YouTube Gets Serious About Podcasting
The Verge
Google has hired Kai Chuck to manage its “large volume of existing podcasts and relationships across the YouTube platform,” a spokesperson told The Verge. Chuk has been at YouTube for nearly 10 years, focusing mostly on media partnerships.
In addition, Bloomberg reported that Canada’s YouTube Music app is going to support background music listening for free users.
Why it matters: Given podcasters already upload and host videos on Google’s servers and Google monetizes those videos for them based on user data, it’s yet to be seen how YouTube’s possible podcast plans will be changed or managed. YouTube also already sells audio advertising for when listeners are running videos in the background.
How To Manipulate Customers… Ethically
Harvard Business Review
Born from the field of behavioral economics, nudges are changes in how choices are presented to influence people to take a specific action. While nudges can be very effective, business leaders must examine critically how they nudge users to understand whether they’re truly acting in their best interests.
Why it matters: The following three principles should be used to design and evaluate nudges: one, preserve and protect user autonomy—namely leaders should consider mechanisms to obtain the user’s consent before influencing their behaviors, even if it’s for their benefit. Next, leaders should secure users’ wellbeing, or minimize risks to participants and maximize benefits to both participants and society. Lastly, leaders should evaluate whether nudges are negatively impacting one group over another.
What’s Your Return On Visibility?
MIT Sloan Management
Growth in management’s ability to track what and how workers are doing increases the risk of institutional and interpersonal conflict, as well as challenges cultural norms. With the convergence of performance analytics and cultural analytics, leaders are looking past legacy KPIs to assess how well employees align with espoused values. In doing so, they must rethink how they balance principles and productivity.
Why it matters: Visibility is a company’s asset that requires purpose, policies and management. Return on visibility—the belief that measurable value can be had from ethically monitoring people and processes—is a credible KPI. Ensuring that greater visibility enhances work and empowers employees is now leadership’s duty and obligation.
How Out-Of-Home Execs Are ‘Battling’ Client Fears As Ad Budgets Lag Other Channels
The Drum
According to the latest IPA Bellwether report, UK marketers will see the biggest boost to budgets in four years, while one outlier will be out-of-home (OOH), the only main media category to record a net cut.
Why it matters: Alistair McCallum, Kinetic Worldwide UK chief executive, believes that some clients need to be convinced that OOH audiences are there, especially amid the prevalence of remote work. McCallum also wonders if OOH ad spend anxiety could be the result of anxiety about future lockdowns, but adds that the sector now has protections in place for clients.
Mastercard Wants To Engage All Consumers—And Their Senses
Adweek
Mastercard’s latest Touch Card launched in the US was designed to serve the roughly 252 million people in the world who are either blind or significantly visually impaired. The development of the card started in mid-2019 and includes a series of three cards for covering debit, credit and prepayment formats. The designs rely on a system of different shaped “notches” on each card type’s side to help consumers identify the correct one.
Why it matters: Touch Card is part of Mastercard’s broader effort to demonstrate that inclusiveness and addressing discrimination across race, sex or degrees of ableness is as good for business as it is for social marketing. Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s chief marketing and communications officer, told Adweek: “Financial inclusion is a big part of our business strategy. We have a responsibility to ensure that the digital economy is enabled for all.”
Understanding Customer Journey Analytics
AdExchanger
According to Beth Sanville, senior vice president of analysis for Merkle, the six steps of the customer journey execution cycle should connect and influence each other. Those steps are: identifying, collecting, synthesizing and acting upon multiple dimensions of data; forging insights into actionable business strategies; creating a test design and contact strategy; putting the data into action; applying real-time decisions and optimization, and lastly, measuring.
Why it matters: Great, relevant customer experiences attract customers and build locally and advocacy, thereby driving interactions and revenue. As Sanville notes: “Building and delivering optimal customer journeys is a business discipline and process that must start and end with data.”
