Just Ad'ed July 29 - August 2

This week: Streaming giants shake up the market with major mergers and new ventures, TikTok introduces its App Center to streamline SMB advertising, digital ad spend rises across key channels despite higher costs, and SurveyMonkey launches advanced CX tools to enhance customer feedback strategies.

Bundling Up: How Mergers Are Warming Up the Streaming Wars

📈 What Happened?

The media landscape is seeing significant collaborations, with Paramount and Skydance merging, and major streaming services like Apple TV+, Netflix, and Peacock bundled together under Comcast’s StreamSaver. Additionally, Venu Sports, a new joint sports streaming venture between Warner Bros. Discovery, ESPN, and Fox, is gearing up for a fall launch.

🔍 Why Does It Matter?

These mergers and collaborations could significantly impact the market, offering bundled services that may attract more subscribers. For Venu Sports, the involvement of industry veterans and the unique branding indicate a strong entry into the competitive sports streaming market. This could reshape how audiences access sports content, potentially affecting advertising strategies.

⚖️  What Should We Do? 

Companies investing heavily in advertising, especially in the sports sector, should monitor these developments closely. With Venu Sports under regulatory scrutiny and facing an antitrust lawsuit from Fubo, advertisers should stay informed about the legal outcomes and consider the implications for media buys and partnerships. It's crucial to be prepared for any shifts in the market landscape as these new ventures roll out. 

Ad Magic for SMBs: TikTok Introduces App Center

📈 What Happened? 

TikTok launched the App Center, a platform designed to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) enhance their advertising efforts on TikTok. The App Center features tools developed by third-party developers, supporting various aspects of advertising from ideation to reporting.

🔍 Why Does It Matter?

The TikTok App Center offers advertisers easy access to a range of tools that simplify campaign management, creative production, and reporting. This integration helps businesses streamline their advertising processes, making it easier to scale and achieve measurable results on TikTok. It provides a centralized hub for discovering, accessing, and utilizing tools that enhance advertising efficiency and effectiveness.

⚖️  What Should We Do?

Explore the TikTok App Center to leverage its tools for optimizing TikTok ad campaigns. By utilizing the App Center's resources, advertisers can enhance their creative output, streamline campaign management, and gain deeper insights through advanced reporting and analytics. 

Ad Spend Soars: Retail, Search, and Social Shine in Q2

📈 What Happened?

Digital advertising spend increased across retail media, paid search, and paid social in Q2 2024, despite rising ad prices. Retail media spend grew by 21% year-over-year, paid search spend increased by 6% YoY, and paid social spend rose by 13% YoY. Higher ad prices drove most of the spending growth, with ad volumes slowing or decreasing in some channels.

🔍 Why Does It Matter? 

Despite the rising costs, conversion rates have remained steady, indicating that advertisers are efficiently utilizing the latest tools from Google and Meta. This stability in key performance metrics suggests improved ad efficiency and potential opportunities for advertisers who can navigate the evolving landscape. The shift to newer ad formats like Google’s Performance Max and Meta’s Advantage Shopping Campaigns+ is contributing to these changing dynamics.

⚖️  What Should We Do?

Focus on optimizing their strategies with the latest tools and ad formats from Google and Meta. Despite higher prices, maintaining performance is possible through efficient use of these tools. Monitor the developments in ad formats and consider leveraging Performance Max and Advantage Shopping Campaigns+ to enhance ad efficiency and effectiveness during this period of price increases.

CX Magic: SurveyMonkey's New Tools Make Waves

📈 What Happened?

SurveyMonkey launched a new suite of CX tools to enhance customer experiences via feedback collected on its Enterprise platform. Key features include Salesforce integration, multichannel feedback collection, and survey branding.

🔍 Why Does It Matter? 

This suite offers accessible and user-friendly CX tools for businesses of all sizes. By leveraging familiar survey tools, it aims to be simpler than other experience management solutions, appealing to a broad audience.

⚖️  What Should We Do?

Integrate SurveyMonkey's new CX suite to boost customer experience strategies. Utilize features like AI-powered surveys, CX benchmarking, and multichannel feedback collection, along with integrations with platforms like Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot, and Tableau.

AI Meets ROI: Perplexity Pledges Profits to Publishers

📈  What Happened?

Perplexity, an AI-powered search startup, has launched a "Publishers’ Program" to share ad revenue with media partners, addressing recent plagiarism controversies. Initial partners include Time, Der Spiegel, and Fortune, and the program offers publishers a significant share of ad revenue and free access to advanced tools.

🔍  Why Does It Matter?

This program could open a significant new channel for digital advertising, offering alternatives to dominant players like Google. The initiative highlights the importance of ethical content usage and fair compensation in the digital advertising landscape.

⚖️  What Should We Do?

Advertisers should explore opportunities with Perplexity’s program to diversify their advertising strategies. Monitoring the program’s impact and comparing it with competitors like OpenAI can enhance advertising ROI and align with ethical practices. 

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