New toy alert

Generative AI search engine Perplexity said it will launch ads in Q4

Perplexity’s new ads will be video ads and sponsored questions

the platform is emphasizing its capacity to reach educated, high-income professionals who may be in senior leadership at their companies.

“newstalgia”—a desire for familiarity combined with novelty

Top Gun: Maverick. Twisters. This is driving force of pop culture right now.

Or, said another way:

“take something that feels familiar and put it into a modern context.”

It’s not the 90s that are back. It’s the 90s as reimagined today that’s in.

Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context – a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.

Every interaction your customers have with you accumulates to your brand experience. How does each one fit together to make the whole you want?

As Tom Asacker says, the goal is to “to create an experience that resonates deeply.”

And so, Swift has put up something of a door: access to her costs fans at least $12.99. Here’s the thing about doors though: while they keep people out, they also keep them in.

Does your brand have a door?

Citing continued inflation and high interest rates, 33% of consumers say they will spend less this year on holiday shopping than in 2023, per a new report from Bankrate.

Almost half of all those surveyed by Bankrate said they would start shopping for the holidays by Halloween.

I understand the vibe, but I would not be surprised if this completely changes post-election.

Despite Apple’s long lead, Spotify Technology SA. and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube have now become the most popular places to listen to podcasts.

A study published last month shows YouTube as the most popular podcast listening platform in the US, with 31% of respondents saying they use it. It’s followed by Spotify at 21% and Apple at 12%.

Through the lens of legacy Apple, the lack of focus on podcasts makes sense, despite basically creating the medium. But ads-and-services Apple has to be missing the potential of being the dominant player in a sector with growing ad and monetization potential.

YouTube, meanwhile, cracked the discovery code for podcasts. A persistent shortcoming of traditional podcasting apps.

Brands can help combat this general fatigue with campaigns centered around solving a problem in an impactful way, especially focusing on infectious positive energy.

The fatigue mentioned is compassion fatigue, but could as easily be noise / content fatigue.

This feels like a good campaign planning process regardless.

What?! The goldfish brain is evolving!

Engagement on longer short-form video is increasing across YouTube and TikTok as traditional short-form engagement declines on the trend machine.

users are now seemingly looking to engage with longer videos, not at regular long-form length, but an expanded variation of the short-form trend.

SEO approach for blog content from David CH of SaaSPad.co (YouTube link):

Write like ChatGPT

Not style or tone, but format.

Intro paragraph followed by bullet point list. Mix in tables, charts, media, etc.

No more novellas with unnecessary info (aka recipe posts).

Provide value and make it easy.

This Fall Will Be Fun For Marketers: Part 3

2024 is projected to be a record-breaking year, surpassing $12 billion in political ad spend.

Seventy percent of that windfall will be spent after Labor Day

I’ve been warning clients.

Ads are about to get expensive. Placements are going to become sparse. People are going overwhelmed and annoyed.

If you ask a co-worker to do some research for you, you probably aren’t worried they’ll fabricate it. You’re more likely to worry about things like motivation and prioritization.

If you ask an AI, you won’t worry about its motivation or priorities. But you should probably worry about fabrication and hallucination.

You’ve got to game them, to some extent. In a very different way than you game a person.

-Paul Bloom on using LLMs

Consumers and ecommerce brands agree the sector’s outlook is positive. But they part ways when it comes to what makes a good shopping experience.

While brands chase shiny new toys like livestream and XR shopping, shoppers want:

• Loyalty programs
• Mobile apps
• Reviews

Channels with “influence gaps” include search, broadcast, and events.

💡 The trendy channels brands focus on usually function as front doors for search.

According to LibSyn, podcast ad CPMs are:

:30 second = $18
:60 second = $25

Which means, on average, a minute long podcast ad is at the low end of :30 second streaming TV ad CPMs.

And podcasts create a higher degree of parasocial relationship with audiences.

🔮 AI-powered voice assistants accessible in cars will boost audio ad performance.

Low-income consumers feeling a pinch in the economy are leading to lower-than-expected sales for Dollar General

Not a great sign, especially with the recent downward revision of the jobs numbers.

But maybe there’s a silver lining.

As inflation eases, more retailers are starting to cut prices and focus on value for money messages. This essentially intensifies competition and gives shoppers more alternatives to Dollar General.

YouTube became the first streaming platform ever to exceed 10% of total TV usage in July.

YouTube is massive but probably still underrated somehow.

Netflix is second to YT among streamers with both well ahead of the pack.

Growth hacking is just that—hacks, tricks, shortcuts.

It’s like lighter fluid. There’s a purpose for both (usually speed and ease).

But once the lighter fluid burns off, what’s left?

Building a brand is:

• Expensive in the short run
• Cheap in the long run

95% of consumers are likely to revisit a brand after a positive experience

via Marketing Tech News