| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Buyers Remain Bullish on Snapchat | | Just one day after reporting that Snapchat is losing ground in its competitive ad battle with Facebook, with its ad rates taking a hit since it started selling ads programmatically, Digiday reports today that a sizable number of media buyers are still bullish toward Snapchat. Digiday spoke with 21 ad buyers about their experiences with Snapchat and the challenges and opportunities they see ahead. Overall, buyers said they see hopeful signs in Snapchat's upcoming redesign, its lower CPMs and its helpful sales teams that help facilitate ad buys on the platform. Torrey Tarrali, US. Head of paid social at mobile agency Fetch, says if done properly, the redesign will open Snapchat up to a new demographic of user growth who "will hopeful find the app easier to use." Evan Walker, associate media director at CSD&M, says, "We are seeing tremendous improvements in cost efficiencies, near or on par with Facebook, and in some cases, better performance." He said CPMs through self-serve are nearly four times as efficient as previous Snapchat-managed campaigns. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: While Snapchat's cheaper CPMs have limited the platform's ad revenue growth in the short-term, buyers believe its move to self-serve will eventually pay off. "I firmly believe their self-services platform is going to lead to a positive shift," CSD&M's Walker says. | | A Take: Digiday | | | | #2 Reddit Hopes Redesign Attracts Advertisers | | The social media site is putting the finishing touches on its first major redesign in more than a decade and it will roll out to all users in the first quarter of 2018. The redesign, which it is sending out to small numbers of users in sort of a beta test rollout, will include a heavier focus on visuals, more intuitive navigation for users and easier customization of community pages, Adweek reports. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says the goal is to make sure the platform's 300 million users are "spending more time on Reddit, finding more stuff, finding their home and aren't just lurking at a surface level." He also wants the site to be "more appealing – and more understandable – for brands that want to reach those users." | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Reddit has sold advertising since its inception, but it hasn't always had the best reputation, with the site marred by hate speech and trolling. But Huffman has worked to fix that. He says auto brands like Audi and Toyota have had particular success targeting audiences on Reddit but wants to get more participation by all ad categories. He's hoping the redesign encourages that. | | A Take: Adweek | | | | #3 Twitter Suspends Verification Process | | The social network suspended its verification program after it was disclosed that the system had verified the account of white supremacist leader Jason Kessler, who disparaged the woman killed during the Charlottesville rally in August. After his account was verified on Tuesday, Jason Kessler tweeted, "Looks like I finally got verified by Twitter. I must be the only working class white advocate with that distinction." A day later Twitter suspended its user verification process and launched an investigation. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey had pledged to wipe out violent groups, hate symbols and hate speech on the site, but conceded that the verification system is not working properly. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: It certainly matters to advertisers on Twitter who don't want to have their brands marketed on a site that tolerates racism and hate speech. With advertisers pulling ads all over the internet due to what they consider to be unsavory environments, Twitter needs to fix its verification process immediately or risk losing millions of dollars in advertising. | Three Takes: MediaPost | USA Today | Salon
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| | 52 | | Percentage of U.S. TV viewers who say they watch their favorite TV show via a digital platform, according to a survey by Hub Research. That compares to 48% who say they watch via a set-top box either on live TV, video-on-demand or DVR. That compares to 31% who watched their favorite TV show via digital in 2013, compared to 64% who watch via set-top box platforms. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | NBC Wins With Football | by Michael Malone
NBC had the top score in broadcast prime Thursday, posting a 2.4 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, with Thursday Night Football leading the way. NBC's viewer share was a 9. Next up was CBS at 1.6/6. Football Night in America tallied a 2.1 on NBC, and the game, Seattle Seahawks versus Arizona Cardinals, a 2.5. It was Thursday Night Football's first run of the season on NBC. Two Thursdays before, the pre-game did a 1.5 on CBS and the game a 2.2. On CBS, The Big Bang Theory did a flat 2.7 and Young Sheldon was a level 2.2. Mom was up 7% at 1.5 and Life in Pieces was a flat 1.2, then SWAT was off 9% from its premiere at 1.0. ABC was at 1.3/5. The 300th episode of Grey's Anatomy ticked up 6% to 1.9 and Scandal did a flat 1.1. Taylor Swift performed a new song from her Rhode Island waterfront mansion during a break in Scandal. How to Get Away With Murder posted a level 0.9. Fox did a 0.9/4, as Gotham rated a 0.9 and The Orville a 1.0. Both shows were flat. Univision was at 0.6/2 and Telemundo at 0.5/2. The CW rated a 0.5/2, as Supernatural scored a 0.6 and Arrow a 0.5. Both were flat.
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| • KIRK McDONALD was appointed chief marketing officer at AT&T's new advertising and analytics company, which has yet to be named. McDonald was most recently president of supply-side platform PubMatic. Prior to that, he was president of digital at Time Inc. The new company was formed in anticipation of AT&T's proposed acquisition of Time Warner. Former GroupM executive Brian Lesser is CEO.
• HUGO RODRIGUES was named chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup's Brazilian agency WMcCann. He was previously president and CEO of Publicis Brazil.
• KARSTEN JURKSCHAT and ALEX LITTLE were appointed associate creative directors at McCann New York. They previously held creative roles at Ogilvy Melbourne. • ANDY COHEN has renewed his deal with Bravo Media. Under the terms of the three-year deal, Cohen will continue to host and executive produce talk show Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. It also includes a renewed first-look developments deal with Cohen's production company, Most Talkative. | |
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