By: Ray Day

CONTACT:

Ray Day
ray.day@stagwellglobal.com 

We wanted to share our latest consumer and business insights, based on research from The Harris Poll, a Stagwell agency.

Among the highlights of wave 140 (fielded Oct. 28-Oct. 30) in our weekly consumer sentiment tracking:

ECONOMY, INFLATION WORRIES MODERATE; JOB WORRIES JUMP:

Today, 86% of Americans are concerned about the economy, inflation and jobs – down 3 points from last week. At the same time, worries about losing a job jumped significantly.

    • 83% worry about a potential U.S. recession (down 2 points)
    • 82% about U.S. crime rates (no change)
    • 74% about political divisiveness (down 1 point)
    • 72% about the War on Ukraine (down 2 points)
    • 72% about affording their living expenses (no change)
    • 62% about a new COVID-19 variant (up 1 point)
    • 54% about losing their jobs (up 7 points)
    • 48% about the Monkeypox outbreak (up 4 points)
INFLATION AT THE NORTH POLE:

Eight in 10 (84%) Americans plan to buy gifts for others this holiday season, and they have set their 2022 gift-giving budget at $823, according to our survey with NerdWallet.

    • Close to a third (31%) of last year’s holiday shoppers are still in debt after using a credit card to pay for gifts they still haven’t paid off.
    • 72% of this year’s holiday shoppers will use credit cards, charging $663 on average.
    • Inflation is affecting how some shoppers approach gift-giving this year: 83% plan to adjust as a result of inflation, including giving different types of gifts compared to years past (36%) and spending less per person compared to years past (35%).
    • 43% say they feel pressure to spend more money on holiday gifts than they’re comfortable spending.
    • 68% plan to shop Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales this year.
    • 50% say they’ll spend the most on gifts while shopping these sales.
    • Still, 30% plan to use Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales to buy necessities for their home or family.
    • 67% say they will do their holiday shopping online instead of in-store this year.
OPEN ENROLLMENT BELT-TIGHTENING:

It’s healthcare open-enrollment season, and many workers are considering downgrading their health insurance because of high inflation, according to our survey with the Nationwide Retirement Institute.

    • 17% of respondents in the last 12 months adjusted their family’s budget to pay for health care expenses.
    • 12% canceled or changed health insurance.
    • 10% withdrew funds from their retirement account to pay for health care expenses.
    • 8% downgraded their health insurance plan.
    • 14% of Americans say they are considering downgrading their health insurance plan during this year’s open enrollment – rising to 23% for Gen Z and 20% for Millennials.
    • Americans also are experiencing high levels of stress around retirement and retirement planning because of inflation: 47% report their top stressor is inflation, 30% worry about Social Security running out of funds, and 29% are concerned about an unexpected decline in their health.
EMPLOYEES’ ADVICE TO HR: LESS IS MORE:

When it comes to HR tech platforms to improve the work experience, less is more, according to our survey with HR Brew.

    • On average, employees report using 3.4 HR platforms and 8.1 total HR and productivity tools in general.
    • 69% of employees with one HR platform said they felt confident they could find the information they need.
    • Confidence plummeted to 49% among those whose company has more than one HR platform.
    • In today’s economic climate, employees have an appetite for financial planning solutions (80% favorability among Millennials and 72% among Gen X) and the lowest need for new social networking tools.
INTEREST IN WOMEN’S SPORTS CLIMBING:

The popularity of women’s sports has grown by leaps and bounds – and consumers want to see the trend continue, according to Stagwell’s National Research Group’s new report, Leveling the Playing Field.

    • In the U.S., 3 in 10 sports fans say they’re watching more women’s sports now than they were five years ago.
    • The broadcast market for women’s sports grew significantly worldwide this year, thanks in part to successful events like the UEFA European Women’s Championship and ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
    • Even in the U.S., which didn’t compete in those tournaments, the market grew by 29% compared with 2021.
    • 85% of fans – including 79% of men – think that it’s important for women’s sports to continue to grow in popularity.
    • The Olympics proved there’s growing demand for women’s sports. During the Tokyo Games, in half of the 10 most widely viewed sports, viewership for women’s events was higher than men’s.
ICYMI:

In case you missed it, check out some of the thought-leadership and happenings around Stagwell making news:

As always, if helpful, we would be happy to provide more info on any of these data or insights. Please do not hesitate to reach out.

 

 

 

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Connie Lin,
Fast Company

Read this article on Fast Company 

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Nigeria sits at Africa’s heart: Geographically, it’s nestled middle-left of the curve in the kidney bean-shaped land mass, and its economy boasts the highest GDP on the continent (nearing $450 billion in 2021). The pulse of the country beats with the pace of rapid transformation. It harbors the world’s sixth-largest population, which is also among the fastest growing, projected to surpass the United States by 2050.

It’s a country of strivers, on the verge of reinventing itself—and it has fluxed socially and culturally in recent years. But one constant anchor is the promise of the internet in delivering a better future, reveals a new report from the National Research Group (NRG), a division of global marketing firm Stagwell.

Over the summer, NRG partnered with a media agency based in Lagos, the country’s largest city, to dive deep into the Nigeria’s shifting landscape—one that, despite its position at the heart of Africa, is still a mystery to much of the Western world (if not to the East—where it has caught the eye of economic powerhouses like China, which has poured millions into Nigerian infrastructure to cement strategic trade partnerships).

The report is the first in a series focusing on high-growth emerging markets, and draws from a June-July survey of 5,000 Nigerian consumers, ages 16 to 64, whose responses were interwoven with commentary from academics and industry experts. It sketches the portrait of a country reenergized by young blood, that has lagged on technological development in many ways, but now hopes to leapfrog into the digital race.

 

NEW DIGITAL NATIVES, CONNECTED BY SMARTPHONES

First and foremost, it notes: Nigeria runs on mobile technology. According to the data, 92% of people in the country own a smartphone, and the device dominates as a mode of entertainment for most. Over half (55%) of all TV shows and movies are watched on smartphones, and the vast majority (83%) of gaming is played on them as well. As NRG’s content and strategy executive Kerri Norton explains to Fast Company, this is partly out of economic necessity. Some Nigerians don’t have other devices for streaming. Laptop ownership is at 70%, and desktop computer ownership is significantly lower at 16%. Less than 30% own tablets or smart TVs, and only 15% own gaming consoles.

But beyond that, mobile is a godsend for Nigerians living with the state’s still relatively poor electricity infrastructure, says Samuel Odusami of SBI Media, the Nigeria-based agency that served as NRG’s local partner on the ground. “Because [Nigerians] don’t have access to uninterrupted power 24/7, mobile technology has become their savior,” says Odusami, adding that power-bank businesses have boomed in Nigeria, helping many stay wired to the internet for longer, on the road or at home, when the grid is down.

Consequently, the often-slow speed of internet is viewed as the biggest tech problem in the market, one that many hope the 5G revolution will solve. Nearly 70% of those surveyed are aware of the impending 5G rollout, and 81% of Nigerians believe it will “transform my country for the better.” In rural and low-income communities, where internet connections are spottiest, many believe 5G offers a chance to “catch up,” as faster streaming translates into more business productivity, the report notes.

“It’s a democratization of access across all socioeconomic classes,” says Anas Ghazi, Stagwell’s chief strategy officer. “It’s allowed for an entrepreneur mindset, as Nigeria [pursues] its largest revenue generation in the next five years.”

 

THE SKITMAKER HUSTLE

That entrepreneurial spirit of capitalism and “hustle culture” has long reigned in Nigeria, even as unemployment rates increased and the economy struggled. But now, it’s being supercharged by Nigeria’s largest population of youth in the world—skewing the country’s median age to just 18 years old—who have seized upon the internet as a way out of the well. “It’s a window of opportunity for young people,” says Odusami, who cites a rising generation of so-called skitmakers as proof.

Nigerian skitmakers create social media content, but they do it without the popular influencer luxuries—studios to shoot videos, or pricy tools for animation—choosing to invest only in a high-end smartphone, perhaps an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, to stitch together content for YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms.

The goal is to go viral, and many have flocked to try. The country now has a nest of creators numbering in the thousands—including some with millions of views, says Odusami—who have used their success as a springboard to start full-fledged production companies, even in the mainstream movie industry. Collectively, skitmaker startups employ close to 5,200 people, he says. Among the most prominent is Mr Macaroni, who broke through with YouTube comedy and now tours the world promoting Nigerian issues.

For those who don’t strike it big, skitmaking might be just one of many enterprises. “Even people with 9 to 5 jobs have what we call ‘side hustles,’” says Odusami. “In Nigeria, you can’t [support] a family without multiple streams of income.” They might start blogs or YouTube channels, or they might start a business that has nothing to do with social media—but the internet remains a through line. Learning to code, or leveraging e-commerce to sell Nigerian cuisine in foreign countries, are among the examples he cites.

But despite the hustle, Nigerians still feel “behind” on tech development, NRG’s report finds. Only one in three survey respondents said their country was currently “very innovative,” compared to over half of respondents in India, which served as a pseudo-control group for the study.

According to Odusami, Nigerians hope the grind can help bridge the gap. “They are hungry to feed themselves,” he says. “Hungry to make a name, hungry to become financially independent.”

CRYPTO UNLOCKED

As businesses grew, Nigerians needed a way to accept payments globally—something that wasn’t possible with PayPal, Google Pay, or other legacy platforms. That ignited a boom in enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, one that has dwarfed awareness of crypto in the United States. In Nigeria, 90% responded that they were aware and knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies, while 71% said the same for the blockchain and 59% for NFTs. (In a November 2021 Pew Research report, only 24% of Americans said they had heard “a lot” about crypto.)

“Now you have businesses who accept payments in crypto, in stablecoins like USDC and Binance Coin,” says Odusami. But even as people began to adopt crypto for everyday goods like groceries and taxi rides, the Nigerian government’s central bank in 2021 began to restrict Bitcoin services in the country. According to a recent joint report from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations, the crackdown crippled “millions of young Nigerians” who were making money from crypto trading. However, the report also suggested that some found a way to “lawfully bypass these restrictions and continue the business.” The same month, crypto exchange KuCoin reported that 33 million Nigerians had owned or traded crypto in the last half year.

According to Odusami, 20 to 30 global crypto exchanges have a presence in Nigeria and are actively targeting Nigerian customers—including Binance, which is a client of SBI Media in five African countries.

Meanwhile, the hustle has moved onto the blockchain. Odusami cites the story of a Nigerian man who created his own NFT project from photos of drummers at a traditional Nigerian wedding ceremony—a cultural rite beloved not just in dance, but also as a musical retelling of the betrotheds’ mothers and fathers through the years. The man made a killing—and returned to the ceremonial village to give the drummers 70% of the proceeds.

BIG TECH’S SWAY

According to the survey, Silicon Valley Big Tech companies (including social media) wield tremendous influence in Nigeria, with their command of the culture second only to religious institutions. It tops that of colleges and universities, as well as the government, and both Hollywood and Nollywood.

It’s perhaps no surprise that giants of crypto and social media—which have speckled reputations in the States—are viewed much more positively in Nigeria, because, as Norton explains, the impact of both technologies within the country has been overwhelmingly positive. It offers freedom of entrepreneurship and liberation from circumstances, a lifeline that keeps Nigerians afloat, and working, and connecting with the rest of the world. It might even have the power to combat corrupt governments and state overreach.

But Nigeria is young, and it will still have to fight for its place in a competitive world. “Nigeria is on the map to grow significantly over the next 10, 15, even 5 years,” says Norton. “They want to be where the future is.”

So, it hustles on.

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By: Ray Day

CONTACT:

Ray Day
ray.day@stagwellglobal.com 

We wanted to share our latest consumer and business insights, based on research from The Harris Poll, a Stagwell agency. 

Among the highlights of wave 139 (fielded Oct. 21-Oct. 23) in our weekly consumer sentiment tracking:

ECONOMY, INFLATION WORRIES REMAIN STEADY:

Today, 89% of Americans are concerned about the economy, inflation and jobs – the same high level as last week.

    • 85% worry about a potential U.S. recession (no change)
    • 82% about U.S. crime rates (down 1 point)
    • 75% about political divisiveness (up 1 point)
    • 74% about the War on Ukraine (no change)
    • 72% about affording their living expenses (down 1 point)
    • 61% about a new COVID-19 variant (up 1 point)
    • 47% about losing their jobs (no change)
    • 44% about the Monkeypox outbreak (down 4 points)
INFLATION IS AMERICA’S #1 STRESSOR:

How stressed are Americans, and what’s causing it? The answers are clear in the 2022 Stress in America survey we conducted with the American Psychological Association.

    • 27% of Americans report being so stressed that they cannot function most days.
    • Inflation is the #1 stressor for 83% of adults. That is followed by violence and crime (75%), the current political climate (66%) and the racial climate (62%).
    • 76% say the future of the nation is a significant source of stress in their lives.
    • 68% say this is the lowest point in our nation’s history that they can remember.
    • 57% who indicated money was a worry said that having enough money to pay for things like food or rent/mortgage is their main source of stress.
    • 43% reported feeling that saving enough money for things in the future is their main source of stress.
    • 56% agreed that they and/or their family have had to make different choices due to lack of money in the past month, with Latino/a (66%) and Black Americans (59%) reporting this at a higher level than White (52%) and Asian (45%) American adults.
EMPLOYEES WARMING UP TO BACK-TO-OFFICE:

As we continue tracking return-to-office requirements, a majority of employees still say they will jump jobs if forced back to the office full-time. Yet the numbers of workers resisting return-to-office are much lower than three months ago, based on our survey with USA Today.

    • 57% of employed Americans say companies will lose employees if they require workers to be in-person (down 9 points from June).
    • 73% of remote and hybrid workers say they would find another remote or hybrid job if their company forced them to work from the office full-time (down 5 points from June).
    • In an earlier study with Bloomberg, 57% of workers said they believe that employers now have more power in the job market (a 5-point increase in favor of employers from January).
INFLUENCERS MATTER:

Nearly half of U.S. consumers consider input from influencers when purchasing a product or service – especially younger people, according to our survey with AdAge.

    • 80% of Gen Z consult user reviews before purchasing, and 75% say that recommendations from influencers affect their decision – nearly double the general population at 43%.
    • 40% of Gen Z members have made purchases directly through an influencer’s storefront on sites like Amazon and LTK.
    • 73% also report looking to TikTok creators for product input, with Instagram and YouTube influences being similarly popular choices.
BRANDS GETTING GEN Z RIGHT:

Beats by Dre, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Planned Parenthood, Lenovo and New Balance are doing the right things to capture the attention of Gen Z, according to the latest Ad Age-Harris Poll Gen Z brand tracker, a ranking of brands gaining the most attention from Gen Z members ages 18-24 in the third quarter.

    • Also doing better with Gen Z are Kickstarter, Impossible Foods, Coach, Flex Seal, Foot Locker, Pillsbury, Haagen-Dazs, Bose, Nature Valley, North Face, Crocs, NHL, Paramount, Fiji and State Farm.
    • See full details here.
ICYMI:

In case you missed it, check out some of the thought-leadership and happenings around Stagwell making news:

As always, if helpful, we would be happy to provide more info on any of these data or insights. Please do not hesitate to reach out.

 

Thank you.

 

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By: Maggie Malek, CEO, MMI Agency

Originally Released on
The Marketing Insider

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One of the great loves of my life (and one of my best kept secrets — until now) is gaming.

I have spent so much time online playing games, but it’s something I never talk about. Why? Maybe it’s because I’m a woman. Maybe it’s because I’m a CEO. Maybe I’m afraid I won’t be taken seriously.

But that time is past. It is now time for me to “step out of the shadows,” especially as an advocate for women in advertising, marketing and business in general, because now there is a particularly compelling reason to discuss it.

Thinking like a gamer is a superpower. Considering all the talk about gaming around us, the ability to understand that storytelling environment — or, how to “think like a gamer” — is an enormous asset. It’s estimated the global gaming market will amount to $268 billion annually in 2025. The opportunities for brands in this space are nearly limitless.

Using gaming to engage and convert. You can’t change hearts and minds with a big idea alone. Connecting and converting the modern consumer is all about meeting them where they are, in the thick of the customer journey, where multiple touchpoints build a lasting connection with your brand. It is that point where gaming can be… well, a game-changer.

As an audience segment for advertisers, gaming has been somewhat on the fringe. Brands and advertisers have generally not understood how to engage. As the space becomes more mainstream, though, opportunities for brands that are willing to explore are growing.

Successful campaigns start where brand followers are consuming content online.

That is where we should be telling stories. And we know gamers have active audiences that drive conversion. Gaming truly is the convergence of performance and possibility.

Gaming is only getting bigger. As marketers, though, we’ve really only scratched the surface; gaming is now everywhere. Women make up 45% of gamers in the U.S., which has been the case for a decade. The average age of gamers is 31, and 80% of all gamers are over the age of 18. According to Nielsen, 58% of the total U.S. population in 2013 were gamers. Today, it’s grown to 72%.

The opportunity for brands to create content for this massive (and growing) audience, then, is incredible, and it’s particularly exciting to see these possibilities opening up in the industry I love.

A lifelong gamer. From growing up battling my dad on our PC with Star Wars race games and Lemmings, to my first Game Boy, to my limited edition blue Sega Genesis, I have always been playing. Today, I’ve graduated to an array of games, from my Nintendo Switch to PokemonGO on my phone — and can we talk about how Edith Finch is the most beautiful game of all time!?

In fact, I run a Discord group for gamers, because we wanted to make sure there was a positive (no trolls allowed) corner of the internet for people to go. That group and its members were already a happy place for me, and then when I later got to meet the Discord team at a Stagwell SXSW event… major fan girl moment!

What’s next?

It’s practically a fait accompli that, moving forward, gaming is going to be a part of brands’ advertising media mix. Brands need to explore partnerships from in-game product placement to sponsoring gaming influencers, and partnering with all the social networks that focus on gaming.

No matter the story you are trying to tell, it’s now increasingly likely that a portion of your audience is spending time with gaming communities online. If you aren’t creating content there, you are missing out on rich engagement.

Gaming is the evolution of influencer marketing; it’s the evolution of CTV and display networks, of VR. And it’s the next stage of the industry we’re in. As the conversation on opportunities for branded content in games grows and evolves, brands will benefit from working with agencies that actually understand the space.

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By: Ray Day

CONTACT:

Ray Day
ray.day@stagwellglobal.com 

We wanted to share our latest consumer and business insights, based on research from The Harris Poll, a Stagwell agency. 

Among the highlights of wave 138 (fielded Oct. 14-Oct. 16) in our weekly consumer sentiment tracking:

ECONOMY, INFLATION WORRIES UP AGAIN:

Today, 89% of Americans are concerned about the economy, inflation and jobs – up 3 points from last week.

    • 85% worry about a potential U.S. recession (up 3 points)
    • 83% about U.S. crime rates (up 2 points)
    • 74% about political divisiveness (up 1 point)
    • 74% about the War on Ukraine (up 1 point)
    • 73% about affording their living expenses (no change)
    • 60% about a new COVID-19 variant (up 3 points)
    • 48% about the Monkeypox outbreak (up 1 point)
    • 47% about losing their jobs (down 1 point)
VOTERS SEE ECONOMY ON NOVEMBER BALLOT:

Mid-term elections are less than three weeks away, and inflation and the economy might be casting the deciding votes, according to our latest survey with Harvard’s Center for American Political Studies.

    • When asked to pick the most important issues facing the country today, voters identified inflation (37%), the economy and jobs (29%), immigration (23%) and crime (18%).
    • 73% believe inflation is increasing (versus 12% who say it is moderating and 14% who say it is staying the same).
    • 65% think the U.S. economy today is weak (versus 35% who say strong), and 57% say their financial situation is worse (up 20 points from a year ago).
    • 84% think the U.S. is in a recession now or will be in the next year.
    • 65% oppose easing sanctions on countries like Iran and Venezuela to lower gas and oil prices. Instead, they want greater output of American oil and gas.
    • 54% think the U.S. should cut military sales and technical aid to the Saudi Arabian government in response to its oil production cut.
NO KIDS = FREEDOM, MILLENNIALS SAY:

Americans are having fewer children than are needed to keep population numbers stable. Yet why are people choosing not to have children? In our survey:

    • Of those without children, 52% do not want to have a child in the future, while 20% remain unsure.
    • For those who have decided against having children, 54% want to maintain their personal independence/finances, 40% want work-life balance, 33% say it’s due to housing prices, 31% cite the current political situation, 31% say it’s because of safety concerns, and 28% cite climate change.
    • 55% of men and 53% of women reported that their desire to maintain independence influences their decision not to have children.
    • 65% agree that the freedom that comes with not having kids brings them happiness – increasing to 73% among Millennials, according to a similar survey with Fortune.
CREDIT SCORES IMMUNE FROM PANDEMIC:

The pandemic disrupted many Americans’ finances, yet that did not translate into lower credit scores, according to our survey with NerdWallet.

    • 27% of Americans say their credit score has gone up since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with just 14% saying it declined.
    • 69% with increasing credit scores attribute the gain to paying down debt.
    • For those who saw their scores drop, 47% attribute it to taking on or increasing debt.
    • 65% with higher credit scores took financial action as a result, such as applying for a rewards credit card (30%) or a mortgage/home equity line of credit (25%).
    • 61% of Americans plan to act during the next year to improve their credit scores, with half (49%) planning to pay off or pay down debt.
    • Still, credit misconceptions remain, with 46% of Americans incorrectly believing that closing a credit card you don’t use can help improve a credit score.
1 IN 4 ARE HALLOWEEN CANDY LOYALISTS:

With Halloween around the corner, our survey with Instacart has revealed consumers’ latest candy-buying habits.

    • 72% of Americans say they like Halloween.
    • 24% say Halloween is their favorite holiday.
    • 84% of people who buy Halloween candy will buy chocolate, while 56% will purchase fruity and chewy candy.
    • 23% of Americans are candy loyalists – with 65% buying the same Halloween candy for five or more years, and 40% buying the same types of Halloween candy for 10 or more years.
    • 63% of Americans report they now love a type of Halloween candy that they hated as a kid. Of those, 29% say they now love licorice, an 28% have developed an affinity for candy corn.
ICYMI:

In case you missed it, check out some of the thought-leadership and happenings around Stagwell making news:

As always, if helpful, we would be happy to provide more info on any of these data or insights. Please do not hesitate to reach out.

 

Thank you.

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By

Mark Penn
Chairman and CEO, Stagwell

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When I ran campaigns, I used to lament that corporations would spend more on marketing a hamburger than marketing political ideas and efforts. Back then, campaigns were struggling shoestring enterprises. No longer.

Today, campaigns and issue groups spend billions of dollars (much of it ineffectively) on communicating to voters, and fundraising at large has become big business. Ironically, the rocket fuel for all this was not the much-maligned Supreme Court decision Citizens United that gave corporations political speech rights. Rather, it was the internet – opening up a far speedier and cost-effective method of motivating voters and fundraising from them. Everything we condemn about politics and social media today – the speed of clickbait, the sensationalizing of small news events, the partisan divide – has paved the way for online fundraising and its explosive growth.

Political advertising spend is rapidly breaking records

Political advertising will hit $7.8bn in the 2022 midterm elections – nearly approaching the $8.5bn spent across TV, radio and digital media in the 2020 presidential cycle. We are seeing continued growth in campaign spending, and each mid-term is coming close to the previous presidential runs in spend. Each president leaps to a new record in political expenditures. It will take a set of really mundane candidates with a runaway winner to break this ever-increasing cycle. Absent that, this is a double-digit growth spiral for several more election cycles. I never thought I would see $10m Congressional races and $100m Senate contests, and yet those are now everyday occurrences.

Digital fundraising is rising at a faster rate than overall spending

Of the $14.4bn in paid media spent during the 2020 cycle, 49% was raised online. The 2022 cycle should exceed $14bn in paid media spend, with over 60% likely to come from online fundraising. To put that in context – in 2014, less than 9% of the $4.4bn in contributions came in via online donors. Democrats, who are notably vocal about money in politics, spend the most – generally about 50% more than the Republicans.

Donors today are largely first-timers – and start small

For most donors over the last few cycles, giving to politics has been a new experience. Most of these contributions aren’t from big-dollar donors or PACs, but low-dollar donations from average Americans giving amounts between $30 and $100 (76.1% of Act Blue Democratic donors in 2020 were first-time donors).

Americans have a love-hate relationship with political giving. When asked to give $1 on their tax return to fund campaigns, most Americans said ‘no’ to the voluntary check-off, and the fund was running out of money. Taxpayers generally believed politicians should finance their own campaigns and leave the public out of them. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, candidates used direct mail to gather low-dollar gifts, but it was slow and expensive. In 2008, social media entered the scene and spilled over into news and politics. With its proliferation of inflammatory messages and clickbait, social media was the ideal incubator for online giving. While less than 1% of voters donated to campaigns in the past, that number is now up to 10% and continues to grow.

How companies can mimic political fundraising techniques

I always call online fundraisers the best marketers in the world. Why? Because in return for their funds, consumers get absolutely nothing of tangible value – no product and not even a tax deduction.

What makes them such good marketers? They believe in math. They have hundreds of people who craft messages, then test them methodically and go big with the ones that work. They refine their lists, carefully managing their communications to people to avoid overload or confusing and contradictory messages. And they utilize low-cost, effective messaging techniques, driving campaigns through email and increasingly via text messaging, as consumers switch their preferred communication modes.

Today, these fundraisers employ the process and rigor that most corporations should envy: ample message creation, thorough testing, careful media mix modeling and rigorous adherence to performance standards and return on investment. Politics once again leads the way in how to structure and carry out effective online marketing. This rigorous approach would and is working for commercial online marketing, though retail marketers have more limits on how aggressive they can be. Still, they can treat Thanksgiving, Prime Days and Christmas as a kind of commercial election day, working up to harvesting sales in the same way that political fundraising is mostly prospecting until the campaign’s final months. Commercial marketers can also be more aggressive via text messaging to mimic these successful political messages.

Political fundraising is only starting to hit its groove and has many potential roads for broad expansion. While online fundraising exploded in 2020, only 20% of the 180 million Americans who voted in that cycle donated to a campaign, and under 2% of the country gave over $200. By comparison, over 70% of Americans gave to charity in 2020, totaling $324.1bn in individual contributions that mirror the scale and spend of small-dollar political contributions. The addressable digital advocacy and political fundraising markets represent massive growth opportunities.

Galvanizing the masses around a cause: still the mandate

Online political fundraising is, in essence, fan marketing. It’s about getting those who care most about your brand to be even more passionate and committed. When an employee of a competitor company insults a customer, don’t just sit there – use it to your advantage and broadcast it to your loyal fans. Most commercial marketing, even online, is passionless and saccharine; if you want to be as successful as political marketers, you will have to take some risks and be bolder. Now, this may not fit all corporate brands, but that’s the advantage that upstart challenger brands have in the marketplace – they can be free to be out there, within the bounds of good humor and taste.

To be clear, political ads continue to be a discipline unto themselves, built primarily around negative messages with no clear analog in commercial marketing. Online fundraising also includes tough negative messages, but is built mainly around bringing people together as part of a group that wants to help a cause. This new technique is at the forefront of what’s possible in this new online world as more and more people are plugged into news and current events. Online fundraising can and will expand into the not-for-profit world, but it will surely lead the way in fan marketing for breakthrough companies as well.

Mark Penn is chairman and chief executive officer of New York-based marketing group Stagwell.

 

 

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Jason Nottee
AdWeek

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A Ted Lasso star and a sports journalist showcase athletes without a brand mention in sight

A brand doesn’t need an ad or sponsorship to prove its worth. Sometimes, it just needs a story.

 

In 2019, Nike and Observatory partnered to ask themselves a question: Why not build an entertainment studio focused on sports and culture? Instead of trying to wedge diverse, relevant stories into 30-second ads selling products, why not make feature films, documentaries, TV series and podcasts devoid of pitches, gear and the Swoosh? Nike’s Waffle Iron Entertainment sprouted from that discussion.

Named for the kitchen gadget that University of Oregon track and field coach Bill Bowerman used to makes Nike’s first running shoes, Waffle Iron Entertainment sought to tell sports stories through the lens of larger cultural events. One of its earliest efforts, the Crackle series Promiseland, followed Memphis Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant as he navigated the National Basketball Association, Covid-19 and the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. It next project, HBO’s The Day Sports Stood Still, followed basketball star Chris Paul during the NBA’s reaction to the pandemic and social justice protests in 2020.

In June, Waffle Iron and Observatory teamed with AudioUp Media, Range Media Partners and iHeartMedia to create the documentary podcast Hustle Rule. Based on the book Under the Lights and in the Dark: Untold Stories of Women’s Soccer by journalist and award-winning filmmaker Gwendolyn Oxenham, Hustle Rule tells the stories behind professional soccer players’ rise to their sport’s upper echelons.

 

Hustle Rule trailer

It launched on June 23, the 50th anniversary of the Education Department’s Title IX rule prohibiting schools from discriminating based on sex, and concluded on July 28 just before the Women’s Euro 2022 final.

“There was never a sense that this was an advertisement for Nike or anything like that,” Oxenham said. “What blew my mind was that Waffle Iron, from the beginning, was just interested in telling these stories because they thought they were meaningful.

“These are stories that no one had ever heard of, and that didn’t deter Waffle Iron for a second.”

From professional soccer to hockey, from football to boxing and mixed martial arts, storytelling across multiple mediums is now critical to sports marketing. Fans want to hear their favorite athletes’ stories in the own words on familiar platforms without being asked to buy a product.

To get there, sports brands must be willing to forego sales in the short term to create fans and athletes who’ll come back with more expendable income later.

“You can only say so much in a 30-second commercial or a 60-second commercial, but the true storytelling can come through in a podcast series, in a television series, in a film,” said Brendan Shields-Shimizu, Observatory’s CEO. “If you can get consumers saying, ‘Wow, I want to go watch this content because it’s actually interesting and doesn’t feel like an advertisement, but I’ve learned something from it or I felt happy from it,’ that’s where I think brands are going to be playing in the future.”

 

Finding a reliable narrator

Waffle Iron, AudioUp, Range Media Partners and Observatory sought a tone that would resonate with fans. They gave the series its own anthem—”Won’t Stop” by producer and songwriter A1 Le Flare—and searched for a voice to connect the stories while contributing a narrative all its own. They landed on Hannah Waddingham, the veteran actor best known to American fans, at least, as AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton from the AppleTV+ series Ted Lasso.

Samuel Brennan, Observatory’s brand supervisor, noted that Waddingham’s experience on screen as well as in West End and Broadway productions gave her command of the podcast’s audience. At points throughout the series, she intersperses stories about her stage career, her Ted Lasso-influenced love of soccer (and the Euro 2022 champion English women’s national team) and her daughter’s love of the game.

“All our eyes lit up, and we all jumped when her name came up, said Observatory’s Chief Creative Officer Linda Knight. “That’s when you know you’ve got the right person, when everyone’s like, ‘Yes, she would be perfect for this.’”

 

 

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Jack Neff
AdAge

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Rebranding effort is first work by 72andSunny for Zoom, with VaynerMedia handling global media push

Zoom is launching a new visual identity with help from a new agency, Stagwell Group’s 72andSunny, as the brand looks to go from ubiquitous video app to full-fledged business communications and collaboration platform.

The campaign, which launched Sept. 12, is the first for the brand from 72andSunny, which is working on a project basis. It will be running across digital, out-of-home (including Times Square), social media and streaming services in North America and globally. VaynerMedia is handling the media buy.

It backs Zoom’s new visual identity and push for broader business communications relevance—including Zoom Chat, now officially re-dubbed Zoom Team Chat.

Certainly Zoom doesn’t have an awareness problem since it became woven into the cultural fabric of work during the pandemic starting more than two years ago. Just one more reminder of its status as an “essential business tool” came Thursday when a service outage hit tens of thousands of users who were suddenly deprived of their video workplace tether.  Zoom quickly restored the service.

But the new identity and creative are meant to show that Zoom is more than the video grid of co-workers that’s become an everyday virtual workspace for millions, even as more people spend more time in the office.

“Partnering with Zoom at this time of evolution is the kind of challenge we love, with the kind of partner we love,” said Carlo Cavallone, global chief creative officer of 72andSunny in a statement. “We had a very collaborative process to get to the design concept at the core of the platform. We’re excited because it’s a clear, powerful creative idea that opens a lot of new possibilities for the brand.”

The ads pile extra o’s into the Zoom name to point out that the company is also about phone, Team Chat, rooms, events, team whiteboards, contact centers and other services.

“What started as a video meeting app quickly moved into broadcast webinars, connected conference rooms, and more, and it continues to evolve and expand,” Zoom Chief Marketing Officer Janine Pelosi said in a blog post.

A big part of the new branding is to focus on the Zoom Team Chat collaboration and messaging hub as the company looks to broaden its involvement in a work tool space where Slack, Microsoft Teams and Miro, among others, compete.

“We’ve already made significant investments in Zoom Team Chat’s capabilities, and we’ll unveil even more enhancements later this month,” Pelosi said.

 

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Rafael Canton
Adweek

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Looking to highlight what separates itself from competitors, Vivid Seats is going all in on its rewards program.

The ticket marketplace is debuting the first brand campaign for its Vivid Seats Rewards Program, which offers fans a free reward credit for every 10 tickets purchased. To promote the loyalty plan, Vivid Seats, with the help of agencies 72andSunny LA and Assembly, engineered an innovative media plan that gives one of SportsCenter’s most iconic features a new look.

“We’re not just coasting off of our laurels and performance marketing,” Vivid Seats chief marketing officer Tyra Neal told Adweek. “It is something we’ve always been great at, but building the brand side and getting people to come back and want to use Vivid Seats again has been some of the focus of my time here.”

Developed with creative agency 72andSunny LA, the ad features a librarian imagining the endless possibilities of what her free 11th ticket will be. She then transports from the relaxed stylings of a library to the raucous experience of live events such as a music concert or a sporting event.

 

Why it’s pushing loyalty

Customer loyalty has been front and center in Vivid Seats’ marketing plan since it underwent a rebrand last summer and changed its logo. Vivid Seats’ brand messaging has focused on its rewards program, which is one of its differentiators from its competitors. SeatGeek does not have a rewards program while Vivid’s other competitor, StubHub, has an auto-enrollment program that offers perks such as early VIP access or discounts to customers who have spent $10,000 or more on ticket purchases within a 12-month period. TicketMaster’s loyalty program—Audience Rewards—focuses on just Broadway and the performing arts.

The focus on building connections with consumers has seen some returns. Neal shared that Vivid Seats saw upward of a 10% increase in repeat rates for NBA and NHL ticket sales and is seeing similarly fast repeat rates in MLB.

Vivid Seats’ loyalty program allows fans enrolled in the rewards program to earn a stamp for every ticket they purchase. Once a fan has 10 stamps, they gain a reward credit amounting to the average value of the 10 stamps they’ve collected. Vivid Seats also has a tiered system with three levels titled Rising Star, Super Fan and Icon. Through these levels fans can receive ticket upgrades, exclusive access to industry events and other VIP perks.

The power of 11

The spot will air starting tonight, with its debut taking place during ESPN’s Monday Night Football game. It will run throughout the season according to Neal.

As a tie-in to the number 11, Vivid Seats will also sponsor a bonus 11th play on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top Ten, making it the first brand to add an 11th play to the segment.

The media campaign was done in collaboration with omnichannel agency Assembly.

Vivid Seats is also taking over the homepages of publications and official ticketing partners Rolling Stone, Bleacher Report and ESPN on Nov. 11 or 11/11. Additionally, it is partnering with global influencer marketing and technology agency Viral Nation to feature 11 different influencers for its “Real Rewards for Real Fans” social campaign.

Picks and tix

Toward the end of last year, Vivid Seats purchased sports betting app Betcha Sports for $25 million. It rebranded the app as “Vivid Picks” and integrated it into Vivid Seats as one app this summer. The brand is also debuting a separate ad for Vivid Picks in the fall.

“We’re offering fans something that other secondary ticket providers cannot which is not just a ticket, but an experience, especially on the sports side,” Neal said, explaining customers can double down on their favorite teams by seeing them in person and making picks inside of Vivid Picks.

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NEW YORK: PR pitch platform PRophet partnered with the Harris Poll to better understand the role that tech, and specifically AI, plays in the PR industry and found that nine in 10 respondents said AI is worth investigating.

The survey found that a large majority of PR pros say AI has potential: 92% said it could transform the way that PR is conducted and think it’s worth exploring. More than half, 55%, pointed to the benefits AI could bring to predicting media interest and sentiment, and 83% suggested it could address staffing shortages. A large majority (90%) responded that AI could help them spend more of their efforts on higher-value tasks.

Despite the optimism expressed by many, other respondents said they do not know enough. Eighty-five percent said they want to know more about AI capabilities within the industry, while 50% acknowledged that they don’t know how AI can be leveraged by PR pros.

Respondents said the biggest opportunity lies in pitching. The survey found that a large percentage of PR pros rely on experience (75%), relationships with journalists (66%) or their gut (72%) when it comes to identifying and pitching the right journalists. But with more finding it difficult to get earned media pickup (77%), a majority (80%) responded that they need better tools to increase coverage.

The Harris Poll conducted the survey online, garnering responses from 127 PR pros primarily based across the U.S.

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