bit about binaural from a LinkedIn post and have been productively hooked to it since. If you are looking for a short burst of concentrated effort - why not try?