It doesn’t take an eagle eye to see there’s something amiss in the just-launched Zevia holiday campaign. From the first frames, the 30-second spot proudly declares its AI-generated shenanigans in the form of Santa improbably traveling by drone, not sleigh, while other humanoid characters sprout multiple extra limbs and smile through twinkle-light teeth. As a…
CEO Switch At MediaSense As Posnanski Succeeds Brown
Jamie Posnanski served as a senior executive at Accenture Song after it bought his agency avVenta in 2012. Graham Brown a MediaSense co-founder, will become executive chairman.
Brady Elevated To CEO, Stagwell’s The People Platform
The platform uses mobile and location technology, consumer surveys, and third-party data to map consumer movements, sequencing those movements over time to provide insights into consumer behavior.
Put Down the Controller: The New TNT Sports Altcast Only Looks Like a Video Game
NBA 2K and Genius Sports found the cheat code for drawing more fans to the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup: Turn it into a video game. As TNT Sports’ networks and platforms show the tournament’s quarterfinal and semifinal knockout rounds across its networks and platforms, NBA 2k and Genius Sports will use graphic overlays and in-game…
BuzzFeed Is Facing a $124 Million Debt Crisis
The digital media company BuzzFeed Inc., which owns BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and the properties Tasty and First We Feast, is facing a potential $124 million debt crisis related to funds it raised in June 2021 to finance its acquisition of Complex Media. According to the contract governing the deal, the creditors who lent BuzzFeed the money…
Tim Cook Wants Apple to Literally Save Your Life
Much as the CEO seems awestruck by AI and his just-released Apple Intelligence, he’s more convinced that the tech giant’s health apps will define the company’s legacy.
An Exclusive Peek Inside Project Orange, Home Depot’s Hushed New Content-Producing Workshop
Rigby is on a freelance gig. His day job is sniffing out cadavers for the police department, but today, the frisky retriever is on a soundstage in front of a camera. In a few minutes, a bunch of kids will kick off a taco party. Rigby’s only job is to look cute–and not eat the…
Ravineo’s AI Tech Finds that 80% of Influencers Don’t Disclose Brand Deals
The evolution of influencer marketing has brought unparalleled opportunities for brands. But it’s also created some murky tactics, including undeclared partnerships and hidden collaborations. That’s where marketing analytics platform Ravineo, which officially launched on Nov. 12, comes in. Ravineo lets brands and agencies make smarter, data-driven decisions about their influencer strategies in real time, using…
Future of TV Briefing: Ad-supported tiers are boosting streaming subs, but for how much longer?
This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at streaming service owners’ latest quarterly earnings reports, as well as some recent studies regarding streaming subscriber sentiment.
- Time to renew
- Nielsen’s currency change-of-mind, Showtime’s time to shine and more
Time to renew
What subscription fatigue? Based on streaming service owners’ latest quarterly earnings reports, people are still willing to shell out for paid subscriptions.
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Why Kai Cenat’s record-breaking subathon was a double-edged sword for Twitch
Twitch creator Kai Cenat just finished a month-long “subathon,” livestreaming nonstop for 30 days and smashing the platform’s subscriber record in the process. The event was a ringing endorsement of Twitch as a creator platform — but also showcased the challenges caused by its lack of original IP.
Cenat’s record-breaking stream tested the limits of Twitch’s brand safety guidelines. Although Twitch dissolved its Safety Advisory Council, an advisory group of industry experts, in May, the company has since taken steps to improve its brand safety tools for prospective advertisers. On Nov. 1, for example, Twitch added a new feature that allows users to hide streams that broadcast political or otherwise controversial content, creating new content labels in an effort to help brands exert more control over the types of content they advertise alongside.
But although Cenat’s stream was occasionally marked by PG-13 or R-rated behavior, Twitch did not take any public steps to shield its advertisers from his or his team’s more controversial content. The situation highlighted the subjective approach that Twitch tends to use with regard to its largest creators’ brand safety risks. Twitch needs to consider the needs of both its creators and its advertisers — but threading the needle between the two can be a delicate dance.
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