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Don’t bet on the media
Procter & Gamble may be cooling its jets on paid media.
Over the past few years, P&G has been testing its range and frequency trying to understand where she could spend less while reaching more people—and she learned a few things.
“We now have a clearer picture of where this playbook is going,” Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten told investors during the company’s latest earnings call on Wednesday.
The brand also focuses on product research and development as the driving force behind big business.
For example, the Swiffer PowerMop, launched in 2023, is now “the biggest innovation in Swiffer’s history,” according to CEO Jon Moeller, contributing to 40% growth across the brand’s portfolio. Charmin’s serrated edge toilet paper — “the biggest innovation in toilet paper in 100 years,” in case you thought serrated TP was trivial — also elevated the entire Charmin brand, he said.
Last year also saw the launch of an Old Spice deodorant that you spray on your crotch, as well as an Oral-B iO 10 Series electric toothbrush that provides feedback on your brushing habits. And then there’s Tide evo, which is a laundry detergent available in concentrated woven fiber tiles.
This just sells itself. Who needs ads?
Saved by the inauguration
TikTok’s competitors are now scrambling to lure advertisers to the social video app as a US ban actually seems realistic.
The ban temporarily went into effect on Saturday ahead of President Trump extended the deadline on Monday, TikTok will divest itself of its US operations for another 75 days. Starting Monday, Snap and Reddit are also offering discounts to advertisers who spend more money on their platforms. Information news.
Snap is offering 20% back in free ad credits to brands that spend more than $100,000 on its platform, according to several media buyers, while Reddit is offering 10% in credits to advertisers who spend more than $150,000.
Snap and Reddit haven’t specifically said they’re looking to outspend TikTok, but the timing — and the way the two platforms offer their overlapping audiences with TikTok — makes that intention pretty clear.
Still, it’s too early to tell whether brands will take Snap and Reddit up on their offers. Those spending minimums are too high for many advertisers, according to The Information’s two sources.
Plus, TikTok still has a few months to save itself.
Monetization of new media
Here’s another sign of the decline of mainstream media: Brands follow audiences and authors to Substack, The Wall Street Journal news.
Substack does not provide ad serving tools to its publishers and there is no diminution of ad revenue. This hands-on approach to advertising creates new revenue opportunities for independent publishers – and ad networks.
Substack authors typically enter into direct sponsored content agreements with advertisers. Some authors can earn $5,000 for a few sponcon paragraphs, compared to $5 CPM for programmatic newsletter banner ads.
Casey Lewis, who publishes Substack’s youth culture newsletter After School, predicts that advertising will make up 10% of her annual revenue from 2023 to 20% this year. He says he’s having trouble keeping up with billing because of the influx of direct business.
This is where ad networks for newsletters come into play. One such network, Beehiiv, takes over the reins of ad sales – in exchange for up to 20% of revenue.
But rather than turning to ad networks, some entrepreneurial Substackers are creating and selling their own standard ad units. Alex Kantrowitz, publisher of the Substack Big Technology newsletter, sells custom ad units in addition to sponsorships through agency partnerships.
It seems to work. Kantrowitz’s Substack boasts 150,000 subscribers, and advertising now accounts for more than half of its revenue.
But wait! There’s more
Top YouTuber MrBeast bids to buy TikTok with investor backing. [CNN]
Will Omnicom’s John Wren and IPG’s Philippe Krakowsky collide or collide as holding agencies consolidate? [Ad Age]
Hundreds of subreddits are considering banning all links to X.com in response to Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration. [404 Media]
The vice president of content for the New England Patriots says the NFL — with which it has a content partnership X and TikTok – told the team to cancel their Bluesky account. [Awful Announcing]
AI startup Anthropic secures another $1 billion in funding from Google. [TechCrunch]
You are hired
Comscore Names Frank Friedman Director of Data & Analytics and Head of Measurement. [release]
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