Marketing Dojo #90: The 32-Hour Day
The multi-tasking trend, No one recalls B2B ads, TikTok's Super App ambitions and more.
Is it December, or is it just me?
Like a bear, I feel this primal urge to hibernate. Everything I can postpone to January is getting postponed.
2024 has been a whirlwind at work—chaotic, to say the least. Maybe it’s exhaustion, or perhaps it’s just the December slowdown kicking in.
Do you feel it, too? That subtle stretch of time as the year winds down?
But hey, procrastination aside, I did manage to wrap up this newsletter and hit send—just in the nick of time.
Here’s what’s on the menu this week:
🕒 The 32-hour day
🎨 B2B’s creativity crisis
📱 TikTok’s super app ambition
and more.
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Welcome To The Age Of The 32-Hour Day
Earlier this year, I started noticing something strange on TikTok.
Two unrelated videos playing side by side in the same clip. A little digging led me to an explanation for the format: sludge content.
Here's a quick explainer if you are looking for one.
Multi-tasking as a trend keeps getting bigger.
After diving into the Activate Consultancy's Media and Technology Outlook 2025 report, I was stunned by the numbers:
72% of people are doing something else while listening to music
Over half of video viewers are simultaneously engaged in another activity
Americans are effectively creating a 32-hour day, with 13 hours devoted to consumer tech and media.
For brands, this multi-tasking revolution is both a challenge and an opportunity. On one hand, it's harder to capture undivided attention. On the other, it opens up creative ways to meet customers where they are.
Case in point: Nissan's 4-hour ad. The unconventional ad for Nissan Ariya was a 4-hour chill lo-fi music - a perfect accompaniment for whatever else you might be doing during the day.
The response? YouTube comments are full of positive comments. The target audience didn't just tolerate the ad; they embraced it.
There's a massive opportunity here. This is the future of marketing: not fighting our rewired brains, but dancing with them. We need to start designing for the new 32-hour day.
Can TikTok Crack the Super App Code?
The Alipay app was a lifesaver during my recent trip to China.
Not only did I pay for most things using the app, but the mini-apps on its platforms also meant I could order taxis, bubble teas, and more from within the Alipay interface.
One app, countless services.
China's ecosystem of super apps is fascinating. Apps like WeChat, Meituan, and Douyin (TikTok's Chinese sibling) dominate daily life. But here's the thing: this super app phenomenon hasn't really worked on the same scale outside Mainland China.
Regional half-successes include Line in Japan, Grab in Singapore and Careem in Dubai. But none of them has truly achieved that one-app-for-everything dominance.
Now, enter TikTok.
Last week, Radu Onescu shared an interesting nugget: TikTok is testing mini-apps for on-stream usage. It's early days, but this could be big considering TikTok's parent company ByteDance's success with Douyin.
Here's why: mini-apps are revenue magnets. From Q2 2023 to Q1 2024, Douyin's mini-games doubled their user base, added 70% more products, and saw ad consumption jump 530%.
The more time users spend on a platform, the more they are likely to either click on an ad or purchase something. Mini apps increase the utility and, consequently, the time spent on the app.
Other tech giants have tried and spectacularly failed. Snapchat's attempts fizzled. Meta's ventures went nowhere. Even Elon Musk's grand vision of turning X into a super app remains just that – a vision.
If any app can become the first global super app, my money's on TikTok.
That is, as long as it doesn't get banned in the US.
Why B2B Ads Are Ignored (And How to Fix It).
B2B advertising is stuck in a creativity quicksand - and the evidence is mounting.
In 2017, an Ipsos study revealed that creative and media are the most critical drivers of advertising effectiveness.
The B2B Institute, partnering with Mediascience, went deep. They dissected how 770 LinkedIn users interact with ads using advanced eye-tracking and biometric tech. The sample? 109 real B2B ads in their native environment.
The results are a marketer's nightmare: 81% of B2B ads fail to gain adequate attention or drive recall. This means that these ads either didn't grab enough attention or didn't lead to viewers remembering the brand, rendering the majority of creative and media spending ineffective.
Why does this happen, and how can B2B brands fix it?
Here are a few takeaways from the report:
Get to the point. Viewers only pay attention to B2B video ads for an average of 3.7 seconds. Mention the brand name early for better recall.
Brand often. Ads with 3+ brand mentions achieved 48% brand identification, compared to 32% for ads with just one mention.
Shorter is better. Ads 10 seconds or less received 68% ad recognition compared to 59% for ads longer than 18 seconds.
Stay consistent. Over time, brands that stick with their logos and distinctive brand assets enjoy significantly better recall.
B2B brands have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to inject creativity into their advertising. Want the full details? This study is worth a read if B2B marketing is your jam.
Short Stuff:
The UK bans ads of daytime ads for junk food (Doing it for the kids).
The anti-climatic 10th edition of Spotify Wrapped disappointed many (Bring back the number geeks).
Bluesky surpasses X and Threads as a source of referral traffic on the web (Bluesky’s growth spurt).
That’s a wrap on this week. Thank you for your time and attention. If you liked this week’s newsletter or found something interesting, please give me a like ❤️ or drop a comment🗨️. Your support helps drive the newsletter's discoverability.
See you in your inbox next Wednesday.
Warm Regards,
Garima Mamgain
Comic Recommendation: Are You Gonna Eat That?
The comics library near my house shut down recently. It felt like the vanishing of a small magical place that would leave you instantly happy.
Until its arrival, I had never considered myself a comics person. While my daughter became obsessed with One Piece (much to our gentle resistance), I discovered my escape - light-hearted comics that were my equivalent of breezy chic flicks.
On the library's last day, I picked up these short comics on animal conversations. It didn't disappoint.
The comic is full of bizarre yet relatable animal conversations. I took a couple of pictures.
Here's one for the narcissists.
Or this one is for those who think we are living in a matrix
Here's my favourite one - Not about the power of the team but pure mathematics.
It is a short comic, digestible in under 30 minutes, but the laughs will last a lot longer.
No wonder B2B brands do not spend on digital advertising! The Nissan ad was creative..Informative post, thank you for writing!