Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
The Hasbros And The Have-Nots
Companies like Netflix, Roku, Apple, Amazon and Paramount are thirsting for recognizable brands they can build a content universe around.
Media franchises provide a solution. Because, apparently, people will settle for only franchises and nothing new, ever again.
In that vein, Bloomberg reports that Hasbro is shopping its film, TV and media production subsidiary, called EOne, after it received lots of buyer outreach. It bought the company for $4 billion back in 2019, right before the streaming wars made content an even more strategic asset. And its stable of titles created $1.15 billion in sales last year.
Hasbro owns the IP behind Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Transformers and G.I. Joe, among many other assets, and could expect a pretty penny for its titles.
Habsro is holding onto the rights to Peppa Pig, though. They’re not crazy.
CMO, First To Go
In the face of economic uncertainty, CMOs prioritize flexibility above all else.
“There’s no such thing as a set forecast right now,” says Sophie Kelly, Diageo’s SVP of whisky brands, at The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Network event this week.
CMOs are under more pressure to demonstrate tangible returns on their budgets. These aren’t the heady days of growth investments.
The recent trend is to see ad dollars flitting between channels. “We are doing quarterly forecasting and, as a result, spend is moving around,” Kelly says.
Out of recessionary caution, many CMOs have reduced spend or halted channels. But those who are spending through the slump still have plans for if and when budgets are slashed.
“We have a set of scenarios, but nobody really knows [what’s coming],” says CVS Health Corp. CMO Norman de Greve.
Creative changes, too. Messaging and promotional efforts will appeal to cost-conscious consumers and emphasize price or volume benefits rather than flashier appeals. For example, de Greve says CVS’s new campaign highlights that the company cut what women pay for menstrual products and how it’s covering sales tax on menstrual products in 12 states.
Linktree’s Roots
Linktree is the “link in bio” service you’ve seen on content and influencer accounts across social platforms.
It’s a billion-dollar startup (per a funding round this year) that’s built on pettiness and spite between walled gardens, which make it difficult for influencers to take traffic and sales elsewhere.
Betting on walled gardens to remain walled is a solid wager. But Linktree exists in a state of constant peril. Instagram could snap its fingers and remove a core value prop, if accounts were allowed to link out to more than one site in the bio.
Linktree’s latest feature is Payment Lock, The Verge reports, which gates certain content (but no adult content) and requires a credit card to access it. The company doesn’t seem to be taking a cut of the revenue yet, either.
Linktree’s payment feature is a natural next step. I mean, everyone’s trying to collect payment info.
But that step could be a stumble: If Linktree does gain traction as a payment point, Facebookagram will be less and less tolerant of that Linktree link.
But Wait, There’s More!
As the Privacy Sandbox comes to Android, it faces tough questions of privacy and utility. [Adweek]
Carlyle will acquire the international marketing agency Incubeta. [release]
TikTok adds an Audience Insights tool to its ad manager to drill down into demographic data. [Social Media Today]
OnlyFans introduces shopping features as it competes for influencers. [Financial Times]
The privacy compliance platform SafeGuard Privacy raises $7 million. [Insider]
The unbearable lightness of BuzzFeed. [The Verge]
You’re Hired!
Kargo hires Jeannine Shao Collins as chief client officer and Matt Novick as chief financial officer. [release]
Leaf Group appoints Ross Landsbaum as CFO. [release]
