Snap Launches Money-Making Tools For Creators; The Argument For Contextual Targeting

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Creative Galaxy

Snap is fending off competitors with new money-making tools for creators, Variety reports. Next month, Snapchat will launch Spotlight Challenges, cash bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 for accounts with top views in categories like “Best Trick Shot.” The tool is a beefed-up version of monetization for Spotlight, Snap’s TikTok-like rival. And Snap is ramping its Creator Marketplace, so Snap Stars, as they’re dubbed, can find sponsorships and tag brands in sponsored content. The company will launch a resource guide called Creator Hub. And Snap may also do a global launch of its gifting feature, which facilitates direct payments from followers to creator accounts. These moves are part of Snap’s efforts to keep its popular creators from jumping to rivals such as Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, all of which are also investing heavily – hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in incentives in the next two years alone – to lure creators to their respective platforms. Snapchat creators expressed frustration earlier this year with Spotlight payments, because those payouts are more like a lucky lottery than a reliable revenue stream someone can create content and plan for.

Efficiency Costs

The advertising industry has become obsessed with efficiency. But what if what many in the ad industry call waste is … long-term value? Auto brands like Porsche, Mercedes and BMW don’t just target their core potential customers; the reason people buy those cars is because everybody understands the brand and what’s conveyed by a fancy car. That’s one example put forth in a blog post by Alex Murrell, strategy director at the branding agency Epoch, on the errors of focusing entirely on efficiency. This is also an argument in favor of contextual targeting. “Expensive media signals brand strength,” Murrell writes. “Inefficient communication carries a ‘costly signal’ that the brand being advertised is of high quality, that it is in strong financial shape, and that it is likely to continue being strong and successful for the foreseeable future.”

Dislike Button

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely noticed that Facebook is having a no good very bad week. Whether it’s a whistle-blower revealing documents on emotional and mental harm to users, an outage to Facebook platforms or antitrust scrutiny during senate hearings. Oh, and there’s the series of reports by The Wall Street Journal based on leaked internal documents. As a result of this mess, Facebook is now hitting the pause button on the release of new products and reviewing existing ones such as Facebook Gaming to determine how the features impact children, according to a new Journal story. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is taking a hard look at its products. Of course, the review is also examining the reputational harm its products and outside research could create for the company.

But Wait, There’s More!

How Jonathan Kanter became a top antitrust official in the Biden administration. [NYT]

VideoAmp extends its partnership with Vizio. [release]

Twitch experienced a major data breach after being hacked. [Insider]