[Marketing Week] Bob Koigi: Social media giants redefine future of content, e-commerce

Global social media powerhouses continue to evolve by tapping into opportunities that the tech space presents and are moving from being content platforms to digital commerce giants.

This has been necessitated by partnerships and strategies that are bolstering their followership and bottom lines.

This week, TikTok announced that it had surpassed more than 1 billion monthly users and unveiled three major marketing customization and commerce tools.

The new tools also put a heavy focus on creator partnerships and shopping options, bringing features to the US that have contributed to a social commerce boom in ByteDance’s home country, China.

At the same time the social media giant entered into a partnership with DoubleVerify , DV, a software platform for digital media measurement, data and analytics to measure ad viewability, fraud, and in-geo impressions.

Through the new partnership, joint clients will be able to access measurement data and insights through DV Pinnacle, the industry's first unified reporting and service platform, to monitor and optimize the quality of their TikTok campaigns.

YouTube Premium is starting to generate sustainable revenues from its paid ad-free subscription services. It took more than six years since relaunch to see significant growth.

Premium subscriptions are projected to top 25 million unique users by the end of next year, exceeding $300 million in revenues. By the end of 2024, totalling $334.52 million with nearly 28 million sign-ups. The projected revenues are expected to keep a steady growth after 2023.

Twitter on the hand has embraced bitcoin to boost engagement. Twitter users from the US (except Hawaii and New York) and El Salvador can now tip fellow tweeters with Bitcoin, per Finextra.

First launched in May, Twitter’s Tip Jar lets users send fiat money and now also Bitcoin via third-party payment services, like PayPal, Cash App, Venmo, and more. Twitter does not earn any revenues, but the third-party firms may charge transaction fees.

In other news of the week, Global pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer has named WPP’s MediaCom as their global full-service media agency following a competitive process.

The agency network will contribute to driving Bayer’s modernised marketing strategy, with best-in-class data and content integration as a key driver for business growth.

WPP has announced the nine bold, audacious and creative new projects that have been chosen to help advance racial justice across the world as part of its Racial Equity Programme.

The initiative invites agencies from across WPP’s global network to apply for financial resources and support to run innovative programmes that will advance racial equity and bring about change. It forms part of WPP’s wider $30 million anti-racism commitment, announced in June 2020, to fund inclusion programmes within the company and to support external organisations.

Publicis Groupe  has announced that it will repurchase 2.5 million shares, i.e. approximately 1% of its share capital at 31 August 2021. Publicis Groupe has appointed an Investment Services Provider for the implementation of the program.

The purpose of this program is to meet the obligations arising from the existing free share long term incentive plans for the benefit of its employees that will be delivered in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Mood Media, the global in-store media solutions company driving elevated Customer Experiences, has announced it has acquired PlayNetwork, a global music technology partner and audiovisual systems provider supporting customer experience for brands worldwide from Octave Group.

On the appointment front, Performance marketing and eCommerce specialty agency of IPG Mediabrands Reprise has announced the appointment of Glen Conybeare as Global President of Reprise Commerce.

The business unit dedicated to eCommerce within Reprise Digital was launched in late 2020 and has achieved significant growth despite uncertainty in the broader economy.

This newly created role builds on the vision for Reprise Commerce to become a preferred agency partner for clients globally by adding enterprise-wide leadership of the business unit.

Finally,LoopMe, the outcomes-based platform, has announced the launch of its standalone measurement solution, PurchaseLoop Measurement, which provides real-time consumer brand lift measurement and analytics.

Designed for agencies, brands and publishers to measure media effectiveness throughout the entirety of their campaigns, PurchaseLoop Measurement provides rich and robust brand lift analytics across media channels, including digital (mobile, web), CTV, digital audio and OOH.

Bob Koigi is an editor at Marketing Report EU

 

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