6 min read

April 25 2023 - Wanted: Subject Line Copywriter

April 25 2023 - Wanted: Subject Line Copywriter

👋Happy Tuesday all. Okay, honest question– do we really care about every newsletter trying to have a smart/quippy subject line? Whatever. It's a relatively "light" news day and I'll take it. Just a heads up, I will always post any/all Simpsons content I find on the internet (you've been warned).

Joe's Quick Take

  • Disney layoffs have officially begun
  • Apple wins appeal in App Store case from Epic but the fight isn't over yet
  • Snap we've got a lot of talk about in Friday's roundup video
  • I refuse to talk about Tucker Carlson

Let's get into it–

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Top Stories

Disney has begun the second and largest wave of its planned layoffs this week, with the company expecting to reach 4,000 of its projected 7,000 staff cuts by Thursday. The layoffs will affect Entertainment, ESPN and Parks, Experiences and Products, with the company saying it expects to realize $5.5 billion in cost savings as a result of the layoffs and other austerity measures

YouTube is rolling out a new feature called "Product Drops" to improve its live-stream product listings. This new feature allows creators to upload product details and schedule them to appear at a set time within a livestream via the YouTube Live Control Room. Creators with connected Shopify stores or direct access to the Google Merchant Center can set up Product Drops, with the option to release products for the first time during a livestream without disclosing them before the drop moment. This could help to maximize interest for the stream.

Snapchat's new AI chatbot feature, "My AI," has received negative reviews and complaints from users, resulting in a spike in one-star ratings on the U.S. App Store. Users have criticized the feature for being invasive, creepy, and placed at the top of their Chat feed. Some users have also expressed concern about the personal data collection that the feature utilizes. In addition, the feature had been previously reported for responding inappropriately to certain age groups.

Apple has won an appeal in an antitrust case brought against it by Epic Games over its App Store policies. An appeals court upheld a 2021 ruling that mostly sided with Apple, rejecting all but one of Epic’s claims and declaring that Apple doesn’t have monopolistic control over mobile game transactions. The appeals court upheld the one claim that Apple lost in the Epic case, where a judge ruled that Apple was violating California’s Unfair Competition Law by not allowing app makers to steer customers to use payment methods outside the App Store. If the decision stands, Apple may be forced to allow companies to direct their users toward payment methods outside the App Store.

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Rundown
  • The New York Times has launched a new brand campaign, the first since announcing its "essential subscription" strategy last year, under the tagline "More of life brought to life". The campaign, from Droga5, highlights the breadth of content available across a range of formats and platforms, which can be subscribed to through various packages or an "All-Access" option. The main goals are to shift perceptions of the brand, raise subscription levels and show how the paper's coverage ranges from serious to playful.
  • Steven Melnick, the marketing executive who oversaw the marketing teams for 20th TV, 20th TV Animation, and ABC Signature, is leaving Disney Television Studios after his position was eliminated on the first day of Disney's second wave of layoffs. Melnick, who joined Disney after spending 19 years at 20th Century Fox TV, helped launch hit shows such as Modern Family, Empire, New Girl, and Homeland, among others. He was also credited with developing the first seasonal DVD release of Season 1 of 24, which became the industry standard and a multimillion-dollar business.
  • Apple is working on a journaling app codenamed Project Jurassic, designed to compete with third-party apps like Day One. The app will allegedly be aimed towards mindfulness and mental health, with deep integration into various iPhone features, such as contacts, location, and workouts. It will also feature "All Day People Discovery," tracking users' proximity to others and differentiating between colleagues and friends.
*concept art
  • Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of Bloomberg LP, has announced plans to leave his media and financial technology company to his charity, Bloomberg Philanthropies, after years of speculation. Bloomberg's spokesperson confirmed the plans, stating that he has committed to giving the company away to Bloomberg Philanthropies when he dies, if not sooner. The company is likely to be put in a "perpetual purpose trust" to benefit the philanthropic cause, and all profits would benefit Bloomberg Philanthropies. Bloomberg's lifetime giving has approached $15 billion.
  • Coca-Cola CEO, James Quincey, has compared the age of AI to the smartphone revolution and stated that AI is going to change the way the company advertises and engages with consumers, as well as the way it organizes and analyzes internal data. Coke is using AI to enhance its marketing efforts, with its "Create Real Magic" platform that allows consumers to leverage AI to generate original artwork on Coca-Cola cans. Quincey stated that AI is "just the beginning" and the company wants to be on the front of this change because it sees it as profound.
  • Microsoft Advertising will no longer support Twitter as of tomorrow, just four days before the social media platform will begin charging enterprise users at least $42,000 a month to access its API. The action means that users will not be able to access their Twitter account through Microsoft's Digital Marketing Center's social media management tool and won't be able to view their past tweets and engagement on the Microsoft Advertising platform.
  • Crispin Porter + Bogusky has integrated four Stagwell agencies, MMI, Vitro, and Observatory, to create a new integrated agency. Maggie Malek is now President, North America at CP+B, while Brad Simms remains the global CEO of the agency. The move aims to enhance the ability to deliver paid and performance media and marketing, content and audience insight, and analytics. The new agency has more than 300 employees and aims to grow its existing roster of brands, including Amazon, Marriott, Procter & Gamble, and 19 Crimes.
  • BeReal claims to have over 20 million daily active users in a blog post on its new website, despite recent reports that its user numbers have nosedived by around 61%. BeReal has also debuted a feature called Bonus BeReal, which allows users to post two extra snapshots per day at times of their choosing.
  • Exploring the 2nd order effects of generative AI in marketing and martech
  • Grimes has said that she will allow anyone to use her voice for AI-generated songs and split 50% of the royalties for any "successful" tracks. Grimes made the statement on Twitter, adding that the offer could be applied to tracks that are already popular or have gone viral. Despite the lack of detail in the announcement, Grimes joins experimental musician Holly Herndon in using artificial intelligence to create music.
  • L’OrĂ©al has partnered with Wunderman Thompson to become the first hairstylist brand to launch direct-to-avatar products across multiple online marketplaces, including Ready Player Me, Roblox, and Zepeto. The partnership offers five larger-than-life hair looks that offer more opportunities for metaverse gamers to fully express themselves. In collaboration with a CGI artist, the brand created diverse virtual hair looks for cross-gaming avatars, and it plans to drop new hair looks across the year.

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Published by:

Joe Nash

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