Hello Bidtellectuals!

Congratulations to Bidtellectual of the Week Mitchell Bonkowski!

If Gamestop Taught Us Anything, It’s that Sharing is Caring

The Gamestop stock-buying craze has made one thing clear: people love sharing informational content and acting on what they’ve learned. Now’s the time for the finance vertical to up its meaningful content efforts. Create content to (re)educate consumers and build trust, then maximize contextual tools to reach consumers at their moment of research or purchase intent. Director of Sales Jonno Burden weighs in on next steps for the industry.

Read more here: GAMESTOP WHAT? Time to Educate and Win Customers

Superbowl Ad Breakdown: The COVID Effect

You may have heard the term floating around lately, or even read this WTF piece on Digiday. Simply put, Bid Shading allows advertisers to save money on an ad placement that’s valuable to them and their goals. Bidtellect’s VP of Product breaks down the process in the first video of our new Behind the Platform series. You can also read more about it here. 

The Latest

• Jeff Bezos is stepping down as CEO of Amazon—the trillion-dollar ecommerce and cloud computing behemoth he started 27 years ago that made him one of the world’s richest humans. Bezos will transition to executive chair while Andy Jassy will take over as CEO. Jassy grew Amazon’s cloud segment Amazon Web Services from its inception into a $45 billion business and the company’s biggest moneymaker. 
• Magnite has acquired video supply-side platform SpotX from European entertainment network RTL Group for $1.17 billion. According to Magnite CEO Michael Barrett, the company’s vision is to build a highly scaled independent programmatic CTV and video ad platform.
• The Superbowl is the Sunday. 186.6 million people are expected to tune in this year. What to expect: advertisers are more cautious, somber ads are out, and many new brands who thrived during the pandemic are making their debut.
• Read a rundown of Superbowl advertisers here and COVID’s effect. 

Good News: Bartenders Get Some Celebrity Love

Say cheers! The alcohol brands of Ryan Reynolds, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and David Beckham have joined together to donate $1 million towards organizations that benefit bartenders in lockdown. You can watch the hilarious video here.

Stay safe,
Charlotte

Hello Bidtellectuals!

Congratulations to Bidtellectual of the Week Vicky Papadimas!

The Cannabis Craze & Its Digital Opportunity

Like every industry during the coronavirus pandemic, the cannabis industry felt some changes…but not in a bad way. In fact, people turned to cannabis to help them through this terrifying time, with cannabis businesses doing what they can to cater to those needs including looking into resources like https://parsl.co/6-ways-dispensary-management-software-can-increase-efficiency/ so they can be on top of what customers need any time of the day. Sure, live events were cancelled and billboards were suddenly a massive waste of money, but the combination of stress, anxiety and panic drove people to buy more and more of the best delta 8 gummies to calm their nerves and keep them sane and healthy, than they did do before.

The whole world was in a state of panic and anxiousness. In fact, some people couldn’t sleep or eat and started becoming cleaning freaks. Some also started isolating themselves from the world to the point where they were no more able to hold normal conversations even with their family members. Such was the distress during the peak time of the pandemic! However, that was when CBD products like dry herb vaporizers (visit this site to learn more about this) seemed to provide some saving grace for them. These and many more cannabis items rushed to the rescue of those who appeared to be on the brink of existential crises. Thanks to the many online dispensaries that acted quickly on their part to deliver products at the earliest!

Then of course, people were also bored, especially ravers and festival/concert goers, so that meant an increased sale of some of the best bong brands soared. Being stuck in quarantine meant people looked towards cannabis because of the apparent benefits to health and mood. Still, cannabis businesses (cannabusinesses) still face lingering misconceptions about its benefits, not to mention laws that differ by state. There’s a dynamite opportunity for increased digital spend coupled with valuable content that can re-educate the masses.

Read more here: Cannabis Advertising, Changing Perceptions, the COVID Impact, and the Digital Opportunity

Superbowl Ad Breakdown: The COVID Effect

• ViacomCBS says its Super Bowl ad inventory is pretty much sold out, with 30-second spots selling for at least $5.5 million.
• For the first time in 37 years, Budweiser will not run an ad in the Super Bowl. Instead, it’s diverting its ad budget to focus on efforts to improve awareness and education around Covid-19 vaccines, in partnership with the public-service advertising nonprofit Ad Council. (Their seltzers will see some air time, though)
• On that note, expect lots of ads for hard seltzers and light beer, like this take on the old “make lemonade out of lemons” advice; 2020 gave us a sh*t load of lemons, so they made some Bud Light lemon seltzer.
• Indeed will run its first ever Super Bowl commercial featuring real job seekers to offer hope and inspiration for job hunting.
• Tide always crushes it. This year, they’ll air a 60-second spot featuring Jason Alexander. Doritos, Pringles, M&Ms, General Motors, Mountain Dew will be back, too.
• Hellmans and Huggies make their first Super Bowl debut.
• E*Trade, DoorDash, Fiverr, and Mercari also make their first debut, each examples of tools that saw new popularity during the pandemic.

Walmart Taps Trade Desk Over Xandr

After more than a year of testing, Walmart announced the release of its custom-built version of the Trade Desk DSP for its retail media business. Walmart’s DSP is a separate, walled-off version of the Trade Desk, filled with exclusive Walmart data and inventory and utilizing a self-service model to give buyers more transparency.The Walmart DSP will also be the only way to access Walmart’s advertising inventory– like Walmart.com and in-store ad placements. See what they did there?

Good News: Giant Dinosaur Discovered

Some bones first discovered in Argentina in 2012 may be the largest land animal in our planet’s history. After subsequent field trips, digs, and analysis over twelve years, paleontologists now believe the tail vertebrae, pelvis, and other bones discovered belong to a titanosaur from 98 million years ago. The dinosaur could be larger than 76 tons and 122 feet from nose to tail. Imagine catching one of those in your backyard!

Stay safe,
Charlotte

Hello Bidtellectuals!

At the beginning of this week, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr., who fought for racial equality and the economically disadvantaged primarily through nonviolent protest movements in our country. Might I also suggest reading about Coretta Scott King, who significantly influenced her husband’s strategy and thinking, committed herself to various causes voicing underrepresented communities, and continued his legacy after his death.

Congratulations to Bidtellectual of the Week Marcos Vladimir López Castellanos!

Valentine’s Day: Campaign Strategy

Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it, but before you write off this holiday for 2021, consider that consumers spent $1.7 billion on Valentine’s Day gifts for their PETS last year. Meanwhile, between July and August 2020, total retail sales in the United States rose by 0.6%, a worthy indicator for continued increase in ecommerce spend into 2021. Valentine’s Day is a special time for many, so customers are trying to find things that will stick out and catch their attention, whether that be a personalized gift or jewelry like gold bangles for women, they want to be wowed by what they see so they can make a purchase for their partner/wife/husband, and so on.

Plus, Valentine’s Day itself is evolving from a holiday for lovers-only to one celebrating any important relationship in your life. Brands now more than ever are considering to approach digital agencies such as WebEnertia to target a specific group of audience and promote their products and services. Furthermore, these brands also need to ensure the content they promote online to gain more customers does not appear negative in any way. Occasionally, these factors may vary by country and culture.

Though you can market your brand on your own, it’s important to understand that because digital marketing agencies specialize in promoting brands online and building online relationships with customers, they know how to expand your brand’s reach online. They can assist you in marketing your business online in order to attract new customers, increase sales, and improve the reputation of your brand. Taking the help of agencies like WebCitz, if you choose to market your brand digitally, it can have many advantages over traditional advertising methods like print ads and direct mail, billboards, TV, and radio. It can help your brand make better use of its resources while also giving customers the ability to do business with you on your terms.

However, if you’re not sure how to maintain your brand’s reputation with regard to these factors, you may want to hire a reputation management service to do it for you.

Read the latest rundown and predictions for Valentine’s Day 2021 here, where you can also download our Onesheet for quick access. Check out our video for 5 strategy recommendations for digital advertisers.

Latest eMarketer Survey Proves Power of Content Marketing

In an August 2020 survey, eMarketer asked respondents how they would like to discover products digitally. The overwhelming response pointed to content recommendations: trends, categories, and surveys were the top three responses, while influencer marketing and smart home device recommendations fell to the bottom of the list. Creating content that offers advice, value, and expertise continues to be the most successful form of digital product discovery; be sure to distribute your content at scale effectively.

Good News: Purple Power

Regardless of where you fall politically, it’s important to acknowledge the United States elected its first woman Vice President: a historic moment. Girls growing up will now finally be able to see someone like them in one of the highest offices of power in our country. In a nod to the accomplishment, Vice President Harris wore purple, a prominent color during the women’s suffrage movement when it symbolized loyalty. Purple also symbolizes political unity, since it is a combination of the colors red and blue, or each of the respective political parties.

Stay safe,
Charlotte