Business of Media
Google and Meta win support from publishers before landmark review
Australia’s top media publishers believe the government’s media bargaining code has had its desired effect of ensuring Google and Facebook’s parent company Meta pay to use their news content, ahead of a keenly awaited review into the scheme and as Meta makes threats to stop similar rules becoming law in Canada, reports Nine Publishing’s Mark Di Stefano and Edmund Tadros.
The code, passed by the Morrison government last year, fundamentally changed the relationship between Australia’s media companies and Google and Facebook’s parent company Meta with tens of millions of new dollars flowing into the hands of publishers each year.
Treasury has been looking into whether Google and Meta have struck fair deals with media publishers under the code, and aims to release a review into its operation before the end of the year.
Crucially, the review will decide whether either company should be officially “designated” under the code – a move which would compel them into negotiations with publishers. Google and Meta have struck what is estimated to be as many as 20 deals with Australia’s biggest publishers over the past 18 months to pre-empt designation.
TikTok builds itself into an ads juggernaut
Last month, Tiffany & Company shared a sleek black-and-white video featuring the pop superstar Beyoncé dripping in gems and surrounded by nightclub revelers. The minute-long jewelry ad was posted on Instagram, where it drew 1.6 million views, report The New York Times’ Kalley Huang, Isabella Simonetti and Tiffany Hsu.
A week later, Tiffany posted a different video on TikTok, the viral short-video app. That ad showed the social media personality Kate Bartlett talking directly to viewers from a bathroom and then trying on small trinkets at a Tiffany store. It has been watched more than 5.2 million times.
TikTok was once best known for viral dance videos and pop songs. But in recent years, the app — which is owned by China’s ByteDance — has also built itself into a digital advertising juggernaut, selling access to its growing internet foothold to brands and developing products that make it easier to advertise on the platform.
This year, TikTok is on track to make nearly $10 billion in ad revenue, more than double what it generated last year, according to estimates from the research company Insider Intelligence. TikTok’s ad revenue this year is expected to eclipse that of rivals like Twitter and Snap, although its business remains small compared with Google and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
Musk says he has ‘too much on plate’ amid reports of more Twitter job cuts
Elon Musk has said he has “too much work on my plate” as it was reported that Twitter has axed more than 4,000 contractors working in areas including content moderation and engineering, reports The Guardian’s Dan Milmo.
The Tesla chief executive and the social media platform’s new owner told the B20 business leaders’ conference in Bali that “my workload has recently increased quite a lot”, in apparent reference to his $44bn (£37bn) acquisition of the social media platform on 27 October.
“I mean, oh, man. I have too much work on my plate, that is for sure,” he added, speaking via video link.
Asked what it felt like to be a “media mogul” after buying Twitter he said: “It is a medium as opposed to media. But there’s no way to make everyone happy, that’s for sure.”
Musk’s comments on Monday followed a report at the weekend that a new jobs cull at Twitter had affected 4,400 of the company’s 5,500 contract employees, according to Casey Newton, the author of the tech industry newsletter Platformer.
Agencies
Hall of Good inductees revealed at UnLtd: Big Dream
The 4th annual UnLtd: Big Dream event took place last week and saw over 700 people across the media, marketing and creative industry come together.
The event aimed to celebrate and showcase the positive impact the industry has had on young people at risk.
The inductees to the Hall of Good were revealed at the event with Initiative winning the Good Company category, Philippa Noilea-Tani from Wavemaker awarded as the Social Change Maker and Boys Do Cry by The Hallway & Initiative chosen as the Campaign for Good.
Nina Nyman, CMO at UnLtd commended on Initiative’s long-term commitment to giving back: “For several years, Initiative has been delivering impactful and positive change.
“It’s a commitment they invest heavily into and it’s delivering results, not just to the not-for-profits they support, but to our industry, and their staff. They were the first media agency in the world to establish a division dedicated to impact-led media planning. They are not just an advocate of good but a great example of how to integrate it into a business.”
Shoppable ad formats from Kargo drive lift in key ad performance metrics
New research from SmartCommerce and MediaScience proves that high-impact commerce-focused CPG ad creative drives higher awareness, memorability, and purchase intent. Kargo has released a new research paper in partnership with SmartCommerce and MediaScience that shows how unique ad formats with shoppable components perform better than a control for a variety of key ad metrics.
The study sought to quantify the value of shoppable ad units overall compared to standard banners, identify whether specific cart flows or ad formats are more effective drivers of conversions, and obtain consumer feedback on the overall e-commerce experience. The study finds that shoppable ad units drove significantly higher results across awareness, memorability, and purchase intent.
Two Kargo ad formats (Venti, Breakaway) with commerce-focused CTAs were tested to determine how much attention Kargo shoppable ads garner compared to standard display ads. Additionally, two unique carting flows (Click2Cart and Shopper’s Choice) were tested to better understand the impact carting plays on the effectiveness of shoppable ad units.
• 2x attention lift: Users looked at both Kargo ad formats for at least 2x as long and fixated 2x as many times vs. standard banners
• 2x memory lift: Kargo shoppable ads produced 2x stronger brand memory than standard banners, indicated by significantly higher unaided and aided recall and brand recognition
• 50% purchase intent lift: Click2Cart and Shopper’s Choice promoted 50% higher purchase completion intent than the standard banner
News Brands
‘Forensic, fair and fascinating’: WAtoday wins at media awards
Using information gathered through his industry contact list, WAtoday business journalist Peter Milne exposed the hellish working conditions on board the world’s biggest offshore gas site, Prelude, reports Nine Publishing’s Daile Cross.
On Saturday night his exclusive reporting saw him win best Business, Economics or Finance report at the annual WA Media Awards, the state’s pre-eminent journalism awards.
Milne exposed the problems plaguing the world’s largest vessel, Shell’s Prelude, moored 475 kilometres from Broome off WA’s north-west coast; this story just one example of the vital reporting he has contributed since joining the WAtoday team just over a year ago.
His series on the Prelude took readers aboard the ship as it was plunged into chaos by cascading failures of power systems.
Television
Secret Nine meeting brokers Warnie truce
The late Shane Warne’s family and Channel Nine have finally buried the hatchet after what Diary is told was a secret meeting during the last fortnight. In September, the story was very different. Warne’s eldest daughter Brooke made no secret on multiple occasions of her disgust at a telemovie Nine had announced it was making about Warne’s life soon after his death, dubbing it “beyond disrespectful”, reports The Australian’s Nick Tabakoff.
But last week came a radical about-face. Nine made clear through a press release that the Warne family had now “offered their support” for the series.
What changed? A key breakthrough came in a “full and frank” meeting in Melbourne Cup week, in which differences were hammered out and a truce reached between Nine and the Warne family.
The secret Melbourne meeting was attended by Warne family members, Nine’s drama chief Andy Ryan, Warne’s personal manager James Erskine (who had been highly critical of the drama after it was announced), as well as the telemovie’s makers, production house Screentime.
The family made it clear part of the problem the family had with the telemovie was that they were blindsided by the network’s announcement of it so soon after Warne’s death.
Cafe Tabouli owner claims Kitchen Nightmare makeover turned her business into laughing stock
A Homebush cafe owner who appeared on Channel Seven’s Kitchen Nightmares said she’s lost business since appearing on the show because customers think her restaurant is “a joke,” reports News Corp’s Karlie Rutherford.
Virginia Cheong is the owner of Cafe de Vie, which during a recent episode of the reality show was transformed into Lebanese restaurant Cafe Tabouli by the production team.
Cheong said the show’s decision to turn her cafe’s assorted menu into a Lebanese restaurant has caused a downturn in business, especially because Cheong is of Chinese heritage and doesn’t have experience in a Lebanese kitchen.
Cheong claims that since her cafe was rebranded two months ago, she’s lost $4000 a week in business.