Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup
Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup
Bonded Bitesize – Bringing you your midweek roundup of the latest in digital and media. Stay connected with recent updates from Google, Meta, Disney, LinkedIn & many more!
Netflix’s ad-tier may arrive earlier than expected, offering limited targeting and no third-party measurement for a costly $65 CPM
In a move described by some as ‘rushed’, Netflix is reported to be moving the launch date of its cheapest ad-supported tier closer. Despite initially announcing the tier would launch early next year, it is believed executives at the streaming service have been telling ad buyers that it will be launching November 1st - notably one month ahead of its competitor Disney+... The report went on to suggest these new ads will start at a costly $65 per thousand viewers, allowing brands to spend up to $20 million per year to guarantee subscribers don’t see the ads too frequently. The hefty CPM indicates Netflix’s confidence with their ad offering, despite it also being rumoured to include limited targeting and no third-party measurement.
Our takeaway… It’s too early to say whether Netflix’ expensive ad spaces will be worth it or not, or how audiences will react to these ads - but it’s certainly a space we’ll be monitoring closely.
Twitter is rolling out an edit button, giving Twitter Blue subscribers 30 minutes to edit their tweets
A heavily requested and long-anticipated edit button is being added to Twitter's tweet functionality. The new feature is first being rolled out to subscribers of Twitter's premium subscription package Twitter Blue, giving eligible users a 30 minute window to edit their tweets. Edited tweets will have a modification timestamp, allowing users to view the edit history of each tweet. The platform has not yet announced when this feature will be rolled out to unpaid users, or outside of the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where it currently live.
Our takeaway… This new feature will certainly take the pressure off when posting for brands, now there’ll be absolutely no excuse for typo’s (not that there ever was). However we feel an ‘edited label’ on any post gives a feeling of inauthenticity to your audience, so we’d still recommend trying to get it right the first time.
Disney set to launch in-app commerce features, similar to Amazon Prime membership
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Disney is exploring ways for viewers of their streaming service Disney+ to buy themed merchandise and branded goods via QR codes. Said to be introduced later this year, these features form part of Disney's larger plan for a membership model that would give subscribers special access or discounts to various Disney products such as streaming, theme park, resorts and merchandise. Informally dubbed ‘Disney Prime’, many have compared this to Amazon’s Prime membership. Described by Disney’s CEO as “a franchise flywheel” this cross-selling technique is hoped to increase sales across Disney's breadth of products and services.
Fast-fashion retailer Pretty Little Thing have launched PLT Marketplace, an app allowing users to resell their old clothing
In a move that nobody was expecting, fast-fashion retailer Pretty Little Thing has launched the PLT Marketplace app, allowing users to resell pre-loved clothing. Having faced controversies over the unsustainability of their business practices, the fashion retailer claims they are “striving to extend the life of garments” and “helping to reduce waste with the impact of the environment front of mind”. With Ebay's sponsorship of this years Love Island, the e-commerce company have reported seeing a 700% increase in users searching for pre-loved clothing - so it’s no wonder Pretty Little Thing are also trying to hop on the sustainability bandwagon, even naming Love Island finalist Indiyah Polock as the brands first ‘Marketplace Ambassador’.
Our takeaway… As resell apps like Depop and Vinted become more mainstream, it makes sense for Pretty Little Thing to want in on the action - though it will be interesting to see the effect this will have on the companies main business, selling new, fast-fashion pieces.
Google has announced 4 new features allowing advertisers to add additional info & attributes to their shopping campaigns
In the run up to the holiday season Google has announced four new features to its shopping campaigns that advertisers can implement in campaigns and merchant feeds, including: conversion value rules for store sales and store visits, product-specific insights, deal content API and shipping & returns. In the words of Google, these additional snippets of information hope to ‘turn curiosity into customers’ and they recommend starting to use them as soon as possible with the help of demand forecasts on the Insights page.
Our takeaway… Providing potential customers all the information they are looking for, will prevent them trying to find it elsewhere - especially during the Christmas period when shoppers have limited time and unlimited options.
Johnnie Walker gives customers choice to drink limited edition whisky, or keep its collectible digital token
Scotch Whisky brand, Johnnie Walker, is latest to dip its toes into the intriguing world of NFT’s, creating a set of collectible tokens alongside limited edition whisky. The lucky few that manage to buy the rare sets of blue label ghost whiskeys, will have to decide between keeping their digital token, or burning it to get their hands on the tangible bottles.
Our takeaway… NFT’s are a hot topic at the moment so it's interesting to see the different ways brands are approaching the relatively unknown assets. What would you do - hold the NFT, or physically hold the Whisky?
Reddit has acquired contextualisation company Spiketrap, helping the platform boost targeting capabilities & quality of ads
In an effort to boost its ads business Reddit has acquired Spiketrap, an AI-powered contextual analysis tool. This deal is likely to help Reddit’s ad quality scoring and boost prediction models for powering auto-bidding. Spiketrap prides itself on extracting the “signal from the noise” when it comes to understanding unstructured datasets - offering a range of solutions in contextual ad targeting, impact measurement and brand safety monitoring.
Our takeaway… Often forgotten by media buyers, it seems the community based platform is making an active effort to become a more desirable ad choice. With over 430 million monthly active users, watch this space.
Twitter is testing a new tweet format for content with links to create more engaging, clickable posts
Tweet tiles is a new display format for tweeted links that will have larger images, bold text and a visible call to action button. This feature is currently being tested through select news outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian. This new format is designed to easily engage with content and make timelines more dynamic and visual. Twitter has also been testing out a new ‘Quote tweet with reaction’ option that allows users to add more colour in their comments.
LinkedIn is exploring native post scheduling options to give users enhanced control
LinkedIn has announced they are working to bring native post scheduling to members and pages. Currently the only way to schedule posts is via third-party social media management apps - many of which do not have built in preview elements. This update will likely be well-received, helping users determine how exactly they want their post to look when it does go live.
Our takeaway… Organisation is key in marketing strategies, and any tool that aids this is a winner in our eyes. We’ll certainly be taking advantage of this tool when it’s fully rolled out.
Youtube is testing out a new feature that will make it easier for creators to promote their content
Youtube’s new Promotions Tab will allow creators to promote their content and videos without needing to leave the site and go through Google Ads Manager. Currently only being tested on a limited number of users, the new tab will reside within Youtube Studio and is expected to get a lot more channel managers running quick promotions for their content. This tab is designed to help creators grow their channels and reach wider audiences - following many complaints that the Youtube algorithm was stagnating growth.
Our takeaway… This will be useful for in-experienced channels, giving them the knowledge and facilities to run promotions on their channels, but experienced advertisers can always stick with Google Ads Manager if this is your preferred choice.
Meta has launched its first ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp, enabling users to complete entire customer journeys without leaving the app
In partnership with Jio Platforms, consumers in India will now be able to shop directly from JioMart (a grocery delivery company) straight from within WhatsApp. The entire customer experience, from browsing and ordering products as well as tracking their order is done via the chat. Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, stated “business messaging is an area with real momentum” predicting that “chat-based experiences like this will be the go-to way people and businesses communicate in the years to come”.
Our takeaway… We already know that consumers like to do as much as they can via their mobile phones, so using a platform they are already familiar with is a great idea. We think this innovative customer experience is likely to be the first of many.
Google has announced they are rolling out eco-friendly routing to Europe, having first introduced it to US users
Google Maps announced today that it is expanding its eco-friendly navigation options across Europe. Eco-friendly routes show more fuel-efficient routes rather than just the fastest routes and are indicated in the app with a green leaf. The company claims that following its introduction in the U.S and Canada, it has been able to save carbon emissions equivalent to 100’000 cars. Google is also launching a new feature in the coming weeks that will enable car owners to select their vehicles engine type, giving them personalised fuel-efficient routes.
Instagram is testing a feature to allow users to add topics to their reels to help refine recommended content
Meta has begun testing an ‘add topics’ option that will allow users to categorise their Reels, into specific topics like fashion, beauty, and sport. This additional setting will help its algorithm recommend relevant content to users, and help users connect with more engaged audiences by sharing their content with accounts with similar interests. This feature forms part of Meta’s plan to improve the quality of their recommended content, rather than reducing the quantity of it after facing heavy backlash from users.
Our takeaway… We hope to see this feature rolled out, it’ll be a great way to target different audiences and achieve greater social engagement.
Meta has introduced group invite links to Messenger and Instagram to make sharing group chats even easier in lead up to back to school season
Meta’s new ‘invite link’ will allow users to share group chats with new users, expanding their community. Messenger explains “this highly requested feature will make it easier than ever to connect with family, friends and communities' '. Admins still remain in control of the group chat - and can turn the invite link on and off and also have the option to ‘approve’ new members. This feature comes right in time for the back to school period, helping students share class and year group chats more easily.
Google is updating its privacy threshold for analytics search queries report
Google announced a new privacy threshold last year to ensure user anonymity by only reporting on terms that have seen sufficient search volume across all Google searches. The latest update of this will provide advertisers with more consistent metrics between their Ads account and what they see in GA4. The Universal Analytics is said to be more limited than Google Ads reports in reporting search query terms, due to ‘differences in data models’.
