1

“It’s a no-brainer strategy” to use Black Friday and Cyber Monday content to also sell subscriptions, said Chris Erwin, founder of commerce consulting firm Rockwater. That’s because it’s about monetizing the audience in every possible way. If a publisher is seeing a surge in traffic come to its commerce or content channels, then it makes sense to spread that audience to other areas of the businesses as well and engage and monetize them through subscriptions or use that surge to sell advertising, he said.  

Digiday: How Wired leveraged Cyber Week readers to increase subscription revenue

2

“Facebook’s discriminatory recruitment and hiring practice is routine, ongoing, and widespread,” the complaint reads. “It discriminates against U.S. workers because of their immigration or citizenship status, and it harms them by limiting their ability to apply, to be considered, and to be hired.”

In simple terms, prosecutors believe Facebook was hiding job listings reserved for visa-bound workers that the company had already contacted and knew it wanted to hire. But in its rush to clear the lane for its preferred applicant, the company allegedly violated important labor rules.

The Verge: The Justice Department is suing Facebook for side-stepping visa rules

3

Facebook reported last year that around half of auto consumers say that recommendations from friends and family are influential when deciding which new brand to buy, and 77% indicated that posts on social media had made them consider buying or leasing a new model.

That’s a significant consideration, and now, Facebook’s providing more tools to help car dealers connect with potential buyers on its platforms.

Facebook has added three new elements to its automotive promotion tools.

Social Media Today: Facebook adds new tools for automotive advertisers

4

We have a simple, five-part approach to building new businesses: breakout, blueprint, build, boost, branch. How do you rapidly identify the idea that would drive a lot of value? How do you flesh it out in a blueprint so you can assemble the plan and the team? How do you quickly work cross-functionally to build the actual business—not just the product but the commercial and operational elements? The last two parts are taking the kernel of a business and boosting and scaling it quickly and then thinking through how to potentially spin it off.

McKinsey: Building a great digital business

5

Hybrid Theory uses Facebook to create brand awareness by informing its audience about current industry topics like statistics that enable the followers to always relate the interesting information to the company. LinkedIn is used to communicate the company’s expertise, with the objective to get in touch with potential customers by showing off concrete solutions for their needs. 

The content and objectives on social media should be designed according to whether the company is a B2B or B2C company. However, content should be adapted for the different platforms and their different audiences. 

The Drum: How does B2B social media differ from B2C?

6

The next evolutionary stage of technology depends on completing the transformation that will make silicon architecture as flexible, efficient and ultimately programmable as the software we know today. If we cannot take major steps to provide easy access to ML we’ll lose unmeasurable innovation by having only a few companies in control of all the technology that matters. So what needs to change, how fast is it changing and what will that mean for the future of technology?

TechCrunch: AI’s next act: Genius chips, programmable silicon and the future of computing

7

Whether advertising can make a difference to a company’s survival depends on how brands approach their marketing communications. As Debenhams has proved, high profile above-the-line brand building does not guarantee commercial success. But if a brand takes a bottom up approach, starting from the customer perspective – listening, learning, adapting and then optimising appropriately – the advertising outcomes will be more valuable, as the marketing communications can inform decision-making.

By reading the signals customers are giving them, rather than relying on the subjective opinions of boardroom members and partner agencies, marketers will avoid bias and focus on what shoppers want from the retailer.

Campaign: Could a marketing rethink reduce the chance of another Debenhams?

8

In the plan, the Commission says the forthcoming political ads transparency proposal will “target the sponsors of paid content and production/distribution channels, including online platforms, advertisers and political consultancies, clarifying their respective responsibilities and providing legal certainty”.

“The initiative will determine which actors and what type of sponsored content fall within the scope of enhanced transparency requirements. It will support accountability and enable monitoring and enforcement of relevant rules, audits and access to non-personal data, and facilitate due diligence,” it adds.

TechCrunch: Europe to put forward rules for political ads transparency and beef up its disinformation code next year

9

While they embrace their individuality, Gen Zers believe that they are better together, leaning into communities on social media to connect with others. Communities can be formed around an array of things such as neighborhoods, hobbies and support groups, providing a place of acceptance and belonging. According to a study commissioned by Facebook IQ, 30% of Gen Zers believe that a commitment to community can help brands communicate more effectively on Instagram and spark meaningful connections.

Advertising Age: The rise of Gen Z

10

He says that the huge growth in digital advertising has helped deliver scale, but not necessarily the right kind. There’s too much focus on identifying someone without thinking about how we connect with them more meaningfully based on the context. Affleck says an “obsession” with targeting, precision and accuracy has replaced established marketing theory and norms.

“Because we can identify someone, we have forgotten about the context in which we are talking to them, the mood they are in, and their mindset. Are they sitting forward, are they entertained? We’ve almost just forgotten all of that and are just hitting people with endless comms.”

“It is utter, utter nonsense,” he says. And so, plugging the strategic context into these hugely expensive media buys is the group’s selling point. At a time when budgets are tighter, clients must get more bang for their buck.

The Drum: The pandemic could awaken marketers from ‘dumb period’, says Havas Media’s Patrick Affleck