📰 Google, TikTok, Meta, Oh My!

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In today’s edition:

• Google Delays The Cookiepocalypse

• TikTok Ban Passes, Now What?

• Pay-Or-Track isn’t looking so good

& More. But first, a word from today’s sponsor 👇

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Hello again,

As you may have noticed, it’s been a while since the last edition of The Marketer’s Playbook. As a passion project, this newsletter sometimes falls victim to time, which is something I occasionally run dry on as the CEO of a constantly growing ad agency. But, with every period of ups come downs, and time returns.

If you’re new here, welcome, and I hope you enjoy it! If you’ve been around for a while, thanks for sticking around.

Happy learning,
Cory Dobbin

GOOGLE DELAYS COOKIE APOCALYPSE, AGAIN

Google has once again postponed the phase-out of third-party cookies, a move with significant implications given how many times they’ve done this already and the level of adaptation required by advertisers. Originally planned for 2022, then rescheduled for late 2023, the demise of third-party cookies has now been delayed further. This extension offers advertisers and ad tech companies more time to adapt to the impending changes in digital marketing strategies. Google's decision underscores the complexity and challenges involved in transitioning away from third-party cookies, which play a crucial role in online ad targeting and measurement.

Related to this, I’m working on wrapping up a full article on how this third-party cookie ‘apocalypse’ is mostly just lip service and that Google might actually be disguising the truth. More to come soon, but in the meantime, check out Digiday’s article below for more info.

TIKTOK BAN APPROVED - NOW WHAT?

Recent developments regarding the TikTok "Ban" bill have sparked concerns, but according to Jonathan Snow, the situation may not be as dire as sensationalist headlines suggest. Over the weekend, the House bundled the ban bill with other crucial bipartisan legislation (including aid to Ukraine), which expedited its passage through the Senate. With approval by President Biden, it still won't result in an immediate shutdown of TikTok. Instead, it initiates a complex process wherein ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, would have 12 months to divest from TikTok and sell to a US owner. To learn more, check out Jonathan’s thread below for his final thoughts.

GOOGLE EMPLOYEES PROTESTING?

Google employees have occupied the office of a top executive in protest of a contract between Google Cloud and the Israeli government. The employees are demanding that Google drop the contract due to concerns about human rights violations. While it seems unlikely that Google will take any action as it relates to this contract, it’s interesting to see the impact that employees can have on companies and encouraging ethical practices in a world where culpability is usually a finite resource. To learn more, check out Kassy’s article on Daily Wire below.

META’S TRACKING CAN’T CATCH A BREAK

Meta's proposed pay-or-consent model has been rejected by the European Union. The pay-or-consent model was intended to allow Meta to track users' data for targeted advertising unless users explicitly opted out and paid for an ad-free experience. The EU's rejection indicates concerns about privacy and data protection. This decision aligns with the EU's stringent regulations on data privacy, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which prioritizes user consent and control over their personal data. How far will this battle go, though? I’m not entirely sure. Check out Digit News’ article below for all of the details.

• A BIG THREADS UPDATE:

  • Meta has announced that Threads will be getting a DM feature (finally)

  • Rumour is that Meta is planning for a new ad placement on Threads later this year

  • Your Threads feed now has a Recent and Top filter (finally)

• NEW YOUTUBE PLACEMENT: YouTube announces a new ad placement called Select Shorts. This functions the same way as Shorts, but now you can get granular with the kind of content your ad appears next to.

• TIKTOK GETS NOTES: To continue competing with Meta, TikTok has added a Notes feature, which is strikingly similar to the same feature on IG.

• META’S AI GROOVE: AI is everywhere, so why not your direct messages? Messenger, among most of Meta’s other platforms, has received an update with Meta’s new AI assistant.

• SNAP WANTS YOU TO ADVERTISE: And they make a pretty damn good case for it. Check out their recent case study on performance marketing on their platform.

• PALANTIR ENTERS THE AD GAME: Palantir has started targeting ad agencies as they start pushing their new data products that can help improve targeting, media planning, and more.

• YOUTUBE PLANS TO RUN ADS ON PAUSED VIDEOS: Yes, you read that right. Apparently, YouTube has big plans to run ads on videos that have been paused, opening up more ad space and a worse experience.

THE NORTH FACE — ITALIAN ALPS POP UP

While not necessarily a brand new campaign, this one has been doing its rounds on LinkedIn and I thought it would be worthwhile discussing it.

There are basically two minds about this campaigns:

1. It’s a bad look for a brand that aligns with environmentalism to be seen ‘impacting’ the untouched wilderness of the Alps with consumerism and materialism. Some people find it very gauche.

2. You could argue that their target demo isn’t those intensely concerned with environmental sustainability but rather simply those who enjoy the outdoors. This campaign targets those people specifically, running with a ‘get outside and do it big’ type of message.

I can see the case for both perspectives here. Personally, I find myself much more on the side of the second point, but I am acutely aware of the concerns around encroaching industrialization of the environment.

Where do you stand on this one?

ASSORTED CAMPAIGNS

First, an ad I was served for photoshop by Adobe. I’m not sure this is doing the job they’re hoping it is.

Second, content creators continue to thrive in the ad world. When it comes to capturing attention, you need to stand out, and this campaign for a restaurant in London does just this. It feels organic in the feed, seamlessly integrates humour, and captures your attention right away. I love it.

@feiercottage

#londonrestaurants #restaurant #chinesefood #chineserestaurants #londonchinesefood

Third, Coca-Cola recently launched a new OOH campaign showcasing their ‘crunched’ logo, meant to represent how their logo looks on crushed cans when littered. Their campaign is meant to bring awareness to littering to encourage recycling. There’s just one problem, though…

It feels unbelievably patronizing, given that Coca-Cola is the #1 largest contributor to plastic waste on Earth. Not only that, they were the #1 largest consumer product contributor to the ocean garbage pile outside of industrialized fishing waste.

If they want to embrace the angle of Earthly well-being, they should start with initiatives, not just words, given their immensely detrimental impact.

Lastly, a Papa John’s garlic butter candle, because why not? Honestly, I love this. It is clearly not meant to be taken seriously, but it has done a great job of going viral while communicating one of the core value-adds of their garlic dip—the aroma.

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