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WARC Talks: Why anime is the next big subculture for marketing

In this episode of the WARC Podcast we discuss why anime is the next big subculture for marketing.

• WARC’s Rica Facundo is joined by Robin Lau Global Strategist – Digital and Entertainment at Dentsu.
• Establishing the origins of the Japanese art form and how it differs from animation in other cultures, Rica and Robin unpack the rise of anime as a cultural force, anime fandoms and why marketers should be paying attention to this.
• The podcast contains best practice examples for brands looking to use anime in their activations, as well as common pitfalls that should be avoided.

Listen to the episode in full here

Timestamps

02:24 – What is anime?

05:47 – What’s the difference between anime and animation?

08:13 – Why is anime so popular in Asia and around the world?

11:37 – What does the average anime fan look like?

15:49 – What do anime fans look for in brands that are trying to reach them?

18:59 – Successful examples of anime activations.

22:09 – Common pitfalls.

25:10 – Why should brands work with an anime ambassador?

27:58 – What’s the first step for marketers looking to work in this space?

Further reading

Has the influencer bubble burst? Your next brand ambassador could be a famous anime character

Anime: A cultural phenomenon that SEA marketers can't ignore

Where to start with marketing mix modelling

In a new report, WARC and Magic Numbers delve deep into the fundamentals of marketing mix modelling, an essential technique as advertising moves away from cookie-based measurement. 

Why MMM matters

While advertisers may now have a better understanding of what MMM is, and why it’s so useful, there remains a gulf of knowledge about how to bring MMM into the marketing organisation, and what to do once it’s set up. 

WARC members can read the report here. 

What the report covers

The guide is divided into five chapters, covering key topics including how to implement MMM successfully, how to interpret and use MMM results, and frequently asked questions. Finally, the report looks into effective uses of MMM through three brand case studies: 

• Wagamama
• Mars Petcare
• Cazoo

Key quote

“When done right and communicated well, MMM gives people the confidence they need to make the right moves and succeed with their marketing” – Dr Grace Kite, Economist and Founder, Magic Numbers. 

South Asian TV sees boost in US viewers

New 4k content launches appear to have been the trigger for a jump in viewership of South Asian CTV content in the US.

That’s according to ZEE5 Global, the SVOD service based in Mumbai, as reported by IndianTelevision.com. It reveals a 150% increase in its CTV base in the US over the past 12 months, along with a 75% surge in viewership.

Why South Asian audiences in the US matter

While the base figures for that growth aren’t disclosed, there’s a small but significant population of South Asians in the US, including perhaps 4.4 million of Indian origin. And with the growth of CTV among such communities, marketers face an evermore complex task in deciding how they can best reach target audiences. 

Interestingly, a group of US investors, mostly of South Asian heritage, recently made a significant investment in Major League Cricket, hoping to replicate the success of the India Premier League. The fanbase, which includes many South Asians, is said to be wealthy and successful, so definitely a segment for marketers to watch.

Takeaways 

• ZEE5 also reports a 35% year-on-year increase in content consumption and 46% growth in watch time of original content.
• Smart TVs and Amazon Fire TV are the main drivers of Connected TV growth for this segment. 
• San José is the city with the highest consumption of content on connected devices, with close to a 2x increase in users.

Sourced from IndianTelevision.com

MFA sites in industry body sights but the answer is obvious

Industry bodies, including the WFA, ANA, 4A’s and ISBA, recently defined ‘made for advertising’ (MFA) websites which are harvesting billions of ad dollars quite legally while offering advertisers nothing in return, but the solution lies in advertisers’ hands 

Why MFA sites matter

Two things. The first is the huge sum of money being wasted by advertisers: it seems extraordinary that they are willing to throw away $13bn (ANA estimates) on such sites for no return at all. Is that really just seen as a cost of doing business? 

The second thing is the concomitant amount of energy consumed in serving up those ads to MFA sites that the ANA said earlier this year accounted for 30% of all ad auctions. For an industry that talks a good game about net zero, this issue needs to be addressed. 

Typical characteristics of MFA sites 

• High ad-to-content ratio – usually twice the internet average or more.
• Rapidly auto-refreshing ad placements.
• High percentage of paid traffic sourcing – they’re highly dependent on visits sourced from clickbait ads that run on social networks and content recommendation platforms.
• Generic content – non-editorial or templated, low-quality content.
• Poorly designed, templated website designs. 

What’s the answer?

The MFA definitions above were developed in consultation with Chris Kane, founder of ad research firm Jounce Media, who points out that the existence of such sites is simply a response to the continued demands of advertisers for cheap, viewable impressions placed in front of valid human traffic. Change those demands and you can change the whole ecosystem. 

Key quote

“When marketers tell DSPs to optimize by sales, conversions and real-world outcomes, they run away from MFA. When DSPs are told to value cost per viewable impressions, they gobble up MFA” – Chris Kane, president, Jounce Media, quoted by Ad Exchanger.

Sourced from Ad Exchanger, ISBA

Mondelēz expects ‘significant’ uplift during World Cup

India’s recent victory in the Asia Cup has whetted the appetite of cricket fans for the upcoming World Cup, with brands hoping to capitalise on that enthusiasm over the next seven weeks.

For Mondelēz, sponsorship of the Asia Cup proved to be a “great investment” opportunity which it’s looking to replicate with the World Cup, according to Anjali Madan, local head of consumer experience at Mondelēz India.

Perfect timing 

With the World Cup coinciding with the festive season, “the timing couldn’t get better”, she explained to IndianTelevision.com. 

• Mondelēz is partnering with Star Sports and will be launching a number of campaigns to take advantage of an expected surge in viewing. 
• The combination of cricket and TV, she said, “helps you get that quick, rich build-up that you need … almost immediately for your campaign”.
• Mondelēz has a large gifting portfolio of brands and will be targeting different sets of consumers for the festive season.

Cricket delivers on metrics

• “One of the big things that we see every year for us when we do IPL is that the ROI uplift for us is significant,” said Madan. 
• “We see almost a 3-4X uplift that happens in the brand metrics as well as our ROI numbers when we are on cricket.” 

Sourced from IndianTelevision.com

News subscriptions vulnerable to being seen as ‘not worth it’

The idea for subscriptions originated in the media sector, but news organisations are finding that their value to consumers is more easily questioned than that of entertainment brands, figures from Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism suggest. 

Why subscriptions matter

Subscriptions for news, entertainment, or even household essentials like toilet paper are all around us. The business model became extremely popular when non-traditional sectors discovered a large and generally more predictable revenue stream built on one key decision to buy rather than a series of decisions to buy each week or month. As the model has proliferated, however, competition has intensified, leaving news brands exposed to being seen as ‘not worth it’. 

What’s going on

The study from the Reuters Institute combines data for 20 countries from its annual Digital News Report with 110 qual interviews across the UK, US, and Germany. 

• Beware introductory offers. While price promotions or introductory offers are effective in bringing onboard new subscribers, many drop off once the deal ends and they are asked to pay full price – chiming with Les Binet’s observation that “price promotions are the crack cocaine of marketing.”
  
• Differentiation. People are attracted to news brands when the content is the differentiating factor, and considered high quality, curated, and exclusive. A strong brand, based on a perception of quality and a good experience, is also vital. 
• Market context matters. In the US, 21% of people surveyed subscribe to a digital news product; in Germany the figure is 11% and in the UK it's 9%, because there are more free news services and fewer pay. The aggressive pricing of entertainment streaming services have a similar effect of conditioning expectations. 

Key quote

“News is as important as anything, but if I were to cut one, I would first think of cutting my news subscription before any other” – Male, 29, based in the United States and a new subscriber. 

Sourced from Reuters, WARC

Why advertisers should be more discerning with YouTube ad placement

Advertisers benefit from being adjacent to premium YouTube content in three key ways, according to a new study* from Vevo and Channel 4.

The advantages of appearing next to premium content 

• Viewers are more likely to watch premium content in superior environments – and as a result are open-minded to seeing ads as part of that experience.
• Premium content is 3.2x more likely to be viewed on a TV than non-premium content, meaning it is more likely to be watched socially, organically boosting reach. It also tends to be viewed in longer, dedicated sessions, enhancing engagement; and enjoyed in a more relaxed, immersive setting, increasing reception.
• Audiences are more likely to have a positive emotional response to watching premium publisher content – creating a positive halo effect on advertising brands.

Why premium content matters

“For advertisers, not all content is the same and nor are publishers,” says James Cornish, SVP, International Sales & Partnerships, Vevo. “Premium publishers’ content delivers significant advantages: a safe and positive environment that fosters trust, prestige, and receptivity.”

Key findings 

• In most cases, trust and believability metrics were doubled when an ad was found within premium content. Conversely, negative connotations for that brand decreased five-fold.
• The study reported nearly 3x more positive brand perception because of placement within premium content, while ads in non-premium were 5x more likely to be perceived as low quality.
• Overall, the expectations of advertising brands are fundamentally elevated when situated within fit-for-TV content, with the association that ads and the content they sit with have a similar quality.

* Retaining Trust and Quality in a Sea of Content is based on a survey of 1,000 British consumers (aged 16 to 40 years old who regularly watch video content) which identified and quantified the factors that boost the value of ads consumed within ‘fit for TV’ content (as defined by BARB) on YouTube. Qualitative research was also undertaken with 16 consumers. 

Sourced from Vevo, Channel 4

Podcast fans aren’t really listening to ads

UK podcast fans are increasingly likely to find ads intrusive, with two in five skipping them entirely, according to research from YouGov Profiles. 

Why podcast ads matters

Podcast audiences are growing and advertising spend is following, with previous research indicating that listeners show greater engagement with ad content and are more receptive than TV audiences. But that was a couple of years ago. As the podcast ad market has matured, with a rise in programmatic inventory helping move it beyond host-read ads, the podcast experience has changed – and not necessarily to the benefit of the listener.

Takeaways

• Two in five (42%) of regular listeners find adverts that are played during a podcast to be intrusive and choose to skip them; four years ago the figure stood at 36%.
• A further one in five (18%) finds ads to be intrusive, but listen to them anyway (vs. 17% in 2019).
• 14% say they do not find them intrusive but they also don’t find them particularly interesting (compared to 17% in 2019).
• Just one in seven (14%) say they do not find them intrusive and do find them interesting (vs. 11% in 2019), and a further 6% say they don’t listen to podcasts with ads at all (vs. 15% in 2019).

Sourced from YouGov Profiles

The £10m cost of dull advertising

Any campaign can be successful if you throw enough money at it, but a dull campaign will cost you tens of millions more a year more to match the performance of an exciting and well-thought-out campaign, according to marketing consultant Peter Field.

Why it matters

“Dull is expensive commercially, because you have to put so much more effort and money to land the dull message than an interesting one,” says Adam Morgan of eatbigfish, who’s currently developing the ‘Cost of Dull’ project with Field and System1. He adds that dull is also expensive because it’s “excluding”, for both consumers and colleagues. 

Putting a price on dull 

Initial research undertaken by Field, in his usual hunting ground of the IPA Effectiveness Awards database, came up with the £10m figure and that’s just an average – it can be double in some categories where share of voice is more expensive. 

Takeaways 

• Campaigns pursuing dull advertising have far larger budgets than the ones that are not dull – “to the extent of 11 points of Share of Voice”, Field reports. 
• It’s already costly to buy Share of Voice in categories like retail and durables; a dull campaign here will lead to an extra £20m a year to match the effects of an interesting campaign.
• The road to tedium is paved with good intentions: no one consciously wants to be dull but corporate metrics will often push marketers down that path; and if dull is the category norm it can be difficult to take risks. 
• Years of focus on performance marketing has driven short-term, bottom-of-funnel sales, but that sort of creative approach has also been applied to top-of-funnel marketing where it is much less effective. 

Key quote

“We’re not saying dull campaigns are ineffective. It’s just they do not work very hard. And you get a much, much bigger performance out of these more exciting campaigns – it can be six or seven times greater for every euro, dollar or pound you put behind them” – Peter Field.

The definition of dull 

Dull campaigns occupy one end of the spectrum, being all about information and using facts to persuade. At the opposite end are “fame” campaigns, using emotions to engage consumers and get them talking about a brand. 

Sourced from Let’s Make This More Interesting

[Image: Peter Field]

Indonesia delivers blow to social commerce

The Indonesian government is to ban social media companies from taking direct e-commerce payments on their platforms, as it seeks to protect millions of offline small and medium-sized businesses from being squeezed. 

Why a social commerce ban matters

It’s a particular blow for TikTok’s ambitions: its TikTok Shop is one of the app’s most popular features in Indonesia, and it hoped to replicate that success in other countries as it pursues a target of quadrupling e-commerce sales in 2023.

Where next?

Legislation has yet to pass but it seems likely that promotions will still be permitted. Marketers will almost certainly have to rethink their budget allocations and content strategies; a shift from performance to brand marketing could follow. 

Meanwhile, authorities around the world will be watching with interest to gauge the impact of the restrictions and to study TikTok’s response as they contemplate regulation of a new and fast-growing area of commerce.

Final thought

“This could be an excellent opportunity to carry out small test-and-learn campaigns with channels which have not been overly crowded by brands, making them cheaper channels to spend on” – David Lim, principal consultant at Avante Strategies, speaking to Campaign Asia.

Sourced form Verdict, Campaign Asia

Does resale really reduce carbon emissions?

Resale does little to reduce the carbon footprint of fast fashion brands, although it can have a meaningful impact for premium apparel and outdoor brands, a new study finds.

Why resale matters 

Parts of the fashion industry, in the spotlight for the levels of carbon emissions and waste generated, are attempting to address environmental problems by encouraging resale. 

But for fast fashion brands, “it’s misplaced effort”. That’s according to Andy Reuben, co-founder of the branded re-commerce solution Trove and an author of the new report, ‘Where Are Circular Models Effective Sustainability Strategies for Fashion Brands?’.

“What they’re basically doing is moving around items that hold none of their value, which is a marketing program,” he told CNBC. 

The carbon reductions for such brands are less than 1% but move up the scale for premium apparel and outdoor brands, with resale able to reduce emissions by around 15%.

Takeaways 

• All brands can decarbonize their products through supply chain interventions – updating designs to eliminate production waste, sourcing more recycled materials, installing lower energy machinery. 
• Resale is a more viable option for durable products that retain their value. Brands can also optimize parameters such as resale price, sell-through, and trade-in values. 
• Maintaining operational control in managed resale gives brands a direct means to capture Scope 3 emissions reductions. 

Key quote

“Brands have to demonstrate meaningful investment into shifting their model. When they’re kind of skirting around the edges, by doing either a branded peer-to-peer site or working closely with a marketplace, they’re not actually shifting their model. They’re continuing to do the things that got their carbon emissions” – Gayle Tait, CEO at Trove.

Methodology

For the report, Trove, a supplier of “branded recommerce solutions”, modeled the carbon footprint of 38 products across five apparel brand archetypes (premium, outdoor, mid-tier, athleisure and fast fashion) to understand the impacts of decarbonization and circular strategies.

Sourced from Trove, CNBC