The Feed
Read daily effectiveness insights and the latest marketing news, curated by WARC’s editors.
You didn’t return any results. Please clear your filters.
GAT: Meta on track to surpass all linear TV spend
In just a few years, ad revenues going to Meta – owner of Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp – could outgrow the entire global linear TV industry, based on current trajectories; the findings of a new Global Ad Trends report indicate changes to global advertising as social media stands to become the world’s largest ad channel.
WARC Media members can find the full report here
If you’re not yet subscribed to WARC Media, you can access a sample of the report here.
Why social’s supremacy matters
Global social spend is set to total $247.3bn in 2024, up 14.3% year on year, ahead of paid search. This could see it grow to become the biggest advertising channel by spend.
But that’s a tussle among the new giants. Perhaps the more consequential shift is that on current trajectory, just the adspend going to Meta alone is set to earn more than the entire global linear TV industry.
It’s a moment that would signal a changing of the guard, not only from old media to new, but from a significant plurality of companies making money from global ad growth to a consolidated market dominated by global tech players.
What’s behind this
Both Facebook and Instagram grew by more than 20% year on year in Q1 2024, and Meta is forecast to earn $155.6bn in ad revenue this year.
- Tools like Meta’s Advantage+, which automates aspects of creative and media planning, are increasingly popular with advertisers.
- Meta reportedly increased its ad load in Q4 2023 to 19.1%, with most Reels sessions now having seven or more ads.
Elsewhere in the market
- The +18.3% year-on-year increase forecast for TikTok in 2024 marks a significant slow-down from the 87.8% growth rate it clocked up last year, despite the introduction of new search and shopping ad formats.
- Pinterest is set to enjoy a 17.3% year-on-year increase in ad revenue in 2024, while Snapchat is forecast to grow 13.7%.
- X’s ad revenue in 2024 is predicted to decline by 6.4% globally and 5.1% in the US – but this appears to be stabilising.
Editor’s view
“Much of social media’s success has been driven by Meta’s remarkable renaissance. However, social’s stronghold on budgets can also be seen in TikTok’s rise, and a return to double-digit ad revenue growth at Snapchat and Pinterest.
“However, with this dominance comes challenges, such as rising advertising loads in social environments, and the impact of AI on media planning. In this report, we take a holistic view of the global social media landscape, which shows no sign of losing momentum” – Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media.
WARC Creative examines Coca-Cola's superstar status
Coca-Cola has consistently delivered highly successful campaigns since 2018, earning recognition for effectiveness and media excellence, but in recent years has struggled to be amongst the top brands for creativity, analysis reveals.
This profile, available exclusively to WARC Creative members, examines the performance of Coca-Cola in the WARC Rankings and explores the approach it has taken to marketing, comparing it to WARC’s comprehensive set of creative effectiveness frameworks.
Why Coca-Cola matters
Coca-Cola's status as the most successful soft drink brand in the world is evident in its advertising performance. The brand regularly is the top soft drink brand across the...
This content is for subscribers only.
Sign in or book a demo to continue reading WARC’s unbiased, evidence-based insights that save you time and help you make marketing choices that work.
Why short-form video should be part of your media mix
Adding short-form video to the media mix can improve brand recognition by 20% and drive impact across every stage of the buyer’s journey, according to new research from WARC in partnership with TikTok.
‘Short-form video: How to supercharge your media mix and drive full funnel impact’ examines the rise of this media strategy and how it can increase reach, attention and amplify other channels.
Why short-form video matters
Fragmented media consumption and rising advertising costs are making it harder for brands to reach and connect with audiences, who are increasingly turning to short-form content, contributing to the rapid growth of video platforms including TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels. And advertisers are following: 70% of them already sell on social platforms, according to WARC Media.
Short-form video boosts reach
- More than half of social and video platform users consume short-form videos daily, and over three -quarters watch them on smartphones. A typical TikTok user spends an average of more than an hour per day on the platform.
- Audiences are consuming more short-form content than ever, led by a desire for a balance between choice and curation in the content they consume, and enabled by predictive algorithms and skippable content.
Short-form video drives meaningful attention
- Immediate attention: Short-form content engages the neural networks associated with intuitive, quick, and automatic processing by commanding attention in a less effortful and analytical way.
- Immersive attention: Full-screen, sound-on, short-form content creates an immersive viewing experience that draws audiences in and keeps them engaged through predictive algorithms.
- Multisensory attention: Short-form videos incorporate visual, auditory, and sometimes textual elements. This multisensory approach can lead to richer information processing by appealing to different cognitive channels.
Short-form video has a unique role in the media mix
- Not only is short-form video able to fulfil multiple objectives across the funnel, it can also boost the performance of other channels when used together. When executed with TV, TikTok generates incremental sales of 5.5%.
- Awareness: Short-form videos serve as powerful tools for generating awareness about products, brands, and trends. YouTube Shorts content acts as a pathway to brand discovery leading audiences to long-form content on the platform.
- Consideration: Research from Google suggests improving mid-funnel performance requires more time spent with the brand, so longer ads provide a greater lift. Short-form ads can amplify the impact and reinforce the messaging of longer formats.
- Purchase intent: Short-form videos can nudge consumers towards a purchase. A study by MAGNA, IPG Media Lab, and Snap Inc. showed that six-second ads generate identical lifts in purchase intent compared to 15-second ads.
How to succeed with short-form video
- Design: Consider the role of short-form video across the entire funnel and identify the specific outcomes the campaign should achieve.
- Plan: Tailor creatives to the platform and leverage branding devices to drive recognition. Consider how the frequency and duration of campaign activities and various ad formats will impact performance.
- Measure: Link back to the objectives and measure what the brand set out to achieve.
A complimentary copy of the full report is available to download here. A webinar discussing the findings outlined in the report will take place on 28 May at 14:00 BST.
The WARC Awards 2024: Shortlists revealed
Shortlists for The WARC Awards for Effectiveness 2024 are now available to view, ahead of the winners’ announcement later this may.
All the shortlisted work can be viewed here:
About the WARC Awards for Effectiveness
The awards, which you can find out about here, are judged by 120+ high-calibre international judges representing their respective regions. A total of 171 campaigns have been shortlisted from 35 markets across the five awarding regions.
The winners of the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards across all five regions will be revealed on 22 May.
All Gold winners will automatically progress to compete at a Global level: a super jury made up of all the regional jury chairs will then award the coveted WARC Grands Prix, the ultimate recognition for marketing success.
The Grands Prix will be revealed on 13 June via the Effectiveness Show part one. The Effectiveness Show part two will include interviews and insights from the Grands Prix winners.
Behind the lists
Asia-Pacific leads with the most shortlisted entries (64), followed by North America (46), Europe (38), Middle East and Africa (15) and Latin America (8).
Strategic Thinking, a new category launched this year, has the most shortlisted campaigns (31), followed by Instant Impact (26), Long-term Growth (19), Cultural Impact (17), Brand Purpose (16), Partnerships & Sponsorships (15), Customer Experience (13), Channel Pioneer (9), Business-to-Business (8), Channel Integration (6), Use of Data (6), and Path-to-Purchase (5).
Key quote
“Guided by the universal frameworks of the Creative Effectiveness and B2B Effectiveness Ladders, our brilliant regional juries have brought their expertise to the table and judged diligently and with rigour to select the shortlists.
“Winning a WARC award isn’t easy, so all shortlisted entrants should be hugely proud of their work getting to this stage,” says John Bizzell, Awards Lead, WARC.
Hainan plans could reshape China’s luxury market
The island of Hainan, which already boasts low income tax rates and import duties as well as visa-free access for citizens of many countries, is set to become the world’s largest duty-free shopping zone.
What’s happening
- The Financial Times reports that China intends to establish a single duty-free zone with a separate customs system in the island province as early as next year.
- In doing so, it is hoping to boost domestic consumption by further encouraging shoppers to buy luxury goods at home rather than overseas.
- DFS, the LVMH-owned travel retailer, is building a “seven-star luxury retail and entertainment destination” in Sanya, expected to be ready in 2026.
Why Hainan matters
“It’s a huge market,” Charlie Chen, head of Asian research at China Renaissance, told the FT; the provincial government has set a target of annual duty-free sales of Rmb300bn ($42bn).
Chen also suggested that the island can be a “beneficiary of the consumption downgrade” – Chinese shoppers choosing shorter domestic trips instead of overseas ones, and buying the less high-end products available in duty-free outlets (brands tend to sell their latest and most expensive items in flagship duty-paid stores in mainland China and Europe).
Key quote
“We believe that Hainan is well-poised to become one of the fastest-growing luxury markets in the world, maximising both domestic and international consumption” – Benjamin Vuchot, Chairman and CEO at DFS.
Sourced from Financial Times, TR Business
Ultra-long-form audio on the rise among B2B elite
Senior executives are busy people who require briefings, cheat sheets, primers and other bitesize pieces of information – yet, curiously, increasing numbers of the business elite are tuning into a monthly four-hour podcast about business history and strategy, with significant implications for B2B content and advertising.
Why long form matters
Good things come to those who wait: big, complex and nuanced stories need time to breathe, especially when the details and context are important. For big stories about businesses, we’re talking about action over the course of years or decades, and casts of characters in the hundreds or thousands. Great stories about practitioners for practitioners can ultimately influence busy people.
What’s going on
The Wall Street Journal profiles Acquired, a monthly podcast dealing with business case histories of book-like proportions. Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s venerable investment firm, was dealt with in a nine-hour epic. Costco’s back story took seven.
Initially focusing on successful tech acquisitions, the podcast – which has 500,000 average listeners per episode – now looks at the stories behind successful companies, or effectively the pursuit of greatness.
It is in many ways a luxury information product with the craftsmanship to match. Each episode takes hundreds of hours of research and recording. Hence the relative infrequency. The creators think of themselves less as journalists than as historians, making stories of lasting interest about lasting success stories
The media equation
Advertisers are noticing, according to the Journal, and it’s reflected in their premium inventory prices:
- A four-episode sponsorship costs between $400,000 and $600,000.
- Advertising on the podcast’s archive (around a third of recent downloads) costs $40,000.
This reflects the audience’s elite makeup: 40% of listeners are C-suite or VP level, the producers say.
In context
What the story says about business-to-business marketing chimes with emerging best practice:
- Premium environments are vital to perceptions of advertising and company quality.
- Brands, including in a B2B space, can reap huge benefits from becoming more ‘human’.
- Audio straddles traditional brand/performance dichotomies: audio, whether podcasts or radio, can achieve both long and short-term objectives.
Sourced from the Wall Street Journal, WARC
Solo Brands puts Snoop behind it
It’s all change at Solo Brands – the outdoors company has brought in new leadership, a new marketing agency and shifted the balance of its marketing activity as it looks to move on from an outwardly less-than-successful partnership with rapper Snoop Dogg.
Background
- In late 2023, Solo Brands announced rapper Snoop Dogg as its official “smokesman”, part of a campaign for its Solo Stove smokeless fire pit.
- While the campaign raised brand awareness, it didn’t deliver the anticipated sales uplift. That, combined with “increased marketing investments” – the costs of hiring Snoop and a first-ever national campaign – negatively affected EBITDA.
- Observers noted that the chosen brand ambassador was a far cry from the usual Solo Brands positioning around family-friendly, outdoor activities.
What’s happening now?
- CEO Chris Metz, who joined the business in January this year, told an earnings call that “We believe we were able to capitalize on the new customers we acquired through the Snoop campaign”, without supplying any specifics (although the company founder has spoken of how the Solo Stove has been “catapulted into the cultural conversation”).
- More concretely, Solo Brands has made tactical changes to its marketing with the aim of creating a more balanced approach between acquisition and retention marketing.
- “We’re mining our current customer base with more effective promotions and more timely promotions around key holidays,” Metz explained. A new team is “taking the same content that we have … and using that content in a more effective, more compelling way”.
- Additionally, the business has entered a new partnership with media agency PMG in order to improve its marketing effectiveness on the flagship Solo Stove with a fully integrated program.
- Strategic store openings are also on the agenda as Metz believes these increase brand awareness.
Why it matters
The choice of celebrity to front a campaign is fraught with difficulty, not least for the people with final approval. But it’s still possible that the Snoop campaign could be a slow burn (pun intended), attracting consumers who might not otherwise have considered the brand. And as a one-off it’s unlikely to alienate a practical buyer convinced of the product’s benefits.
Solo Brands and The Martin Agency will be discussing the Snoop Dogg campaign as part of the Creative Impact track at Cannes Lions next month: The Scoop on Snoop: Unpacking a Viral Hit.
Sourced from Seeking Alpha, Marketing Dive, Adweek
[Image: Solo Brands]
Curaleaf aims to be ‘early and aggressive’
Being “early and aggressive” is the way to win brand loyalty in developing cannabis markets, according to the chairman of Curaleaf – that and having superior products.
Context
- Regulatory and legislative changes around the world are slowly but surely shifting perceptions of cannabis.
- Recent reports indicate that the US Drug Enforcement Agency is set to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug on a par with heroin and LSD to a Schedule III drug like ketamine and some anabolic steroids.
- Last month, Germany removed cannabis from its narcotics list, effectively decriminalising it for recreational use and opening up greater access for medical products.
- “In the first month since the [German] law took effect, we have seen a substantial increase in patient counts entering the marketplace,” Curaleaf chairman Boris Jordan told an earnings call.
What it means
- Curaleaf, a medical and recreational marijuana dispensary, believes that its evolution from a multi-state operator in the US to a multi-country operator with a presence in 15 markets is something that differentiates its business from its peers.
- And it claims that its strategic investments made over recent years are now starting to pay off: in Q1, its international business grew 59% year-over-year and 12% quarter-on-quarter and is on track to hit $100m in 2024.
- As the cannabis market develops, distribution of Curaleaf’s brands across all channels will become increasingly important; the company is “laser focused” on expanding the global reach of its brand portfolio, including Select, Grassroots, Curaleaf and 420.
- In Germany, Curaleaf is working with telemedicine platforms, doctors and pharmacies as part of its program to promote and sell its brands. “We know that being early and being aggressive is the way to win brand loyalty, and having superior products,” said Jordan. “These are all things that we’re doing, trying to stay on the edge of it. We think we have a pretty strong position at the moment and we’re seeing that reflected in the numbers that are coming across.”
- Curaleaf is also moving into the adjacent THC market with an assortment of edibles and beverages ready to launch in Q3
Sourced rom Seeking Alpha, AP
[Image: Curaleaf International]
Why calling marketing an ‘investment’ isn’t fooling anybody
Nationwide, the UK building society, has recently launched a popular and high-profile branding campaign with actor Dominic West, but its marketing chief believes that senior leadership is not likely to see such activity as an investment, even if they do see marketing as effective for driving the business forward.
Instead, as a marketer, it’s important to argue (and prove) that you've got to keep ‘watering the garden’.
Why marketing costs/investments matter
What appears to be a semantic difference between investment and cost masks a much deeper need for marketing to become more fluent in finance. Rather than reaching for the...
This content is for subscribers only.
Sign in or book a demo to continue reading WARC’s unbiased, evidence-based insights that save you time and help you make marketing choices that work.
‘Light living’ among China’s youth evolves from ‘lying flat’ movement
Indifference is increasingly the cultural mood among young Chinese who feel called to the path of least resistance rather than the daily grind – and in the face of shifting aspirations, brands need to be aware of the new vibe.
Why light living matters
‘Dense’ living is the antithesis of light living, density stemming from the abundance of stuff: tasks, messages, belongings, relationships. In short, it appears to chime with a trend toward frugality in young people, especially Gen Z (aged 15-29) who account for 18.4% of the population.
Why does any of this matter to brands? Brands are memory structures that help to make products easier to choose, often with the effect of protecting a price premium. Searching for discounts, a frugal demographic will undo some of the exclusivity of certain brands. Marketers will have to think about how to defend the perceptions of their brands at a time when discounts are vital to shoppers.
What’s going on
Modern life is hard. A previous iteration of this cultural idea (as far as social media has allowed it to become easily observable) was the tang ping or ‘lying flat’ movement, a disillusioned response to the intensely competitive work culture that saw its zenith in the mid-pandemic era of 2021, ultimately becoming a major cultural export.
Light living, according to the SCMP, is more stoic in its approach, one in which life and its negative moments should be dealt with elegantly and as a matter of fate.
Among young people, some are talking about “reverse consumption” or the “stingy economy”, where you look for discounts and make comparisons between shopping platforms. But there are also ideas like “lazy health” (usually low-cost exercises) or “special forces travel” (short trips with minimal spending).
"With the rise of the stingy economy, activities like dining at community canteens and shopping at discount snack stores have become popular money-saving strategies," said Julienna Law, managing editor, Jing Daily, in comments to Nikkei Asia.
It’s important to consider the economic backdrop in China: an extended period of uncertainty has followed pandemic lockdowns. Domestic economic growth is set to slow in the coming years while the country’s aging population eyes new challenges. Young people are not expecting the same economic miracles that their parents and grandparents witnessed.
Sourced from SCMP, Nikkei Asia, WARC, Quartz
Krispy Kreme targets physical availability
Alongside overseas expansion, doughnut brand Krispy Kreme is aiming to triple the number of consumer access points in the US over the next three years, with the great majority of those being McDonald’s restaurants.
Key figures
- The business expects to add 15,000 points of access in the US by the end of 2026, CEO Josh Charlesworth told an earnings call, up from 7,775 today.
- “We’re accelerating into more grocers and convenience stores,” he said. “We’re excited about our national rollout with McDonald’s, which is expected to add more than 12,000 new points of access alone.”
- And that strategy will also inform international expansion: “We have raised our long-term global points of access goal from 75,000 to 100,000 to improve the quick service restaurant opportunity,” he added.
- Upcoming expansion into Germany, France, and Brazil will provide opportunities for thousands more points of access; the brand expects to continue opening three to five new markets per year.
Why physical availability matters
For a fresh food product, being readily available to consumers is vital for growth. And Krispy Kreme sees additional benefits from its deal with McDonald’s – that “gives us the opportunity to add distribution at other major customers such as Walmart, which still only lists us in about 25% of their stores,” Charlesworth explained.
At the same time, the brand has been growing the digital channel, through its own app and by partnering with third parties. “It’s becoming a significant channel and a big growth driver,” Charlesworth noted .
Sourced from Seeking Alpha
[Image: Krispy Kreme]
What the Ozempic revolution could mean for brands
Modern weight-loss drugs are a radical solution to the global problem of obesity, but the nature of the drug suggests that there will be winners and significant losers, triggered by treatments like social media sensation Ozempic – and it’s an issue that marketers will soon need to address.
Why weight loss drugs matter to marketers
The revolutionary element of modern weight-loss drugs like Ozempic is how they simply reduce people’s appetites. There is some suggestion that the drug may also allay addictive behaviours while apparently modulating motivational dopamine systems. Nobody yet knows, but anecdotal evidence suggests that they are changing patients’ relationship with desire.
The impact of the drug has been felt in American celebrity circles where the expensive treatments have been accessible. However, such is the potential for the drugs to help reduce obesity’s impact on national healthcare systems around the world, it’s likely that the systems of desire have changed fundamentally.
How this affects the business of marketing, especially of high fat, salt, and sugar foods or addictive but legal products or services, is now a key concern of financiers and, increasingly, the company executives who must think about their responses to such a revolution.
What’s Ozempic?
Ozempic is the most famous of Danish pharma firm Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide drugs. Wegovy is the formulation specifically for weight loss.
- Originally a diabetes drug, Ozempic is an insulin regulator that also causes dramatic weight loss, by reducing people’s appetites while also slowing the rate of digestion to keep patients feeling fuller for longer.
- It exploded into public consciousness when several celebrities like Elon Musk credited the product with helping the SpaceX CEO shed 13kgs.
- In recent years, #Ozempic has blown up on TikTok to the point of causing shortages of the drug for type 2 diabetes patients to whom it is typically prescribed.
Picking winners
Wall Street hedge funds have been particularly captivated by the disruptive potential of the drugs, which has not only seen lots of money going to drug companies, but also to some likely winners. Losers, meanwhile, are seeing their stocks dropping.
Potential impacts could be that snack companies are likely to struggle in an impulse-reduced world – as Mondelez did when Walmart reported that Wegovy users were buying less food. Makers of drugs and services that cater to the obese have also seen negative market reactions.
But they go wider in their long-term implications: lighter passengers, for instance, would mean fuel savings for airlines. Longer lives could be a boon for travel and tourism as people would have more time to travel in older age.
The trick, some analysts and investors tell the Wall Street Journal, is that while HFSS categories are unlikely to disappear altogether, companies that are not set up to adapt will face huge and damaging pressure – “it’s about finding the weakest links,” said one hedge funder.
Bottom line
The full impacts of modern weight loss drugs are unlikely to be felt in the short term. Major changes at a population level will take a long time, but amid the possibility of reduced demand in the future and surging raw materials prices in the short term (certainly among key FMCG ingredients like cocoa and coffee), brands are in a tricky spot. Category and business model adaptability should be on marketers’ minds.
Sourced from The Atlantic, New York Times, WSJ, WARC
Occasion marketing for Chinese brands going global
‘Milestone’ moments like Christmas, Ramadan, Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and the Super Bowl are critical for brands seeking instant impact – in a new Spotlight on Chinese brands going global, WARC explores how to get involved effectively.
WARC members can read the four-chapter bilingual report in full here.
Why occasion marketing matters
There is no shortage of overseas marketing calendars in the market for Chinese outbound brands, but marketers must concentrate their efforts on key moments to avoid spreading resources too thin.
Typically, these calendars are listicles that name all the festivals and public holidays in a specific region; however, not every single one may be a crucial point in the marketing cycle.
How to engage
- The advice is to cultivate momentum with overseas occasions; don’t stagnate with just passive attention but introduce interactivity to generate “active attention”, salience, and memorability, even after the festival or event.
- Take part in regular reflections on how to leverage these occasions; avoid using Western holidays solely for promotional purposes. Without profound cultural insight, a Chinese brand risks being incongruent in a foreign market.
What’s in the report?
Tips for advertisers:
Assess the suitability of the occasion for your brand. Explore opportunities in lesser-known events and differentiate yourself from competitors. While discounts are common during such shopping sprees, ensure they enhance the value proposition rather than erode it.
Tips for agencies:
Assist brand clients in understanding diverse cultural insights and nuances, as well as how sociocultural shifts may have evolved the occasion over time. Develop comprehensive content that enriches the consumer experience, complemented by strategic search strategies to amplify reach.
Tips for media owners:
Provide deeper platform expertise to outbound Chinese companies less familiar with Western digital media practices, facilitating their integration into the market. Occasions coincide with periods of high media usage and data-driven audience insights into peak times and optimal content.
For more insight, WARC members can read the entire bilingual report.
Shrinkflation is a global issue
Political leaders in France and the US have been publicly critical of companies for making products smaller while maintaining the existing price, but South Korea’s government is one of the first to legislate against it.
What’s happening
- The Korea Fair Trade Commission has said implementing such shrinkflation measures while not informing consumers constitutes an “unfair transaction” as consumers are forced to bear indirect price increases.
- It will now require producers that downsize products to put notices on packages, websites, or at stores for the three months following the change, Reuters reports. Failure to do so will incur fines.
Inflation concerns persist
- Inflation has come down from the heights of 2022 and 2023 but it continues to be a problem in many countries.
- In a recent Gallup poll, 41% of Americans cited cost of living and inflation as their top financial concern – far ahead of things like the cost of owning/renting a home (14%) or having enough money to service their debts (8%).
- In the UK, an analysis by the Financial Times found that consumers spent 15% more over the past two years while buying 0.5% fewer goods; food volumes were down 8% even as grocery spending rose 16%.
Why shrinkflation matters
From the French Revolution to the Arab Spring, high food prices are a trigger for social unrest. Only last month, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced food subsidies and cut tariffs on food imports as high prices and living costs resulted in his party suffering defeat in parliamentary elections.
Food and household goods brands, already having to tread carefully around the “woke” debate, may come under more pressure from politicians with one eye on their approval ratings.
Sourced from Reuters, Financial Times, Gallup
Ad revenues are ‘growing fast’ at DoorDash
Food delivery business DoorDash reports ad revenue is growing fast and will exceed $100m this year.
While the business doesn’t disclose actual figures, CEO Tony Xu indicated on an earnings call that annual ad revenue would be “substantially larger” than the $100m punted by one analyst.
Takeaways
- DoorDash’s ad customers now extend beyond restaurants to include businesses in the grocery and retail sectors.
- It is also “seeing increasing pull from CPG advertisers” and is building out products to meet their demand.
- There’s a new focus on refining ad products to offer more self-serve capabilities and more reporting capabilities.
Why DoorDash ad revenues matter
CFO Ravi Inukonda highlighted how ad revenues are contributing to both revenue and EBITDA.
“Our goal has always been, how do we think about merchant ROAS as well as consumer conversion,” he said. “And we believe we are best-in-class for both of those. Those are the constraints we’re using to measure the quality of our ad business.”
Sourced from Seeking Alpha
[Image: DoorDash]
85% of Gen Z Muslims want to try Islamic banking
Millennial Muslims and Gen Z consumers are keen to embrace Islamic finance as part of their banking, with as many as 85% of young Muslims wanting to try Islamic banking, according to a new global survey.
Consumers who aren’t Muslim are also increasingly demanding greater ethics and transparency in their banking.
What is Islamic banking?
Islamic banking, also known as Shariah-compliant banking, is a system of banking that is based on the principles of Islamic law (Shariah). The charging or paying of interest is prohibited. Instead, Islamic banks operate on the principles of profit-sharing, risk-sharing, and ethical investing.
Why Islamic banking matters
With a huge global Muslim population, there is a significant market demand for inclusive financial services that adhere to Islamic principles, especially for banks that want to win over younger customers in Asia.
What this means for banks
- Reexamine portfolio for more Shariah banking. Banks wishing to court Malaysian customers should take note that millennial and Gen Z Muslims place high value on religious alignment as well as commercial viability. In fact, 74% of Malaysian and 64% of Indonesian respondents say it is important that the whole bank is Shariah-compliant.
- Eliminate lack of trust barrier in Indonesia. Forty-two percent of respondents in Indonesia say they do not use Islamic banking because they are distrustful that banks can be fully compliant. Interestingly, Indonesian respondents who do not use Islamic banking are also the most likely to want to, with the figure at 92%.
- Continue to focus on service. Millennial and Gen Z Muslim consumers expect high-quality, tech-enabled service to underpin Islamic banking. Ninety-two percent say it is important that their bank offers online banking options and 90% want great customer service during the investment process. Embracing Islamic finance shouldn’t mean ignoring the high standards consumers have come to expect in banking.
About the study
Software company Mambu carried out a global survey in March 2024 of 1,513 Muslims aged 16-40, across the UK, South Africa, UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
Why brands should tap into the magic of Eurovision
Eurovision is a unicorn in the music landscape: a single property that resonates across European markets and beyond, it provides brands the opportunity to buy into the ‘disco magic’ centrally and activate credibly across local markets, using a platform that consumers genuinely care about - but it's potential hasn’t yet been fully utilised by brands.
Why Eurovision matters
With a viewership of 181 million it has over 60 million more viewers than the Super Bowl Halftime show.
What to do about it
Eurovision provides brands with an opportunity to strategically resonate with a huge and diverse audience across Europe – an opportunity that hasn’t yet been fully utilised, argues Fuse's Hannah Colbourne in an exclusive piece for WARC.
It is a rare moment in the music calendar that truly transcends markets and encourages sharing of the experience in real time.
Takeaways
- Eurovision’s scale and multi-market appeal should not be underestimated. It provides an opportunity for brands to tackle the fragmented music landscape, with a ‘one-stop shop’ akin to those found in the sports landscape.
- Eurovision provides a rare moment in the music calendar where viewing live is inherent to the experience, and where the event invites ’watch parties’ akin to those you see for major sports finals.
- While Eurovision is both playful and entertaining, it can also be controversial so brands must understand their role in the platform before committing.
- The audience make up for Eurovision is altogether more diverse, attracting youth, family, and LGBTQ+ audiences in their droves. These social-first audiences are hungry for content, expect brands to be playful, and are open to sharing their experiences.
[Image: Anthony DELANOIX from Unsplash]
Luxury travel adapts to the ‘new nomads’
Research from Kantar has identified a distinct new group of affluent consumers whose values and expectations are reshaping the experience of luxury travel.
Why luxury travel matters
Luxury hospitality brands are having to rethink their offer in order to accommodate the desires of these travellers, who are looking for more meaningful experiences in a safe environment. At the same time, they are increasingly having to compete with luxury goods brands that are extending their reach into new categories, like spas and hotels.
Takeaways
- The “new nomad” luxury traveller spends a lot of time away from...
This content is for subscribers only.
Sign in or book a demo to continue reading WARC’s unbiased, evidence-based insights that save you time and help you make marketing choices that work.
All In expands its work on inclusion
All In has announced three updates to its Action Plan, focused on Black talent, disabled talent, and talent from working class backgrounds.
Announced at the LEAD North summit in Manchester, the three new actions are informed by the results of its March 2023 All In Census and are part of UK advertising’s aim to build a workplace where everyone feels they belong.
New actions
- Invest in a sponsorship programme. According to the 2023 All In Census, just 2% of Black respondents were in C-suite positions; 31% of Black respondents also reported that they felt undervalued compared to colleagues of equal competence.
- Ask staff or visitors if they have any accessibility needs. For 39% of disabled people, their company was unaware of their disability/health condition. Among those whose company was aware, just over half (53%) felt their company was very supportive, 28% felt their company was supportive but could do more, 13% neither supportive nor unsupportive, and 4% unsupportive.
- Adopt the new Early Careers Social Mobility toolkit. Assess how to develop working class talent, with a focus on those in the early stages of their careers, through a toolkit developed by the All In Social Mobility Working Group. (Working-class professionals continue to be underrepresented in the UK advertising industry at 20% compared to the national average of 40%.)
Key quote
“The road to inclusion is complex and ever-evolving, and that is reflected in the updates to the All In Action Plan. Our objective is to continue to promote, encourage, and advocate for better representation, inclusion, and equity in UK advertising’s workforce” – Kathryn Jacob OBE, Chair of the Inclusion Working Group and CEO of Pearl & Dean.
Details of the full Action Plan can be found on the All In Hub, alongside a summary of the 2023 All In Census findings and a directory of resources to help employers build an inclusive workplace, including over 100 DEI initiatives.
Sourced from All In
What young APAC consumers want from beauty products
More than half of the world’s young people reside in the Asia Pacific region and there’s a rise in consumers seeking prevention rather than intervention from their health and beauty products.
Why beauty matters
More young APAC consumers are seeking non-harmful, science-backed skin health products, and while they are focused on health and beauty, they are also choosing brands that allow them to express their individuality.
Takeaways
- One trend is brands experimenting with makeup colours and products that adjust to changes in body temperature.
- The growth of the medical device industry, which makes products for wound care and traumatic skin...
This content is for subscribers only.
Sign in or book a demo to continue reading WARC’s unbiased, evidence-based insights that save you time and help you make marketing choices that work.
Email this content