Mobile Fix June 8
Apple
Whilst the annual Apple developer event WWDC saw lots of new features there wasn’t a lot of headlines. But their push for privacy has some serious effects on adtech in general and Facebook in particular.
But when you stem the flow of ad revenue one group that really suffer are the App Developers; the constituency Apple spend a huge amount of time supporting. And as we discussed last week, Apple need to build their services revenue as hardware sales flatline, so the $500bn Ad market must look more and more attractive. So it’s no surprise to us that Apple are looking at an ad play.
As a Fix friend points out, that about face must be driven by really big numbers;
https://twitter.com/damianburns/status/1003557878643425281
The people-heavy point is key — how does Apple quickly get to scale in ads? Do they have to buy someone? Who could that be?
The move to protect the privacy of Apple users also raises — again — the question of how long Apple let Google run their search as the default choice in Safari. Is the $3billion fee enough for Apple to let Google learn so much about their users through their less stringent privacy regime?
As Apple were subtly making their issues with them public, we heard that Facebook have been sharing user data with device manufacturers — including Apple. It’s likely that there are more past indiscretions to surface, but to me, the big news about Facebook was largely overlooked this week.
Digging into the Mary Meeker deck and we see this slide as really important; clickthroughs on ecommerce rose by 300% over the last two years. 3% clickthough.
This data — along with the burgeoning DNVB sector — proves that smart ads — targeted using signals — work. In just about every vertical we see brands blending data and creativity to make money. The ROI of these ads transform advertising from a cost to a profit centre.
Measurement — Making ads work
So measurement is key. The tweetstorm from Andrew Chen of Uber — our most clicked piece a couple of weeks ago — highlighting the issues with not digging into measurement properly is now expanded into an article that is still worth reading again.
Our friends at Infectious make the point that many people measure the wrong things and hence drive the wrong focus. Clicks — even the Facebook ones above — are an indicator rather than proof of any value and Meeker goes into the power of Lifetime value as a metric.
I think it was McKinsey who came up with the line that only things that are measured can be really managed. Their long piece on Why Digital Strategies Fail is a must read as they point out that misunderstanding the economics of digital is one core problem.
And smart BBH thinking highlights how the ad industry is looking at the wrong data when lionising IPA Effectiveness winners as models of best practice
Aligning objectives with measurement is a key part of success and we see many people missing out by getting this wrong — or more often — only party right.
Are you confident you are getting the right return from your digital marketing?
Content
The last bundle of premiership rights has finally found a buyer — and as we expected it’s Amazon. Given how long the negotiations have dragged on for — and the fact the price hasn’t been revealed — it’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Amazon say all games will be free for Prime customers but I wonder if some of the value could be recouped through ads at half time?
Insurgent Brands
One of this weeks’ challenges was explaining to a wonderful luxury brand how adopting the DNVB playbook could help them. Bain have shared a good paper on what they call Insurgent Brands and how they are rewriting the Growth playbook. Lots to learn here.
Snap
The latest research from Pew confirms what many have suspected; young people are turning away from Facebook and towards Snap and YouTube. Much of the coverage is unsurprisingly focused on the detrimental effect on Facebook but i was interested in how it supported a more positive view on Snap that came from Citron a few days earlier. This research points out that FB is valued at $345 per DAU (Daily Active User) vs. SNAP at $63 per DAU.
Fix friend @BeninJLM pointed out this excellent article by a former Amazon exec on barriers to growth and it covers all the key platforms, but especially Facebook and Snap. Long, but a must read.
Quick Reads
When i spoke at a Google event at Soho Farmhouse last year we found that most of the CMOs attending had pretty slow mobile sites. Google have now gone further and shared which brands have the best performing ones in the UK. This is now such an essential factor and a simple way to get ahead of the competition
At our recent VC event in New York we were delighted that the King of the LumaScapes Terry Kawaja spoke, and some of the content he shared is now included in his latest State of Digital report. A must read
More product development from Instagram — long form video is coming
Amazon are promoting the people behind the most popular skills on Alexa. Getting discovery right for Skills feels like a big opportunity
Whilst we blather on about data, media and content we still love creativity and it’s our ambition to better blend these elements. I love the new Adidas World Cup ad because the people behind it clearly understand the grammar of the media they are using.
It features dozens of influencers and a few celebs, but blink and you miss some of them.
So it’s a poor TV ad. But online it is brilliant as people can (and will) watch it again and again, rewind and pause it. Each time spotting someone new. Yes that was Messi, Pharrell and Beckham. It rewards repeat viewing.
With more bad news for the high street, this look at the Farfetch store of the future is interesting. The price point may be high but lots of this thinking is relevant to other high street retailers. Retail is a ky focus for us and our friends at KBS Albion. If you are a high street brand we would love to talk about how we might help.
Back to the future; two articles about the early days of digital advertising. One on the guys behind Right Media who essentially invented Programmatic. And one from 2002 on the Google search for a business model
Finally…. I have lots of books to read at the moment. Still haven’t quite finished She’s Back, my Wifes excellent book on rebooting careers and Tom Goodwin kindly gave me a copy of his highly acclaimed book Digital Darwinism which I can’t wait to start. But I also had to order Frenemies by Ken Auletta, one of the best writers on media. He makes a strong case for advertising in this interview — and i totally agree with his argument;
What’s cooking at the Media Kitchen?
A busy week, getting out of our Shoreditch Ivory tower. I did talks to the smart people at Weve and then the smart people at Contagious. My theme of optimism about ads post GDPR, and the need to rehumanise marketing, provoked lots of discussion and smart questions.
We did a new business chemistry session alongside our friends at KBS Albion, looking at how the DNVB playbook can help a luxury brand grow around the world. And I managed to get to the second half of the excellent IAB Engage conference. As well as seeing a bunch of old friends I saw some great speakers, including Fix Friend Tom Goodwin and AdTech royalty Brian O’Kelly — featured in the Right Media piece mentioned above.
Hearing Tom talk reminded me of this tweet of his — which sort of sums up what we are doing with the Media Kitchen in London; smart thinking to drive growth and we can execute both media and creative if needed. Hit me up if that sounds interesting.
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