The Scoop: 2.22.22
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There’s been so much good happening in digital, we’re exploding with love💌 🤟 – from our
Twitter reminder of good bots, to a Bitmoji virtual concert to promote a rom-com on Snap, to our long-lost love, Mr. Zuckerberg, inventing another word to show his affection for Meta that lights up the meme world 😂. See you in two weeks, Metamates!
Mental Health is for Everyone – AND WE MEAN EVERYONE
For years, the “Big Game” has been the top bill when it comes to advertising. Little known fact: one of the second biggest advertising days of the year follows closely behind it in February – Valentine’s Day. 💕 While many would assume this is a depressing holiday for some, data has shown that this day is not only geared toward advertising to men, it also negatively impacts their mental health. The holiday has been painted by marketers as a day in which men should purchase flashy gifts for their partners. While this perpetuates outdated gender norms, it should also act as a reminder for brands to look at their audience, how a message resonates and why it is important to be culturally aware of marketing perception. Add in a pandemic, and it is even more imperative that we focus our efforts on awareness in advertising.
Keeping Up with QR Codes
If you were one of the estimated 112 million people who tuned in to watch Super Bowl LVI, you may have stopped to ponder the Coinbase ad that featured just a QR code bouncing across the screen for 60 seconds, and resulted in the Coinbase app crashing due to traffic. A year ago, including a QR code as the only thing in your Super Bowl ad might not have made much marketing sense, but the pandemic has made QR codes more essential and ever-present. In 2022, 83.4 million U.S. adult smartphone users will scan a QR code. 😲 This share will rise to 42.6% by 2025. QR codes are also hip with the kids: 68% of Millennials are likely to scan QR codes while in a store as are 65% of Gen Zers and 58% of Gen Xers versus 35% of Boomers. Marketers will also be able to better track ROI, not just traffic, by offering data on customer behavior based on tracking metrics (e.g., number of scans, location of the scan, visits to a website, conversion rate, the device’s operating system, website URLs and phone numbers). Looking ahead, it’s time for brands to more seriously consider how QR codes can layer into their omnichannel strategy, by not only educating but tracking consumer behavior.
Sources: MORNING BREW, EMARKETER, THE VERGE
What is D2A Advertising and Should Pharma Marketers Be Doing It?
For every “Welcome to the metaverse” headline read, we must remember that gaming and entertainment are the primary ways in which these virtual words – worlds expected to serve as a pre-cursor to a true metaverse where all virtual worlds are interconnected – presently exist. Within these worlds, brands can create and sell products to an avatar, the digital version of a player. The mechanism of these sales is known as D2A, or direct to avatar. So, while the metaverse is not here yet, it’s coming, and there are already elements of the metaverse providing glimpses into healthcare’s future. Applications of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality show how surgeons may virtually scrub in 🎮 or help first responders provide hospital staff with patient information before being transported to the physical location 🚑. Gamification, a common tactic for encouraging active lifestyles, is another practical application for the metaverse, though barriers such as a need for AR or VR goggles, the complexity of the technology and privacy concerns are likely to slow adoption, which is especially relative to other industries.
Sources: EMARKETER, MM+M, FORBES, EMARKETER, EMARKETER
Watch Out TikTokers – There's a New Influencer in Town
What do you get when you cross a Sim character with Microsoft’s virtual assistant, Cortana? A virtual influencer (VI)! 💁That’s what we’re reminded of when we see these digital characters created using computer graphics. VIs are designed to simulate human qualities with unique personalities and appear to followers and audiences as alive and acting out of their own free will. And most importantly and similarly to human influencers, they can affect people’s decisions. Most recently, virtual influencer Dong Dong, an AI persona that hosted livestreams, made headlines for selling Olympics merch and sharing sports trivia at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. VIs are growing in popularity in China, where costs for human influencers are booming. But for all the benefits of virtual influencers, they also raise ethical questions. And unsurprisingly, Meta is first in line to start setting some ground rules. 😏
Sources: THE CONVERSATION, INPUT, MAKE USE OF, RETAIL TOUCHPOINTS
Is Social Freemium the Future?
With TikTok and Instagram exploring subscriptions and Twitter diving headfirst with Twitter blue, marketers are wondering what other changes are in store for currently ad-supported platforms. Twitter already offers ad-free articles in its Twitter Blue Publisher Network and addresses questions related to becoming ad-free. In a freemium revenue model, such as Spotify, users are offered the product for free while the platform leverages advertising to drive revenue. In the paid, upgraded experience, users have access to an enhanced product,
including no disruption by ads. 🤑 With consumers becoming more data and privacy conscious, time will tell whether social media platforms will offer a product that is ad-free and equally privacy conscious as part of an enhanced, subscription-based model. With that remains the question: where will the white space be for digital advertisers?
Sources: NY MAG, TWITTER, SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY, ENGADGET
And In Other News…
Google follows Apple in challenging Facebook and privacy, but delays implementation by two years! 🛑
Why we will always take our cues from Bollywood! 😊 “A Bollywood company paid $5K for a plot of virtual land” in the metaverse.
Contributing Writers and Editors: Nick Cardillo, Carissa Dagleish, Ricki Kahn, Lauren
Fernández Meihls, Stephen O’Neil, Jennie Szink and Bre Thomlison
Real Chemistry’s The Scoop is brought to you by an editorial collective, featuring industry updates and insights from subject matter experts across social media, digital and influencer activation teams.
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