Month: June 2019

While many DTC marketers have shifted some of their spending from digital channels like Facebook and Google toward TV, they continue to advertise online and are looking to use their digital channels to wring better performance out of the money they increasingly spend on TV. At the center of that complementary strategy is search, which DTC marketers see as the bridge between the people they reach on TV and the customers they convert online.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, Golo began having an in-house team use TV analytics firm TVSquared’s tools to measure the impact of its TV ads on its site’s search traffic. The marketer had seen that the metrics it uses to judge the efficiency of its TV advertising were heading in the wrong direction. The cost of getting someone to visit the brand’s website had increased by 32%, while its media efficiency ratio, a metric used to evaluate its return on ad spend, had decreased by 25%, according to Razzook. The company’s aim is to stay on top of the TV-search dynamic so that it can adjust its fluctuating digital spend to better complement the average $1.3 million that Golo recently has been spending each month on TV advertising, he said. A potential next phase of the brand’s work would be to adjust its search buying strategy to automatically adjust its bids around the time that its ads air on TV in order to better control search’s variable costs, he said.

Men’s shopping brand Touch of Modern began to invest in TV advertising in the name of efficiency. The brand had advertised exclusively online until the second half of 2017, when it focused on turning a profit and saw its marketing budget as an opportunity to cut costs. The company tested its first TV ads in late Q3 2017. “That was also in line with our shift toward profitability. So I think TV had a pretty big role to play,” said Touch of Modern CEO Jerry Hum.

Since it began to advertise on TV in 2017, Touch of Modern’s TV advertising budget has ballooned. In 2018 the brand spent $33.9 million on TV ads, up from $852,000 in 2017, according to an analysis conducted by the Video Advertising Bureau, a trade group that focuses on TV and video advertising. According to Hum, the brand’s TV investment continues to grow and now represents “the majority of our marketing spend.”

However, while Touch of Modern has upped its TV spend, it hasn’t needed to up its overall marketing spend. “When we introduce another channel, we essentially cut digital in half,” Hum said. Not only has the brand been able to save money that would have been spent online, but its online performance appears to have improved because of its TV investment.

“Since running television ads, we’re getting a lot more search volume coming in through Google. So we’re able to get better scale at the cost that we were paying before,” Hum said. Corresponding with Touch of Modern’s TV spend increase in 2018, the number of search queries related to its ads increased by 3,398% in 2018, according to the VAB.

Using a combination of its own analytics, analytics from its agency Marketing Architects and analytics from TVSquared, Touch of Modern has been able to estimate if a person visiting its site through search had seen its ad on TV first. “So far it actually turns out that the group of people coming from TV are some of our highest value customers,” Hum said. He attributed the higher value of TV-driven customers to those customers being more likely to use their phones to visit its site after seeing its ad on TV. “Mobile users, for us, are most valuable,” he said.

The post DTC advertisers turn to search to evaluate their TV ads’ performance appeared first on Digiday.

The Vogue Business Talent site was built over six months with 10 selected clients including Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Harrods. During this time it registered 8,000 international professionals, although the publisher was tight-lipped about how many more had joined since last week.

“We are talking big numbers,” said Alistair Williams, founder of Vogue Business Talent, and former director of Guardian Jobs. “We found in the last few days the ability for Vogue Business Talent to resonate with the audience is immeasurable. We’re in the business of encouraging talent to entrust us with their data — they do in significant numbers. Doing so under the Vogue Business brands makes that easier.”

Vogue Business Talent will evolve based on feedback from the community, a similar approach to how Vogue Business has developed. One early finding from the feedback was that people on both candidates and clients struggled to find what they were looking for. Now, candidates have to register in order to see or apply for a job, adding a layer of quality control.

A slice of the growing online recruitment market, projected to reach $34.5 billion (£27.47 billion) by the end of 2023, according to Orbis Research, is appealing on its own. But as diversifying revenue streams go, Vogue Business Talent offers multiple options. Currently, the main source of income comes from fashion brands paying for job listings, which the company was unwilling to share for competative reasons. Soon Vogue Business Talent will offer what it calls candidate curation, where it will sift through CVs and create a shortlist of candidates for clients.

It also offers content and marketing services from the CNI creative studio for clients who want help to tell their brand story to promote their company on the platform. There are now 23 clients working with Vogue Business Talent. In future, the publisher plans to offer brand sponsorship and events options too.

“This allows for pivots into numerous areas,” said Williams. “We’re developing it with the talent community in mind, followed closely by client community.”

Besides its focus on the fashion industry, Vogue Business Talent differs from broad jobs boards like LinkedIn because there is also content from Vogue Business chosen by chief editor, Lauren Indvik, featuring pieces like career advice from 11 different Vogue editors and this piece interviewing former creative director at Calvin Klein Collection, Francisco Costa, about creating a beauty brand.

Vogue Business Talent has five people working on roles across product development, user experience and talent acquisition, drawing on the wider CNI Business Development unit for additional staff, and plans to hire more as it builds up its services. Being set up as a separate entity to Vogue prevents it from running into organizational challenges that other consumer titles making the jump into business-related content can struggle with, like how much editorial resource to devote.

Vogue has successfully straddled the line between consumer and business for some time, said Douglas McCabe, CEO of Enders Analysis, adding that Vogue advertising is for wealthy consumers as well as industry peers. The publisher hosts fashion conferences in London and Paris and fashion colleges in London and Spain. It also runs consulting services for local governments that run fashion-week events, research and whitepapers.

“A hefty proportion of Vogue’s distribution is through business like hotels and hairdressers,” he said. “A branding message with an industry purpose as well as a traditional sales logic. In other words, Vogue is an industry fashion bible, not just a high-end consumer magazine. One of the big themes we are seeing in the magazine sector is a convergence of B2C with B2B.”

Vogue has a history of nurturing young talent through initiatives like Vogue Talent and its fashion and design colleges. Business publishers have a unique positioning with their audience which makes them a natural fit for recruitment, particularly, as Williams said, because their links with the fashion community are so strong.

“The fact that business professionals use Vogue and Vogue Business to help them in their daily professional lives makes it interesting to take that approach,” said Williams.

The post ‘This allows for pivots into numerous areas’: Why Vogue has got into recruitment appeared first on Digiday.

Here are some highlights:

• Cannes is notorious for its excess. But sobriety is very in right now — the New York Times has said it. Jess Davies found non-drinkers and pried their tips for how to do Cannes without the booze. Pro tip: Mornings in the Riviera are fantastic times for running, biking and all manner of outdoor activities. Story here
• Less than half (48%) of industry execs think Cannes is about celebrating creative work in advertising, from a Digiday Research poll of 218 executives.
• Reminder: Register to attend a live taping of the Digiday Podcast tomorrow. I’ll be interviewing Twitter’s Sarah Personette at the Twitter Beach at 2pm. Register here

The scramble for the future of TV has begun
The past few years of Cannes Lions might have been dominated by the social platforms — and make no mistake, from Facebook to Twitter, these companies are out in full force again this week — but those that have serious ambitions in streaming video and the future of TV advertising are also making a bigger play in Cannes this year.

Streaming video will dominate conversations during Cannes this year. For instance, NBCU will be talking about its streaming plans with “in every conversation we have with clients and agencies, because it’s on the horizon and everyone wants to understand it,” said a source familiar with the media giant’s plans. NBCU’s ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino confirmed that NBCU plans to give and update on its streaming plans during the “more discreet one-on-one” conversations the company has with clients; “One of the reasons we’re not taking the main stage at Cannes to talk about the product is that we want to have more specifics to share [publicly],” Yaccarino said.

NBCU isn’t alone: WarnerMedia and Viacom’s sales forces are also showing up to Cannes with streaming TV on their minds. And for those interested in the future of short form video — if there is one — will have bookmarked Wednesday’s main-stage appearance by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman to talk Quibi. (Quibi, which has been out to market seeking large upfront ad deals, is not sending a big team this year since its product is still under development, a source said.)

The future of TV advertising, including the growth of connected TV in media plans and the irrepressible march toward addressable TV, are also dominating conversations. Comcast, for instance, is partnering with other pay-TV operators including Sky (which it also owns), Cox and Charter on a new addressable TV initiative. The goal: To help other pay-TV distributors build addressable TV programs and products — all in the hopes of creating a framework for addressable TV that the entire industry can agree on.

The race for the future of TV is certainly on — but it’s wide open and there is little certainty on which companies will pull ahead in the coming years. Could it be Xandr, which has the promise of all those wireless and data owned by AT&T? What about Comcast and its ability to reach connected TV users through Xfinity and Sky businesses?

And let’s not forget the biggest elephant not in the room: Netflix, which is increasingly swallowing up TV viewing time in a commercial-free environment. One media manager at a CPG brand said he’s increasingly spending time focused on getting products integrated inside Netflix and other ad-free platforms — even if the business value of a placement inside of a streaming show isn’t clear. “The challenge is always the same, trying to become or stay relevant for consumers in a world that’s more and more fragmented,” he said. — Sahil Patel

Vice’s Dominique Delport on the “new Vice”
With Nancy Dubuc at the helm, Vice is presenting a more grown-up, streamlined face to the advertising and media world. Vice global CRO and president of international Dominique Delport kicked off the week’s episodes of the Digiday Podcast by detailing how the company has gotten its house in order. A few highlights:

• “You’re as strong as your weakest link. It was beyond a cultural change just to fix what was wrong. It was building a stronger Vice.”
• “You need the scale, of course, but you need the engagement. Engagement comes with quality content. That’s it. That’s what we do.”
• “I’m fascinated by what’s coming from China and the Bytedance story. There are more A.I. engineers in Bytedance than in Google. It’s a wave of conquering the world with apps that are incredibly modern, video-first, mobile-first and more than 1 billion downloads this year.”

Coming up: Hearst Magazines president Troy Young discusses managing change in a large organization and why Hearst is focused on building a business-to-business data offering for fashion and beauty brands.

Sticker shock
Luxury doesn’t come cheap. Cannes is a $27 vodka tonic kind of place.

*orders 3 vodka sodas*

Check comes #canneslions @PageSix pic.twitter.com/1YrwUOZJks

— Francesca Bacardi (@OriginalFresca) June 16, 2019

Cannes newcomer tip
Fight the FOMO. You will feel positive there is some better party, some better event going on at that very moment that you should be at. Even worse, you might feel that about people. Don’t give in. Cannes is a sprawling mess; there’s no perfect place to be. Best to make the most out of wherever you are.

The judgmental map of Cannes
We put this together last year to help understand, in a tongue-in-cheek way, all the different areas of Cannes.

Jargon watch
“Storyliving” should not be adopted by any serious media or marketing exec, no matter what the Samsung CMO says.

Spotted
Three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade traded Miami for Cannes as he relaxed among the usual clutter of the Carlton terrace Monday afternoon, sipping champagne and eating fries. At one point, waiters brought over a bottle of rosé, though it’s unclear if Wade ordered that or it was gifted to him by one of the many men who came over to talk to him. (Also spotted near Wade, Gannett CRO Kevin Gentzel, though we can’t comment on Gentzel’s jump shot.) Wade is in town on behalf of Anheuser-Busch, whose U.S. CMO Marcel Marcondes will interview Wade at 4:15 p.m. today in the Palais. What’s on the agenda? Making “brands more human,” naturally.

What to do
Bleacher Report CEO Howard Mittman will be giving a speech about soccer fandom, which has been a big part of Bleacher Report’s growth story (the company is on track to eclipse $200 million in revenue this year). Drinks will also be served, because Cannes. WarnerMedia House at 10 a.m.

German broadcaster RTL Group’s ad business, RTL AdConnect, is hosting a series of panels on the future of branded content and TV advertising. One session, on “innovative use of data” in advertising, will be moderated by Digiday’s Sahil Patel. 10 a.m.

The Economist welcomes the CMOs of Marriott, Pinterest and EY to talk about marketing on social platforms, with a purpose. Expect a lot of concern about the negative role certain platforms have played in society, but don’t hold your breath for any marketer to go as far as to say they’d pull dollars from the big tech and social giants. The Beach Club at 10:30am.

Fullscreen is hosting a panel about the generation between Gen Z and millennials. The discussion, moderated by Digiday’s Kerry Flynn, will feature executives from Fullscreen, American Eagle, Visa, Adult Swim and Marriott. WarnerMedia House at 11:30 a.m.

Reddit’s COO Jen Wong will discuss how brands can participate safely and effectively in user-generated forums with executives from Oracle and GroupM. Reddit House at 1:30 p.m.

FCB will present a panel on the evolution on news consumption. Executives from FCB, The Economist and Twitter will debate the impact of subscription and paywalls among other trends of publishers diversifying revenue. BoatFCB – Jetée Albert Edouard at 4 p.m.

Twitter CMO will host a happy hour with “professional Tweeter,” model and author Chrissy Teigen that celebrates female leaders and innovators. Twitter Beach at 5 p.m.

Nightcap
9pm: Nielsen, Beet.TV and NCS are cohosting a party at the Nielsen Yacht (Berth #44) with beats from DJ Mick.

9pm: The consultancy Jonge Honden is throwing a party aptly named “Young Dogs.” Plage Long Beach.

9:30pm: Spotify has Nas and Swizz Beats tonight, the second of three different concerts the streaming service is hosting this week. Spotify Beach.

10pm: OpenX is hosting a “beach bash” inside the Carlton Hotel.

The post Cannes Briefing: The scramble for the future of TV has begun appeared first on Digiday.

The site is Schmidt and Cantino’s second post-Schmidt’s venture: In December of last year, the two founded Color, an investment firm that funds companies led by women and minorities. With Supermaker, the goal is to help boost brands even if they’re not ready for a financial investment from Color.

“We wanted to do something to tie our experience together and go back to our roots in [the entrepreneurial] community, and try to help. We’re seeing a lot of conversations around topics like acquisitions, funding, partnerships, wholesale and how to hire — there are a lot of challenges facing entrepreneurs as they grow their business and we wanted to support them,” said Schmidt.

With Supermaker, Schmidt sees the start of a funnel as founders get in touch: Some brands will be featured on Supermaker, with the potential of receiving funding down the line, while others might be right for an investment opportunity. To date, Color has invested in Wild Friends Foods, a line of nut butters founded by two women.

Entrepreneur-related content is on the rise alongside the consumer startup boom, as companies operating in the DTC ecosystem launch content platforms geared at the type of founders they want to work with. In January, Shopify launched Shopify Studios, a content hub focused on telling the entrepreneurial stories of the people who have built businesses on Shopify’s platform, which has helped contribute to the quick rise of the DTC boom. And last week, Mailchimp announced it was launching a similarly positioned in-house studio that will release podcasts and documentaries “for an entrepreneurial audience.”

The launch of the site also sheds light on the importance of earned media during the early stages of a brand’s trajectory. According to Schmidt, there are a lot of brands that could benefit from coverage in the early days, but a limited number of outlets that are paying attention to bigger brands makes it difficult to get coverage. The site plans to feature multiple “weight classes” of brands to display the breadth of entrepreneurs.

“We found that articles can generate a lot of value for shareholders, retail buyers, consumers,” said Cantino, who added that Supermaker’s goal is to position coverage around what brands are looking to achieve, like securing a wholesale account with a Kroger or Whole Foods. “We see it as a complement to the media that’s already out there.”

Earned media through press, social platforms and influencer partnerships helps bolster brands’ paid efforts, according to founders who have said they’re now focusing efforts on organic media in order to balance out paid marketing. For Schmidt and Cantino, providing both investment and a place for founders to tell their stories (Supermaker articles are largely written by Schmidt, and they’re also accepting contributors), is their next branding exercise. Cantino said that the site picked up traction among its target audience after an Instagram stealth campaign that targeted a group of 250,000 founders and entrepreneurs.

“We want to bring these brands into the spotlight sooner than they might be able to get there otherwise,” said Schmidt. “We didn’t get big hits [until] we were at a certain amount of revenue. We also want to share advice: There’s so much to learn in terms of operations and running a business in general. We want to be hands-on with these things.”

The post The founders of Unilever-owned Schmidt’s Naturals are launching an editorial site for entrepreneurs appeared first on Digiday.