INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Some changes are coming to streaming subscription services as a recent April announcement confirms speculation of two major streaming services joining as one.
Nelson Spade, the general manager of WISH-TV’s sister company, Circulus Digital Media, says that April has been the month of activity in the streaming world. HBO Max and Discovery+ will become MAX on May 23.
“It’s been talked about quite some time in the trades. In May 2023 it’s confirmed that Discovery Plus and HBO Max are joining forces, the brand will be called MAX. It’s been speculated for quite some time because it’s really the marriage of both sides of the coin when it comes to streaming content,” Spade said.
Spade also shared that Netflix is cracking down as it grows its recently launched ad-supported subscription service.
“This has been speculated for quite some time as it released its ad-supported tier end of last year. The most recent data that we saw was that Netflix believed it had as many as 100 million subscribers worldwide sharing its app. That’s a big opportunity to get more users into a paid model. And that’s their end goal having registered accounts, more registered leads to a better connection for advertising for its clients,” Spade said.
To watch the entire segment, click on the video.
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email or visit the website.
Circulus Digital Media is the market leader in local advertising. We democratize advanced media for small-to-medium businesses. Our local media solutions and best-in-class suite of advertising products are fueled by industry-leading data providers and ad quality monitoring systems that drive meaningful business results.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Wednesday marks one week since Shou Zi Chew, CEO of social media giant TikTok, testified before Congress about the company’s data practices.
Chew told lawmakers the company is “committed to user safety, data protection, and security, and keeping the platform free from Chinese government influence,” and urged officials not to pursue an all-out ban on TikTok or push for the company to be sold to new ownership.
Seven days later, the future of TikTok in the U.S. remains murky, leading many to ask, “What would a world without TikTok look like?”
Nelson Spade, the general manager of WISH-TV’s sister company, Circulus Digital Media, says the loss of TikTok would have a major impact on digital marketing.
“TikTok is just a big business and makes a big headline. We’re talking over a $220 billion valuation. According to Bloomberg, 50 million of that is here in the United States. It’s amassed over 150 million users every single month in the United States. For advertisers, specifically, those that are looking to reach the Gen Z population, that’s over 60% of the users in the past few months.”
Spade suggests businesses that use TikTok consider making plans now in case the platform is sold, sees major changes, or goes away altogether.
If things go south for TikTok, it could be an opportunity for other platforms to get another look from marketers, Spade says.
“Instagram Stories are exceedingly more and more similar. Instagram has the biggest overlap with TikTok users as well — over 75% of TikTok users also are on Instagram. So that’s a natural change there — even more specifically, that Gen Z audience is a big overlap. Now, for the older users, YouTube Shorts is most likely to gain some popularity.”
To watch the entire segment, click on the video.
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email or visit the website.
Circulus Digital Media is the market leader in local advertising. We democratize advanced media for small-to-medium businesses. Our local media solutions and best-in-class suite of advertising products are fueled by industry-leading data providers and ad quality monitoring systems that drive meaningful business results.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Amazon’s taking a cue from TikTok and other Gen Z favorites as they lean into launching their new platform Inspire.
Nelson Spade, the general manager of WISH-TV’s sister company Circulus Digital Media, says the platform is an in-app shopping feed that helps the discoverability of new products for its users.
“We all know that Amazon is an E-commerce giant that has millions of products available for us via the search function. This is a new play for them trying to keep people on their platform and help them find new products,” Spade said. “The play here is to grow its ad revenue and to keep people on its site to do that. It needs to increase time on site and get more Gen Z users to its platform. It’s interesting. US Social Commerce released a study that said 45% of Gen Z users who buy something on social media say that finding that product is a driver to actually purchasing it. Amazon is trying to replicate the recommended for you content via a discoverability tool to sell more products. With Inspire, it’s trying to introduce a discovered ability to its platform which will help it drive its ad revenue as people are recommending products to its users.”
The real question is, “Does Amazon want to be a social network?” Spade has the answer.
“2023 is the year many predict that the likes of Amazon and other E-commerce platforms like Walmart will take a bite out of the massive advertising revenue that Meta and Google have. It’s diversification for Amazon, maybe not to take over,” Spade said.
To watch the entire segment, click on the video.
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email, or visit the website.
Circulus Digital Media is the market leader in local advertising. We democratize advanced media for small-to-medium businesses. Our local media solutions and best-in-class suite of advertising products are fueled by industry-leading data providers and ad quality monitoring systems that drive meaningful business results.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — As we bring in the New Year, we bring in new opportunities. Social media is constantly evolving with new trends.
Nelson Spade, General Manager of Circulus Digital Media, WISH-TV’s full service digital agency and sister company, discussed what trends he’s identified and what to expect in 2023.
“We’re looking at three key trends for 2023 as it trickles down throughout really the entire ecosystem. Gen Z is really anchoring and driving what growth is going to look like in social media moving forward. We’re looking at how platforms are trying different things to make money and stay in business. Content creators are trying to diversify how they make their money as well,” Spade said.
For those who are not a member of Gen Z, Spade explained what you need to understand with social media platforms emerging.
“There’s a reason why Generation Z is being nicknamed the ‘I Generation.’ It’s the first generation really that’s had the power of smartphones in their hands at a very early age. eMarketer suggests that by the end of 2023, all Gen Z users will be on TikTok. It’s a big number, and that includes 10% growth still this year,” Spade said.
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email or visit the website.
Circulus Digital Media is the market leader in local advertising. We democratize advanced media for small-to-medium businesses. Our local media solutions and best-in-class suite of advertising products are fueled by industry-leading data providers and ad quality monitoring systems that drive meaningful business results.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Reports say 2023 will be a year of change, featuring a new crop of digital growth. Marketers and brands are finalizing 2023 plans on the ever-changing landscape.
Nelson Spade, General Manager of Circulus Digital Media, WISH-TV’s full service digital agency and sister company, discussed what’s important for marketers to be ready for in 2023.
“There are a lot of themes and expectations for 2023 going in the New Year. Ad spending shifts are real, and they’re happening. Growth in the retail space as well as the streaming services are really expected to fuel 2023 growth. Gen Z is hitting adulthood and they have different expectations of their online experience and what they expect from advertisers. A lot of stories around the Gen Z audience, if that’s who you’re going after, and Ecommerce. The pandemic really accelerated Ecommerce and it’s continuing to change how people are shopping online,” Spade said.
As retailers invest more in advertising, streaming services are continuing to grow. Spade explained how to make sense of all these changes.
“Growth in 2023 is expected to be fueled by increased digital spend. That category will lead more so than traditional media. That being said, it’s being projected to be led by non-traditional or non-blue bloods. What I mean by that is, the likes of Google, Meta, and Facebook, will certainly have flat to small growth years, but the increase is really expected to newcomers. These are things like what we’re calling retail media, as well as streaming services. These two categories traditionally do not have advertising as the number one or even their number two income source, but they have huge audiences. They’ve amassed a lot of first party data and they have deep pockets to invest in their platforms,” Spade said. “With streaming, you think about things like Netflix and Disney Plus coming to the market with advertising based solutions. This is opportunity for revenue for them, as well as an opportunity for advertisers. On the Ecommerce side, you think about retail media. It’s a big opportunity. Amazon really lead the path here, and kind of cut through the jungle, if you will, for the model. The model is combining a search function with display.”
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email or visit the website.
Circulus Digital Media is the market leader in local advertising. We democratize advanced media for small-to-medium businesses. Our local media solutions and best-in-class suite of advertising products are fueled by industry-leading data providers and ad quality monitoring systems that drive meaningful business results.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Whether you want them or not, ads are a seemingly inevitable part of the online experience. Google is trying to balance privacy and ad personalization with the launch of a new tool called “My Ad Center.”
Nelson Spade, General Manager of Circulus Digital Media, WISH-TV’s full service digital agency and sister company, joined Daybreak to discuss what My Ad Center is and what users can expect from this new feature.
“My Ad Center as it’s being named, is the latest tool from Google in a very public timeline and effort to try to streamline the balance between privacy and and ad targeting online,” Spade said. “Third party cookies are on its third delay from Google in getting transitioned out. So it’s its latest step to try to help that divide.”
According to Spade, things that users can expect from My Ad Center include, “being able to block ads for sensitive topics for yourself. There’s a connection, if users didn’t know, between what they search for on Google and what ads are shown to them on YouTube that they can disable and they can choose ads to be seen fewer times or if they become irrelevant. Let’s say, for example, you’re planning a vacation. You start seeing ads for VRBO or Expedia. You book your vacation, you keep seeing the ads. You can turn those off or down if they become irrelevant.”
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email or visit the website.
Circulus Digital Media is the market leader in local advertising. We democratize advanced media for small-to-medium businesses. Our local media solutions and best-in-class suite of advertising products are fueled by industry-leading data providers and ad quality monitoring systems that drive meaningful business results.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The holiday shopping season is right around the corner and could be better than recent news would suggest.
Nelson Spade, General Manager of Circulus Digital Media, WISH-TV’s full service digital agency and sister company, joined Daybreak to discuss what is to be expected from consumers and holiday marketing this upcoming season.
“All things point to a strong growth year compared to 2021,” Spade said. “It’s coming off the heels of a lot of accelerated growth for e-commerce because of the challenges of navigating in-person shopping the last couple of years. All in, projections look like about a 7% growth rate from last year.”
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email or visit the website.
Circulus Digital Media is the market leader in local advertising. We democratize advanced media for small-to-medium businesses. Our local media solutions and best-in-class suite of advertising products are fueled by industry-leading data providers and ad quality monitoring systems that drive meaningful business results.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Video content is dominating social media. TikTok has set the tone for fun, interesting, and engaging content.
Nelson Spade, General Manager of Circulus Digital Media, WISH-TV’s full service digital agency and sister company, discussed how Instagram is trying to compete, and how there is an opportunity for marketers.
“Instagram reels is really their answer. While it’s not new to Instagram by any stretch, the popularity of its usage and how Instagram is pushing that content to users is evolving. At this point, users are using D.M.S reels and stories far more than a static post on their page, and brands are starting to take notice of that,” Spade said. “Mark Zuckerberg, the president and CEO of Meta, Instagram’s parent company, said that as much as 20% of all time spent on Instagram is specifically with reels, Instagram is seeing a benefit and a trend of keeping people on their platform by consistently feeding in this short video.”
Spade discussed what marketers are doing and how they’re trying to use this to their advantage.
“Half of brands active on Instagram use reels. That’s up almost over 30% in less than a year, so brands are taking notice. They’re seeing that using reels increases their engagement and their reach to consumers. It also shows that brands published more quantity still though single image or single videos, so there’s a big opportunity. Tens of thousands of brands are still not using reels, which is a big missed opportunity,” Spade said.
“Users like variety and not all users are the same. Not everyone views reels, not everyone uses D.M.S., so we’re seeing brands most successful with engagement and reach by using a variety of tactics, test, measuring, and improving consistently. At the end of the day, short form video is here to stay,” Spade said.
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email or visit the website.
Circulus Digital Media is the market leader in local advertising. We democratize advanced media for small-to-medium businesses. Our local media solutions and best-in-class suite of advertising products are fueled by industry-leading data providers and ad quality monitoring systems that drive meaningful business results.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Apple product a day will no longer keep the ads away — and that’s a good thing for marketers.
Apple just rolled out its plan to offer new ad positions as part of their most-used apps. Ads on Apple’s App Store have been popping up on its “search results” page for some time. Now, though, ads will be present on the “today” and “download” pages of the App Store. The company also plans to make ads available on the Apple Maps, Apple Podcasts and Books apps.
This announcement comes nearly two years after Apple’s announcement of its App Tracking Transparency system, which allows users to opt into apps tracking their activity, according to Nelson Spade, general manager of Circulus Digital Media, WISH-TV’s full-service digital agency and sister company.
Advertising is Apple’s second largest revenue category, experiencing a 35% boost this year alone. The company hopes these changes will help grow its ad revenue from $4 billion to “double digits.”
“As the industry continues to pivot and adjust to these changes, Apple is sitting on a really nice growing ad business…they’re appealing to advertisers because if you are an IOS user, the only place you can download apps for your pleasure and enjoyment is the App Store, so you have a really captive audience there,” Spade said.
But, the changes have not come without a broader reaction. Facebook’s parent company, META, recently filed an anticompetitive complaint with the FTC in the wake of Apple’s changes. Apple also experienced probes into its ad business led by foreign regulators, according to Spade.
“No doubt Apple has made privacy a bigger piece of its brand, it spending money to do so and branding campaigns even. But at the same time, we talked about it sitting on this growing ad business. So, that’s caught some scrutiny,” Spade said.
Spade said Apple is committing to its decision and seems confident it will pay off.
“Apple’s pretty confident this is here to stay,” Spade said.
To watch the entire segment, click on the video.
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email or visit the website.
Circulus Digital Media is the market leader in local advertising. We democratize advanced media for small-to-medium businesses. Our local media solutions and best-in-class suite of advertising products are fueled by industry-leading data providers and ad quality monitoring systems that drive meaningful business results.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Nelson Spade, General Manager of Circulus Digital Media, WISH-TV’s full service digital agency and sister company, discussed the competition between video platforms including YouTube and TikTok.
“TikTok’s maybe a little bit behind in the world of YouTube. YouTube is the biggest video search engine in the world, but both are making a lot of plays and development in this space,” Spade said.
TikTok already has CTV apps for Samsung, Fire TV, and Vizio. They’ve made headway in market, but the recent job posting indicates they want to accelerate growth and capture more ad revenue in the channel. YouTube already has a powerful CTV presence and is the worlds largest video search engine. Acceleration here in form of YouTube Short recently teased a new suite for interacting with ‘short’ content. Along with this, there have been multiple new features for advertisers including Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings.
“The competitiveness really comes down to two things. It’s about getting your content into a space where consumers want to consume it. But also it’s about ad revenue right? So CTV Is the fastest growing space. from a digital spend perspective the last couple of years we’re talking about a $19 billion industry in 2022 major agencies across the country say they’re going to be spending over 50% more in that space as compared to 2021,” he said. “When you look at YouTube specifically, it’s really remarkable. It started as a website. It grew into a mobile app based platform and now they’re growing into the CTV Space.”
Spade explained the importance of having short form videos on connected televisions.
“It is clear that users want short form video. That’s very reverent when you’re thinking about the likes of Facebook, Instagram [and] especially TikTok. How it translates to the CTV space is to be determined a bit early in our opinion. A lot of it has to do with who can capture the scrolling environment. Were also used to it on our mobile devices that fuels short form video,” he said.
To watch the entire segment, click on the video.
For more information, contact Circulus Digital Media directly by email, or visit the website.