| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Brands Test Pricey Snapchat 3-D Lenses | | The social media platform has been testing the use of 3-D augmented reality lenses for which brands are paying as much as between $500,000 and $1 million per day, Digiday reports. It was reported by Adweek last Friday that Snapchat partnered with McDonald's on a sponsored bitmoji where the fast food chain on the platform had its 3D bitmoji character steel a cup of McCafe coffee. Digiday, citing conversations with media buyers, say the use of these avatar-like characters and 3-D AR lenses is not cheap. Other brands testing the 3-D AR lenses are Budweiser and BMW. And right now the 3-D AR lenses are Snapchat's most expensive ad buy. Snapchat is reportedly selling them as a standalone ad buy, but also as part of packages, so the pricing can vary. And Snapchat says pricing can also vary depending on what day the special lenses are used and how extensive the reach is. A Snapchat spokesperson told Digiday that "if a brand pays $750,000 for a day, it would be a holiday nationwide takeover where advertisers can reach up to 30 million unique people and 65 million impressions." | | WHY THIS MATTERS: According to one agency executive, Snapchat's senior leadership believes "AR is the next internet." And despite the hefty price for the 3-D AR lenses, advertisers Digiday spoke with believe engagement with the lenses is high and that is supported by brand lift studies Snapchat offers to quantify brand awareness. | | A Take: Digiday | | | | #2 Sweety High Launches Gen Z Targeting Agency | | The digital media company for Gen Z girls has opened a full-service creative agency, called Extra Credit, to help brands target this hard to reach demographic, Adweek reports. Frank Simonetti, the co-founder and CEO of Sweety High, says the agency's disciplines – creative digital content, talent, strategy and data – will allow brands to effectively cater to this group of people born from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s. Using data Sweety High compiles from its users each month, Extra Credit will not only produce integrated branded content and social media campaigns, but also TV shows and live events for clients via its own studio. The agency is based in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and has a staff of 25 former Sweety High employees. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Sweety High estimates that by 2020, Gen Z will be the largest demographic in the country, totaling 40% of the U.S. population. And brands are already jumping on board. Among Extra Credit's clients are NBCUniversal, Nickelodeon, Live Nation, Disney and Walmart. | | A Take: Adweek | | | | #3 Podcasts Face Dynamic Ad Insertion Obstacles | | After spending most of 2017 trying to use ad networks to insert third-party spots into its podcasts, HowStuffWorks last month abandon the strategy – and went back to having its podcast show hosts reading commercial copy. For one thing, Jason Hock, chief content officer of HowStuffWorks, says, "Our listeners didn't love the experience. They often felt like they were being shouted at [with the dynamically-inserted ads]." As Digiday reports, while many podcasts are still trying to incorporate dynamically-inserted ads into their shows, other obstacles remain. One major one has to do with pricing and pacing – to make sure the advertisers get all the impressions they buy, particularly when podcasts have multiple runs. There is just not enough historical data collected to effectively facilitate that in many instances. Understanding the context of the audience can also be a problem. Third-party ads that have run on multiple platforms might not fit the context of a particular podcast, where a live host-read spot can be better tailored to the audience. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Podcasts are still in their early days so these situations have to be worked out over time with trial and error. But HowStuffWorks' Jason Hock seems adamant in advising podcasters to keep third-party ads at arm's length. "I would caution against taking spots that ran in a traditional platform like terrestrial radio and just running them in a medium like podcasts. It's important to understand the context and the audience for each medium." | | A Take: Digiday | |
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| | 38 | | Percentage of ad budgets spent on cross-platform TV and video buys in 2017, according to an Advertiser Perceptions survey of U.S. media agency and marketing professionals. That compares to 34% in 2016 and 32% in 2015. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | Thursday Football Down But NBC Still Wins | by Michael Malone
NBC rolled to the win in Thursday prime, with football leading to a 2.7 rating in viewers 18-49, and a 10 share. That easily beat the 1.6/6 put up by CBS. Football Night in America did a 1.9 on NBC, down a tenth of a point, and the game, Saints versus Falcons, was off 12% to 2.9. On CBS, The Big Bang Theory climbed 17% to 2.8 and Young Sheldon ticked up 5% to 2.2. Mom scored a flat 1.4 and Life in Pieces a level 1.1, before SWAT dropped 10% to a 0.9. ABC rated a 0.9/3. Shrek the Halls scored a 1.0 and Toy Story That Time Forgot a 0.9 before The Great American Baking Show premiered to a 0.8. Fox did a 0.8/3. Gotham rated a 0.8 and The Orville a 0.9, both scores flat. Univision was at 0.6/2. The CW rated a 0.5/2. Supernatural scored a flat 0.5 and Arrow a 0.4, down 56% from its crossover episode. Telemundo did a 0.4/1. | |
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| • JOE STAPLES was named a partner and executive creative director at Mother Los Angeles. He was most recently ECD at Wieden+Kennedy Portland.
• TERRY SAVAGE is leaving his post as chairman of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. He has been involved with the festival in various capacities for 33 years.
• SAFRA CATZ and FRANCIS DeSOUZA were elected to the board of The Walt Disney Co. Catz is CEO of Oracle, while DeSouza is president and CEO of Illumina.
• GARY JOHNSON was named head of corporate and business development at Pinterest. He was previously director of corporate development at Facebook.
• CHRIS STEPHENS and ZOE KESSLER were promoted to creative directors at Barton F. Graf. Stephens was previously a copywriter at the agency, and has also served as a copywriter at Goodby Silverstein & Partners and at TBWA/Chiat/Day. Kessler was previously a senior art director at the agency. Prior to that, she was held a similar role at McCann New York.
• JEFF STALLINGS was named VP, fan engagement at ESPN. He will be based in New York and will be responsible for growing the ESPN brand and building the ESPN relationship with fans. He was most recently senior director of media at Walmart. Prior to that, he was with Dell. | |
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| Technology Leadership Summit
February 28 – March 1, 2018 | Raleigh, NC
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20th Annual Multichannel News Wonder Women Luncheon
March 22, 2018 | New York, NY
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Advanced Advertising Summit – Spring Edition
March 26, 2018 | New York, NY
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Multicultural Television Summit
April 3, 2018 | New York, NY
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Technology Leadership Awards at NAB
April 9, 2018 | Las Vegas, NV
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The Programmatic Summit
June 2018 | New York
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Digital Media Tech Leadership Summit
June 2018 | Location TBD
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