On April 14th, we will host an exclusive webinar at the following times to share simple ideas for making your conference a social success:

• APAC/EMEA 10am GMT/5pm HKT: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1030548433072743170
• AMERICAS 10:30am ET/3:30pm GMT: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1823983511466835714

We will discuss how companies such as Huawei and Anglo-American turned their events into a platform for driving leads and building customer relationships, and how to apply the same strategy for your event.

In this session you will learn:

• How to use social to get people to meet you face to face
• How to capture more leads from events
• How to make your content more interesting
• How to get your customers to tell their colleagues and peers how great you are

Take 10 seconds to sign up now for the APAC/EMEA or AMERICAS session, and even if you can’t make it sign up anyway to receive a copy of the deck.

This webinar will be hosted by Andréanne Leclerc Social@Ogilvy Regional Director for APAC, Rob Blackie, OgilvyOne Worldwide Director of Social Product, and Charlie Lowe, Regional Strategy Director at Ogilvy & Mather Singapore.

See you there!

This month we welcome MLB Opening Days, season six of Game of Thrones (the countdown to April 24th is officially on), the crowning of a new NCAA champion, and – of course – April Fool’s Day, when brands’ pranks made us gasp, groan and giggle (see AdWeek’s roundup of the best and worst here).

Last week, in the world of social media:

• Instagram’s impending algorithm inspires a “Turn on Notifications” uproar
• A mega Snapchat update doubles down on messaging
• Twitter wants everyone to “see” your photos
• Periscope celebrates their first birthday… and 200 million broadcasts

_______________________________________________________

Twitter

Twitter Images Are Now Accessible to All Users – Including the Visually Impaired

Attaching an image to a Tweet not only drives engagement, but images shared on Twitter have inspired some of the platform’s greatest moments. To date, users who are visually impaired have been able to screen readers for text posts, but last week Twitter announced that people using the platform’s iOS and Android apps can add descriptions to images in Tweets, empowering everyone to ensure content shared on Twitter is accessible to the widest possible audience. >>Read More

Facebook

Young People Spend More Time On Facebook Than They Might Want to Admit

Facebook is used by 934 million users daily, but industry analysts still worry about the future of the platform when it comes to a younger demographic. However, a new report shares that Facebook is far outpacing competitors like Instagram and Snapchat in monthly use among 18-34 year-olds (when it comes to time spent on site). This demographic spends more than 1,000 minutes per month on Facebook. >>Read More

Instagram 

You Can Now Post Much, Much Longer Videos on Instagram

Long-winded posters, rejoice! In hopes of improving video engagement and creativity on Instagram, the platform announced they are expanding the length of videos from 15 seconds to 60 seconds. The platform will also allow users to make videos out of multiple clips. >>Read More

Instagram Is Changing Its Feed, But (Calm Down) Not Yet 

Are large social platforms destined to use algorithmic feeds? Instagram has promised an update that includes an algorithmic feed to help users consume more of the content they want. Instead of a chronological feed, the algorithmic feed would work much like Facebook’s News Feed, with the type of content you engage with most delivered first. The announcement prompted branded Instagram accounts to ask their followers to turn on push notifications for their posts.  >>Read More

Snapchat

Snapchat is Growing Up: Everything You Need to Know About Snapchat’s Latest Update

It was a big week for Snapchat users. A new update doubled down on messaging functionality, aka Chat 2.0 – providing the ability to make video and audio calls (taking on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger). The update also included auto-advance stories, stickers, and audio/video notes. >>Read More

Periscope

Can Periscope Become the Pillar of Twitter’s Growth?

Periscope celebrated its first anniversary by announcing more than 200 million broadcasts have already occurred on the platform, with more than 110 years worth of video watched live every day. Touting their vibrant global community and increased watch time (indicating an engaged user base), Periscope reaffirmed itself as a leader in live streaming. >>Read More

Bonus: Periscope’s “Time Watched” Metric becomes increasingly important for Twitter. >>Read More

Peach

Did Facebook Copy Its New In-App Basketball Game From Peach?

A few weeks ago, Facebook quietly launched a new in-app game, hidden inside its Messenger app. Here’s the thing, though: Peach did it first (Insert: Peachball). See how the upstart social networking app is inspiring OG platforms. >>Read More

Tumblr

Tumblr is Bringing Back Replies

Tumblr users can now interact with one another more easily. The blogging platform is bringing back replies and launching the redesign of its notes feature. >>Read More

YouTube

Fullscreen Targets the YouTube Generation With New Streaming Service Launching in April

Fullscreen, a media company whose creators’ videos reach 600 million subscribers across YouTube and other social networks, announced this week the launch date and details regarding its subscription video-on-demand service for mobile devices. The app will feature exclusive creator-driven content, along with a library of TV shows and movies licensed from Hollywood studios, differentiating itself primarily through its focus on the younger demographic (millennials and Gen Z). >>Read More

YouTube Emerges as Platform for Social Good

YouTube has begun offering nonprofits access to their worldwide production spaces free of charge…as long as you have 1,000 subscribers and meet eligibility requirements. >>Read More

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Now Offering “Learning Paths” Through Lynda.com – It’s Online Video Library

Better leveraging the video library they bought for $1.5 billion last April, LinkedIn will now offers users “course recommendations” based on their data around which jobs are most popular on the site. The hope is these course recommendations – which will help users prepare for their ideal careers – will drive traffic to Lynda.com and, ultimately, revenue for the site. >>Read More

Pinterest 

Pinterest Debuts Step-By-Step How-To Pins 

Brands such as Home Depot, Cosmopolitan, and Martha Stewart are already utilizing Pinterest’s latest update. The update unveiled a new kind of dynamic “Rich Pin” that provides step-by-step instructions that are helpful for crafts, cooking, and grooming. The Pins can be seen, followed and shared without leaving Pinterest. >>Read More

Have a great week everyone!!

Compiled by our West Region strategists including Cameron Joye, Laura Graham, Kate Acker, Austin DeArman, Pam Franklin, and Lauren Wesche.

And while we sent our love via Tweets and posts to those in Belgium, social media continued to roll baby roll as…

1. Twitter celebrated its 10th birthday, and it’s birthday wish was for more Gen Z in 2016
2. Instagram users with broken phones turned to desktop to satisfy notification addictions
3. Snapchat braced itself for a Bitmoji revolution
4. YouTube asserted itself as “Totally Relevant” yet again — even for Hillary Clinton

Facebook

Troll Alert! Facebook’s New Feature Will Now Notify You If Spammers Attack

Facebook’s latest update will alert users when suspicious activity occurs or when users are being targeted by online trolls. The developed tool alerts Facebook when accounts are set-up with the same names and photographs as existing users. The accounts are most likely using stolen pictures and details. When detected, accounts will be notified and the user will have to flag Facebook to have the imposter taken care of.

Facebook Messenger 101: Tips, Tricks, and Secret Games

More than 800 million people use the app and 9.5 billion photos are sent through it. From calling an Uber to initiating secret games of chess, see all of the app’s capabilities and what is to come. (The Verge)

Twitter

Twitter Celebrates its 10th Birthday, and We’re Not Counting Dog Years

As Twitter marks its first decade in existence, AdWeek breaks down the platform’s history and strategy for success moving forward. Should Twitter put all it’s eggs in the Gen Z basket? AdWeek (and the Easter Bunny) says yes.>>Read More

Microsoft Turns Off its new A.I. bot Tay, After Twitter Corrupts It

Instagram

Notifications Tab Comes to Instagram on Desktop 

The social platform’s website pre-update only consisted of the users’ feed. The new website will feature a notifications tab that allows users to see likes, comment, and mentions. The mobile app is still much better, but hopefully this update is a step in the right direction. (Mashable)

Pope Francis Joins Instagram, Garners Over 1.6M Followers

The Pope (@franciscus) is active on Instagram! His first picture was posted with the help of Instagram’s CEO and co-founder, Kevin Systrom. The Pope states he wanted to join Instagram because “photos can convey messages that words cannot.” (NWF Daily News)

Snapchat

Snapchat Buys Bitmoji Maker 

Snapchat has agreed to acquire Bitstrips, a Toronto-based company best known for their customized emojis called bitmojis. A source claims the deal was worth $100 million. It is not clear what Snapchat plans to do with the company. (Fortune)

Still figuring out how this Snapchat thing works – 10 tips for you

Snapchat made its name with disappearing photos and videos, but there’s plenty more to the app than that. Behind its deceptively simple appearance are a few useful tricks you might not yet be aware of. (Gizmodo)

Pinterest

Pinterest Works to Pin Down Path to Wider International Audience

In the last year Pinterest has spent much of its time gathering research around what content works best overseas. From a financial perspective, much of their anticipated revenue will need to come from abroad. (Wall Street Journal)

Pinterest’s Scroll-Activated Video Ads Are Paying Off

One year after Pinterest’s Cinematic pins launch, the platform says its video ads are getting users’ attention as they scroll through their feeds. Reese’s and L’Oréal are featured in their recent case study showing the success rate of Cinematic pins versus promoted pins. Read more from (Adweek)

Tumblr

Yahoo Considering Deal to Run Facebook Ads in Tumblr

According to a report from The Information, Yahoo is considering a deal with Facebook that would allow the giant social network to sell ads inside Tumblr’s mobile app. Read More

YouTube

Google is Reportedly Building a New Live Streaming App Called YouTube Connect

The tech giant is building a standalone live-streaming app called YouTube Connect that would function in a similar way to Facebook Live and Periscope. YouTube Connect would have chat and tagging features, as well as a news feed that displays videos from friends and brands to which a user has subscribed. Read More

How YouTube is Shaping the 2016 Presidential Election

In January, a political ad — actually, three — ranked among YouTube’s 10 most-watched ads for the first time in history, delivering millions more views to campaigns than to the best commercials corporate America had to offer. Read More

Also Gracing the Interwebs This Week…

1. We all picked our jaws up off the floor when we heard the Star Spangled Banner play in Cuba upon Obama’s historic arrival
2. A-Rod took on Peyton Manning for Retirement Announcement of the Year award
3. The Hunger Games came to the US in the form of March Madness’ Sweet Sixteen (my bet’s on District 12)
4. David Letterman surprised us all by revealing he’s actually been Santa Claus this whole time

Compiled by our West Region strategists including Cameron Joye, Laura Graham, Kate Acker, Austin DeArman, Pam Franklin, and Lauren Wesche.

I started listening to podcasts as a way to pass the time. It started simple with some of the mainstays back then; “This American Life”, “Stuff you Should Know” and my perennial favorite, “Radiolab”. The more I listened, the more I felt I knew the hosts and the way they told stories.

I often caught myself referencing something I heard on a podcast in my day-to-day conversations with friends and family, as if the radio hosts were close friends or colleagues. It quickly became evident that podcasts are such an intimate and personal way of telling great stories. Since then, I’ve been watching the podcasting space evolve and believe now is the time that marketers and brands start taking podcasting seriously.

The Fundamental Ingredient: Killer Storytelling

Many public radio fans know that NPR describes “Driveway Moments” as those times when you are driving somewhere, listening to a radio show and arrive at your destination before the story finishes. You’re so riveted to the story, you sit in your car parked in the driveway until it ends. I’ve had a few Driveway Moments myself but when I listen to podcasts, Driveway Moments happen anywhere. These moments are the proof-point that illustrate how powerful strong storytelling can be on this platform. The intimate nature of listening to a story through only one sense allows your brain to create a visual in the same way reading a book does.

What’s interesting about podcasts is that unlike video, listeners tend to have a higher tolerance for longer form content. Many podcast listeners I’ve spoken with have suggested that they enjoy episodes that range anywhere from 15 – 20 minutes. When asked what the ideal length for video content is, most would balk at anything over 3 minutes. In my own non-scientific research, I’ve also noted that podcast listeners are far more likely to listen to something they may know nothing about but trust in the content provider they are listening to. Again, this behavior seemed highly unlikely when considering watching a video that a viewer had no knowledge of. The video format requires undivided attention and is a far more active experience than listening to a podcast. Podcast subscribers are far more likely to be listening passively while doing something else (like say, walking a dog).

Why Now?

By now, many of us have at least heard about podcasts, in fact at least one third of Americans have listened to a podcast. Research from Edison tells us that about 21% of Americans listen to podcast at least once a month. What’s causing this renaissance in audio-only storytelling? There isn’t one simple answer but we have a few ideas:

1. The Connected Car Commute: Car commuters have long been a loyal audience for radio programming. However the GSMA estimates that 50% of all cars sold in 2015 will be internet-connected, and 100% by 2025. These estimates surely indicate a sea change in a captive audience hungry for different types of content, including podcasts.

2. Better Storytelling Formats: Podcasters are constantly learning how the platform works and how listeners engage with each episode. No one has really figured out the formula, which has led to a lot of interesting experimentation with different types of formats. Also, the barrier to entry is low which has allowed many niche interest groups the ability to create successful podcasts. So even if you want to create a podcast that is designed to be boring enough to put you to sleep, you can do that.

3. There’s an App for That: In fact, if you own an iPhone, you already have a podcast app created by Apple. Podcast discovery is an integral component in generating new listeners and apps like Overcast, Pocket Casts, Stitcher and SoundCloud have made it increasingly easy to find something new to listen to. In another sign of groundswell, Spotify recently included podcasts on its music streaming service. 

Can Podcasts Go Viral?

It’s nearly impossible to talk about podcasts without referencing Serial. After it’s first season, Apple reported the show was the fastest podcast to reach 5 million downloads and streams in iTunes’ history. Estimates also suggest that the first season accounted for over 40 million downloads. Yes, Serial has been a huge success but I would argue that the success of this great show has less to do with the podcasting platform and more to do with Sarah Koenig’s first-rate journalism and incredible storytelling. That said, whether or not podcasts can actually go viral in the same way that the first season of Serial did have been hotly debated.

It’s uncommon to see the latest episodes of your favorite podcast travel across social networks in the same way other mediums like videos or photos do. For whatever reason, audio-only content isn’t uniquely sharable on the social platforms we use every day. To resolve this viral dilemma, WNYC has recently started experimenting with “audiograms” which are 15-30 second audio clips shared as video clips on social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

The experiment does feel like they are hacking the platforms by injecting audio content through a video format but it’s too soon to know whether or not it’s successful. Podcast discovery on social media has a long way to go so if you’re trying to be the next Serial, I would suggest you re-evaluate expectations and invest in the long game.

How Brands Are Experimenting With The Platform

For years, podcasts have been produced by anyone with a microphone but within the past year, we’ve tracked some great content generated by brands brave enough to test the waters.

1. Panoply: Built around the success of the Slate Political Gabfest, Chief Content Officer, Andy Bowers has built a podcasting empire that now includes publishers like Vox, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. In just a few years, Panoply has become a leader in developing new content with interesting partnerships as well as a sustainable model for monetization.

2. “The Message”: In partnership with the Panoply network, GE launched an 8 episode fictional mini-series in one of the most inventive storytelling (and yes, native advertising) formats I’ve seen on the platform. “The Message” follows a graduate student who works for the NSA to investigate alien-like signals from space. The podcast masterfully weaves in technologies pioneered by GE without ever mentioning the brand.

3. Startup – Ford: Gimlet media has re-envisioned the way brands advertise on podcasts and the results are interesting. For it’s second season, Startup Podcast sent reporters to Ford Motor Company to capture stories that would then be crafted into advertisements throughout each episode. Ads included interviews with engineers and experts at Ford who told interesting stories about how a car is manufactured. Once the episodes were published, Ford created a microsite that hosted the ads as content pillars with additional content for people to learn more. If you’re following along, the ads were so compelling; Ford turned paid media content into owned media in a really engaging way. Didn’t see that coming.

How Brands Are Advertising

While audiences still remain relatively small compared to other digital platforms, advertising continues to grow as the platform evolves. Podcast networks continue to experiment with interesting approaches to advertising that break the model of what a typical ad sounds like and the early experiments have proven successful. Recent ad effectiveness studies from Podtrac have shown that advertising on podcasts resulted in 62% average unaided ad recall, an 81% average increase in product or service awareness and a 69% average brand favorability rating (numbers unheard of on other digital advertising platforms).

Slate-owned, Panoply Network launched “Megaphone”, a service that allows advertisers to insert dynamic, timely ads to any podcast, regardless of when it was published. As more and more listeners dig into archives of their new favorite podcasts, brands can ensure their ads still resonate with timely, targeted messaging.

Ok, heard enough and ready to dive in? Here’s what Brands should know

1. Invest in the long-game: Podcasts work best as a series of episodes, regularly scheduled rather than one-offs. It takes time to build up an audience so find reasons to drive fans back to your show. Don’t jump into podcasts without a well-thought out content calendar.
2. Be Consistent as much as you can: Successful podcasts tend to follow a pre-established formula based on the format and content of the show. Find a producer that can establish a recognizable rhythm to your show and use it consistently throughout each episode.
3. Treat the platform as a unique channel: Don’t think you can just take the audio from a video of a panel discussion and turn it into a podcast, it won’t work. Also, invest in quality audio equipment. Although the barrier to entry is low and it may seem all you need is a computer and a microphone, the quality of your audio is a reflection on the brand.
4. Figure out how you’ll determine success: podcasting metrics are notoriously bad, in fact many are still debating on what a “download” actually means, so don’t count on them to be a true guide on your performance. Instead, think about how podcasts can be seamlessly integrated into your marketing strategy.

Where To Begin

If you are interested in diving into a podcast, get a dog, a podcast app and check out a few of my favorites on your next long walk:

• Instagram introduced a new algorithm meant to piss users off
• Facebook partnered with WordPress in their continued quest for world domination
• LinkedIn got all celebrity and got Gwen Stefani to sell albums on their site (or something like that)
• BuzzFeed totally ignored that Swarm was already a thing
• …and so much more

Have a wonderful week!

Facebook

Facebook Just Got a Huge Partner for Instant Articles

With the hopes of reaching more publishers, Facebook has teamed up with WordPress to support a plugin for users that use the open-source content management system. WordPress powers 1 in every 4 websites on the web. Partnering with WordPress opens the door for a lot of smaller publishers without the technical support to otherwise publish to an Instant Articles feed to get started with the new format on Facebook.

Facebook’s Messenger Bot Store Could be the Most Important Launch since the App Store

Read more about the Bot Store, that many predict would be the “most consequential event for the tech industry since Apple announced the App Store and iPhone SK in March 2008.” (TechCrunch)

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Flexes Its Star Power With Addition of Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani ain’t no “Hollaback Girl,” but she’s a bit of a follow back girl. At least on social media.This morning, the Grammy-Award winning songstress and global fashion icon became the first-ever singer-songwriter LinkedIn Influencer. She follows fellow girl-boss celebs Oprah Winfrey, Arianna Huffington and Lena Dunham in joining 500-plus VIPs that publish special blog posts on the popular professional social network. Publicity-wise, it’s bananas — a win-win deal. Stefani gets to promote her new album,  “What the Truth Feels Like,” to the platform’s approximately 414 million members. (She gave the record a healthy shout-out in her inaugural Influencer post, titled “The Key to Success – and Creativity – is Truth” music video embed included.) And LinkedIn gets to flex her star power all over its site and, ahem, in the press. [Source: Entrepreneur]

Instagram

Leave Me Out Of Your Instagram Algorithm Bubble 

Instagram has been working on an algorithm, similar to a Facebook News Feed. What is most important or relevant to you will be seen first, opposed to in chronological order. According to Instagram, on average people miss 70 percent of their feed. If Instagram doesn’t want to upset their 400 million users, they will make this change optional. [but they haven’t yet] (Forbes Tech)

What does this mean for brands and agencies? AdWeek 

Also: Selena dethrones Taylor Swift for most followed person on Instagram with 70 million followers.

Snapchat

6 Hidden Snapchat Features

Snapchat’s updates may be hard to keep up with, check out this article to find 6 hidden features.

Watch DJ Khaled Explain Snapchat to Jimmy Kimmel

The king of Snapchat himself, becomes Jimmy Kimmel’s personal Snapchat coach.

Twitter

Users Accepting New Twitter Algorithm 

Last month we reported on Twitter’s new Algorithm, which places recommended Tweets at the top of your timeline (not the newest). According to Twitter, after about a month of testing they are finding that users are accepting the new timeline experience, and are seeing an opt out rate in the single digits. The update represents a large change for the real time platform. >>Read More

SXSW Twitter Partnership Highlight

At this year’s SXSW festival, Dove and Twitter announced that they will partner to analyze user’s tweets to gauge body positivity in a digital move against body shaming. The #SpeakBeautiful Effect tool invites users to share the handles they want analyzed. >>Read More

BONUS: Infographic: A TV Show’s Appeal Can Determine Ad Recall, Twitter Study Says

BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed Launches New Ad Format to Further Monetize Its Big Social Reach

During a keynote at SXSW Interactive BuzzFeed’s marketing chief unveiled a beta test of an ad format called, Swarm. This feature would allow brands and advertisers to run their campaigns simultaneously across all of BuzzFeed’s web and mobile properties plus its six social platforms: Snapchat Discover, Vine, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr. Read More

Tumblr

If (When?) Yahoo Goes Under, Who Should Buy Flickr and Tumblr?

Yahoo is in turmoil. Its CEO and Board are pursuing different paths to either return it to solvency or a shell corporation. Much of what’s being discussed is what the company should do with core assets, two of which are Flickr and Tumblr. Read More

YouTube

YouTube and Google Play Agree to Join T-Mobile’s Binge On Program, Following Criticism of Video Throttling

YouTube and Google Play Movies & TV will now participate in T-Mobile’s “Binge On” program, which offers cellular subscribers the ability to watch a variety of services without those streams counting against users’ data plans. Read More

Medium

Medium Evolves Again

The service will add human editorial decisions to its mobile app. Read More

Pinterest 

Top Tips For Being Successful On Pinterest In 2016

This article breaks down how brands can leverage Pinterest’s updates in 2016. Target audiences on Pinterest are aspirational, meaning they are looking to Pinterest to inspire them to cook, buy, and travel. From the importance of the “Buy” button to pinning cadence read up on how 2016’s platform updates are keeping brands and audiences in mind. 

Compiled by our West Region strategists including Melanie Taylor, Cameron Joye, Laura Graham, Kate Acker, Austin DeArman, Pam Franklin, and Lauren Wesche.

Over the past year, social platforms have been experimenting with a new model called “Distributed Content”. Initially reserved for journalists and publishers, distributed content is a process by which media outlets create and publish content specifically for a social network rather than it’s own website. Using this model allows publishers to meet their audience in unique and engaging ways in exchange for giving up control of the platform that their content appears on.

With their rich targeting capabilities, social platforms have encouraged brands to embrace Distributed Content strategies as a cost-efficient, engaging way to reach their audiences. While initially cautious about giving up too much control away, media outlets have started to embrace the model, generating much better ad revenues than their traditional websites. After months of anticipation, social platforms and even publishers like Buzzfeed are opening up their distributed content models to brands.

Website discovery is evolving – more often than not; we’re finding and consuming content on the social platforms we already visit all the time (Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter etc). Recently, we’ve seen popular digital media outlets like NowThis and Obsessee omit a proper brand website entirely, opting to embrace the Distributed Content model by generating content specifically tailored for multiple social platforms. This shift in channel strategy for Now This has been hugely successful, accounting for one billion monthly video views this past January.

Source: NowThis

Curious how Distributed Content works in the wild? Here’s a breakdown of the major platforms disrupting how we think about content strategy.

Facebook

Following the recent success of Instant Articles, Facebook has launched a new immersive mobile ad feature called Canvas. When a user clicks a Canvas-enabled ad, the content expands to the full screen of their phone with a rich-media page all embedded within the Facebook platform. Canvas content includes a lot of rich media elements and interactivity that allow them to explore content before being directed to a brand web page. Early results from Facebook have shown this type of ad format has been successful; 53% of users that click on a Canvas ad view at least half of the content driving 30-50% lower cost-per-conversions. Given that mobile ads generated 80% of the company’s $5.6 billion ad revenue in Q4 of 2015, it’s fair to assume that Facebook will continue to evolve interesting new mobile ad features for brands.

Twitter

As the premiere platform for real-time engagement, Twitter has launched a “native ad format” with a select group of brands called “Promoted Moments”. This ad format aggregates a selection of tweets, photos and videos around trending or branded content. Similar to Facebook, Promoted Moments keeps branded content within the Twitter platform by pulling in content from multiple sources that weave together a story. Brands like Tesco that have experimented with Promoted Moments have reported success despite initial rumors that the price tag for this ad feature cost $1 million.

Buzzfeed

While Buzzfeed has been selling branded content ads on their own website for a long time, CMO Frank Cooper recently announced at SXSW a new cross-platform marketing product dubbed “Swarm”. This ad product is designed to have your content live across all of BuzzFeed’s social and web properties including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, YouTube, and Tumblr. The reason? To take advantage of their extremely large social footprint and generate some ad dollars beyond what they’re able to monetize on their own website. BuzzFeed believes that traffic on their website only makes up 1/5^th of their overall audience, so it makes perfect sense that they would want to sell content on other platforms where the majority of their audience actually is.

While Swarm will cost a premium and there is little in the way of case studies since it’s brand new, there’s no doubt that if you’re a brand trying to make a splash and reach this audience then this is a very attractive way to do so.

Snapchat

When Snapchat first burst onto the scene, many thought it would be little more than an app that allowed teenagers to send pictures to each other that would then disappear seconds later. Then something funny happened: it became a company with a $16 million valuation and a legitimate source of news with a feature called Discover that opened up the platform to a host of big name publishers including Vice, Buzzfeed, Mashable, and ESPN. All of these publishers curate daily content for Snapchat specifically, and users are able to pick and choose the content they want to read. Unlike standard snaps, users can view this content for as long as they like. The pickup has been huge, with Cosmo reporting 3 millions users daily on Discover as of October 2015. These numbers are significant if brands are wary of the type of reach Snapchat has.

All of this good news for Discover does come with caveats. While Snapchat is undoubtedly a great way to reach a millennial audience (Snapchat promotes that more than 60% of 13 to 34 year-old are Snapchatters), ad formats and targeting capabilities are still limited for brands wanting to use this platform. As of now, the only ad unit available is a 10 second vertical video interstitial that can be skipped by a user. Analytics and performance metrics are also light, although that might change with Nielsen recently partnering with Snapchat to become the standard measurement offering for all ad campaigns on the platform. Snapchat is also in talks with several ad tech partners and DSPs for more granular targeting, although that might come until later in 2016.

Apple News

From it’s inception, Apple News was designed to be a one-stop shop for all your news content, aggregating and personalizing stories that you like to read into one handy app, but so far it hasn’t quite taken off. That might change soon, with news surfacing that Apple will be launching an ad campaign promoting the app in an effort to gain more readers, and eventually monetize those readers with ads. The company also announced some new tools for publishers, including enhanced analytics that will give deeper insight into what people are reading. Apple News will also begin including content from local newspapers and independent publishers, further expanding its content.

Ad capabilities on Apple News are still in infancy. Publishers offer banner and interstitial units while reading and swiping through stories, and some publishers also allow for sponsorships of their content at more of a premium cost. Apple recently announced they would add ComScore tags to this app, which will finally allow publishers to better quantify the readership on the platform. If you’re a brand, it makes sense to see if traffic improves over the coming months before investing a lot of your budget into this platform. If it does take off, and I wouldn’t count out Apple, then this will become yet another unique way to reach your audience and give your campaign even more of a surround-sound feel.

Key Takeaways for Brands and Advertisers

1. Embrace the lack of control. Social platforms offering Distributed Content have unparalleled targeting capabilities to get in front of your target audience in a way that isn’t possible with owned media content.
2. Consider re-evaluating your content strategy and determine the role of your brand’s website. In an age of Distributed Content, your brand website will certainly have fewer visitors but that shouldn’t mean it’s time to give up on it just yet.
3. These platforms are a creative way to get around ad blocking. Ad blockers are not as popular on mobile devices, which is where most of these platforms shine.
4. Utilize distributed content for branding and awareness, not necessarily direct-response campaigns.
5. Social platforms are still experimenting with cost structures for Distributed Content so it’s too soon to provide an accurate estimate for this type of advertising. Some platforms will be more expensive than others. When determining budget, consider what the goal of your advertising is to help define the right content platform for your campaign.
6. Set you and your clients up for success; recognize that metrics for these campaigns will be much different than your standard traditional metrics. If web traffic is your ultimate goal, then this might not be the best fit for you.
7. Measurement & analytics are still a work in progress. Don’t expect to get the same detail you’d have on your own web properties.
8. Have a different strategy for each platform. What works for Snapchat is not necessarily going to work for Twitter. Brands must be wary of creative specs and speak to each platform’s unique audience to really make discovered content work.

Is there such a thing as too much choice?

George Rausch, Director of Content for Pluto TV, talked about our modern media overload on Monday at SXSW. Because of the lack of curation, Rausch posited, consumers are spending too much time searching, less time actually consuming, and this can eventually lead to user dissatisfaction. “By reducing the amount of choices,” Rausch said, “users experience higher engagement and build loyalty [towards a] platform.”

Content providers need to do a better job of curating. Many would define curation as “pulling together, sifting through, and selecting for presentation, as music or website content.” But Rausch says this is too simplistic. Merely organizing things or presenting them to users leaves out the core value of curation, which is discovering and organizing content to give it new context and meaning.

Rausch cited an early example of curation —the Museum Wormianum, one of the first examples of what would become widely known as the modern museum. The Museum Wormianum was in the home of 17th century Danish physician, linguist and philosopher Ole Worm. It consisted of a little bit of everything, but was focused on how things being presented outside of their natural environment could impact their meaning.

When we hear the word curation today, we think of Spotify and Pandora for music, blogs for written content, Instagram and Facebook for our social lives, and Netflix and Hulu for video. Even by specific medium, there are not only multiple options, but an amazing amount of choice within those options.

It may seem like choice is a wonderful thing, but there’s no question that it can also be overwhelming. Rausch cited the 2004 book, and future TED Talk, The Paradox of Choice – Why More is Less by psychologist Barry Schwartz. In it, Schwartz argues that more choice equals more anxiety, and more unhappiness.

In the United States, most cable customers have over 200 channel options. But why do most people watch the same 17 top cable channels? Rausch says this is because of Schwartz’s Paradox of Choice, which says that when people are overwhelmed by choices, they end up paralyzed—not doing anything. And Rausch thinks that many of our current digital content providers aren’t doing much actual curating. Rather, they’re dumping whatever they can on their platforms and touting their staggering amount of choice.

Rausch also said that Humans are the curation algorithm, for two reasons. Firstly, they have personal networks of friends and colleagues to learn from. And in addition, they can discern topic experts and go to them to find most precise information, which is something that machines can’t do (yet, of course).

What makes a great curator? Curators are more than experts. Being an expert in a subject matter is great, but not a requirement. Experts find definitive answers, while curators look for perspective.

It’s that perspective that Rausch claims is missing in modern media. If both he and Schwartz are correct, perhaps consumers will eventually find themselves frustrated with the immense options that Netflix offers. Time will tell, but until then, we’ve some binge-watching to take care of.

SXSW plays an increasingly important role in revolutionizing interactive media. While often known as a hotbed for tech startups, it’s the discussions around practical applications of such media, the opportunities they present, and the surrounding implications that have attracted the attention of a growing number of brands, platforms, and creators each year.

In this webinar I share key takeaways from SXSW 2016 and discuss what each means for the year ahead. Joining me are:Hugh Forrest, Director of SXSW Interactive, Peter Fasano, Global Consulting Principal of Digital Strategy at OgilvyRED, special guest Lisa Hammitt, Cognitive Computing and Data Science Executive at IBM, Hannah Law, VP Strategy at Ogilvy & Mather, and Ritesh Patel, Chief Digital Officer at Ogilvy CommonHealth.

View a recording of the session and a copy of the deck below:

I spent several months in sub-Saharan Africa last year to establish Ogilvy & Mather’s social media capabilities in the region. This doesn’t make me an ‘Africa expert'(!) but I compiled a trends report based on my observations, reinforced with data, cases, examples and anecdotes.

The report covers consumer, business and digital marketing trends with actionable call-outs answering “what does this mean?”

It is written for Global Marketers and business people who are looking to launch or improve their Africa business … as well as anyone open to busting a lot of the stereotypes and misinformation about Africa. In sum, it’s an inspiring place we are simply not looking to enough.

Let me know what you think, or share your experience in the comments below.

• You can make Facebook Reactions look way better than hearts for your own personal amusement.
• Instagram cut those comments to make the platform faster. So stop your whining.
• Snapchat is for everyone – even the “olds” (not my words)
• LinkedIn is letting you target up to 30,000 companies with ads
• Meet Slyce, Mave and Quartz
• OH – and don’t be like the French President’s communications team on Periscope

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!

Facebook

Facebook Emjoi ‘Reactions’: Are There Ulterior Motives?

If you haven’t seen the “Like” button’s new friends, meet the “Reactions” they are love, haha, wow, sad, and angry. Facebook spent years deciding on what emotions are most commonly used and the Reactions have seen quite a lot of engagement in their first week. But we can’t assume these ‘Reactions’ are there just for user enjoyment. Facebook plans on pulling rich data to adjust the current algorithm. Read more here.

Also for fun: How to change your Facebook Reactions to Pictures of Donald Trump or Pokémon.

Instagram

A Tiny Change to Instagram Led to a Major Increase in Usage 

Instagram engineers began brainstorming how to improve the platform’s delivery and load time. It may seem obvious that we are on the app to look at the media, not the comments, but generating the comments actually takes a surprising amount of computational work. So instead of loading 20 comments at a time, engineers have switched it to 3 at a time. The result? Scrolls through user profiles have gone up by 2.7% and overall impressions are up 0.7%. Venture Beat

Instagram Banned ‘Being’ But Celeb Voyeur Apps Are Inevitable 

Feeding our obsession to know what it would be like to feel like a celebrity, the new app Being allows you to view a celebrity’s Instagram feed just as they would see it. Don’t get too excited though, Instagram has blocked their access to its API. Stay tuned if we will be mindlessly scrolling through Taylor Swift’s feed any time soon. Fingers crossed.

Snapchat

How Snapchat Built A Business by Confusing Olds [Try not to take that headline the wrong way]

My front-runner for headline of the year, this article from Bloomberg is a great look at how and why Snapchat is so successful with those coveted millennials and includes a profile on the biggest Snapchat influencer our there – DJ Khaled.

Pinterest 

Pinterest Founders Are Among The World’s Youngest New Billionaires

In this week’s episode of we are doing it wrong: what once started as a collection of dried insects pinned to cardboard is now Pinterest and valued at $11 Billion. Pinterest’s CEO, Ben Silbermann has a net worth of $1.6 billion and Evan Sharp is worth 1 billion. Oh and we forgot to mention, they are 33. (Forbes)

Slyce

NBA MVP, Steph Curry has launched a new social media platform to help athletes engage with fans. He claims as his fame increased his activity on social media decreased. He hopes to block all internet trolls and allow athletes to engage in the best and most relevant content with their fans. (Geek Wire)

Mave

Ex Google, Instagram and Snapchat employee, Emily White has a new startup. Mave is still in its early stages but is rumored to act as a “chief of staff for your household.” The company will pair smart, experienced virtual personal assistants with category experts and will act as a black book of “Best Ofs” in your neighborhood.

LinkedIn 

LinkedIn Debuts New Targeting Feature for Marketers

Last week, LinkedIn introduced a service letting marketers run targeted campaigns on a large scale, capable of targeting people at up to 30,000 companies at once.  Advertisers using the service, called LinkedIn Account Targeting, are able to present a list of companies they’d like to reach, which LinkedIn will cross-reference against the 8 million businesses in its network. Targeting can be further refined so it can reach profiles based on job function or seniority. [AdAge]

Quartz

Quartz’s First News App for the iPhone

The app, exclusive to iPhone, is a whole new way to experience Quartz, a digitally native news outlet “for business people in the global economy.” What’s unique about the app is that it presents the news as a conversation, sort of like texting. Quartz sends messages, photos, GIFs, and links, and you can tap to respond when you’re interested in learning more about a topic. Each session lasts just a few minutes, so it’s perfect for the train, elevator, grocery store line, or wherever you have a spare moment to catch up on the news. Advertising is integrated with the rest of the app, in parallel with the editorial experience. Readers can engage with the ads just as they would any other content. MINI is the launch sponsor. [Quartz] 

Download the app.

Tumblr

Why Yahoo Is Writing Off Tumblr’s Goodwill?

While Yahoo named Tumblr as it one of its three major products going forward, the segment could not meet its $100 million revenue target for 2015. We believe writing off Tumblr’s goodwill is a signal that Yahoo is cleaning up its financials for an impending sale and indicates that Tumblr fell short of its revenue targets, after Yahoo acquired it at a very high valuation. Read More

YouTube

Creep Yourself Out by Searching YouTube for Your Address

YouTube doesn’t have an official way to search by address, but a YouTube experiment on GitHub lets you type in a street name and it’ll dig up every video shot in that area. Read More

YouTube Creator Studio Updated With the Ability to Watch Videos Directly in App

Great news for content creators wishing to manage their YouTube videos on the go. YouTube Creator Studio, the mobile app version of YouTube’s Creator Studio platform for managing video content, has received a notable update. Read More

YouTube Launches Two New Initiatives to Support Female Filmmakers

YouTube is launching a global production program and partnering with the United Nations in an effort to highlight and support women’s voices across the platform. Read More

Periscope

French President’s Epic Periscope Fail Leads to Massive Live Trolling

French President François Hollande and his media team learned the hard way that it pays to completely master modern technology before broadcasting a live event. Read More

Facebook Fights Periscope by Showing Live Videos Higher Than Saved Streams

It doesn’t matter if it was Live if you missed it. And Facebook knows that people watch actually Live streams 3X longer than saved ones. So it’s changing the News Feed to prefer on-going broadcasts. Read More

GoPro is Livestreaming a Shark Swim on Periscope Using a Simple Cable and An iPhone

GoPro athletes Jeb Corliss and Roberta Mancino will get up close with great hammerhead sharks and stream it live from underwater with a cable that costs less than $200. Read More

Periscope Competitor Stre.am Expands With Pivot to Mobile eSports

While Twitch and YouTube gobble up live and recorded video for traditional gaming platforms, a battle is heating up on smartphones. Read More

Compiled by our West Region strategists including Melanie Taylor, Cameron Joye, Laura Graham, Kate Acker, Austin DeArman, Pam Franklin, and Lauren Wesche.