Capitol One-To-One Marketing
There are numerous benefits for brand marketers who open a coffee shop in a popular urban area, Marketing Brew reports, especially if it’s a locale with particular growth opportunities for their business. For example, Ralph Lauren opened Ralph’s Coffee Shop, and Tiffany’s has a cafe, too. (Yes, it serves breakfast.)
Capitol One, one such multi-hyphenate, operates more than 60 such coffee shops in US cities. The key metric for the cafes is foot traffic, since there are internal exits to the bank and all sorts of free merch or promos for the company itself.
Capitol One also found that in-person engagements are associated with trust in a brand, says Jennifer Windbeck, SVP of retail bank channels and operations. Having those daily coffee interactions generates trust and familiarity, and the association with Capitol One can stick.
Oh! Also, the free, reliable Wi-Fi network creates a lovely and directly retargetable audience segment that can be reached “in a very intentionally non-sales” and “organic way.”
TikTok TV?
YouTube represented 12.5% of TV viewership in May, topping the Nielsen ratings for the fourth month in a row. And per YouTube CEO Neal Mohan earlier this year, TV is now the number-one device for YouTube, higher than even desktop and mobile.
Naturally, other platforms want in on this sweet, sweet CTV action.
The Information reports that Meta and ByteDance are discussing the development of Instagram and TikTok smart TV apps, respectively.
TikTok has even encouraged creators to post long-form, horizontal content, which Instagram also tried a few years ago without success. (Remember IGTV?) And TikTok has a longstanding goal of expanding from mobile devices to screens of all kinds.
But to win on TV screens, Meta and TikTok must attract whole new levels of entertainment production, not just endemic creators posting horizontally on occasion.
Considering that Instagram doesn’t have a dedicated iPad app yet, getting ready for primetime streaming might be easier said than done.
Just Undo It
Nike is an interesting brand and retail bellwether.
Nike was a fast-mover in terms of DTC investments among brick-and-mortar brands. Nike abandoned retailers who carried its shoes, consolidating to a few, like Dick’s Sporting Goods, where it had advantageous data partnerships. It abandoned Amazon, which apparently failed to fulfill a commitment to clear out Nike resellers on the platform. And in 2018 and 2019, respectively, Nike acquired DTC data and operations startups Zodiac Metrics and Celect.
But DTC brand economics have soured. And Nike is reversing course in a big way.
The company is adding back retail wholesalers in what it frames as a unified marketplace approach. And it will soon be back on Amazon.
Nike Direct, the DTC unit, was down 14% year over year, per Nike’s earnings report late last week. Its digital business was down 26%. However, stores ticked up 2%.
Nike is also spending less on “performance media,” said CFO Matthew Friend, as it deprioritizes DTC channels. But “investment in demand creation,” as Friend put it, which moves the focus up the marketing funnel, increased 15% and will increase further this year.
But Wait! There’s More
Google is trying to appease and reassure publishers that its generative AI products won’t be terrible for their businesses. Nobody is persuaded. [Ad Age]
In Denmark, the subjects of deepfakes will now have copyright ownership over those AI-generated materials. [The Guardian]
DM9, the agency that won the Creative Data Grand Prix at Cannes Lions this year, is facing allegations that its case study was doctored with AI. [Campaign]
After 37 years, Anna Wintour is finally stepping down as Vogue’s editor in chief. [Adweek]
The era of “woke” brand activism is waning. [Wired]
You’re Hired!
