Newsletter editors are the new important person in newsrooms, How Adidas wiped out a chunk of its own management to drive growth, Atlas Obscura turns to sponsored content for first podcast, WTF is the Olympics' Rule 40?,
5 things you need to know | | | | Sometimes catching a Fox News anchor pumping massive globs of mustard into an empty water bottle is all you need to justify a two-hour Facebook Live stream of a condiment station at the Republican National Convention. It certainly worked for Stephen Colbert. | | | | The Washington Post has 75-plus newsletters that are written by reporters and editors. Quartz has a small "push team" that handles their newsletters. In fact, the popularity of email digests is giving rise to a new specialty at publishers: the newsletter editor. | | | | In the last year, Adidas has pulled off a massive turnaround and seen its share price go up 250 percent. Much of that success, said the company, is due to an internal reorganization of the brand that directly affected sales. Step one: Wipe out a layer of the company's own management. | | | | Atlas Obscura is the latest media company to venture into podcasting. But rather than traditional host-read ad messages, the podcast wove its sponsor Zipcar into the content itself. | | | | With a tweak to the committee's so-called "Rule 40," unofficial sponsors can now benefit from their ties to the games, as well. So, WTF is Rule 40? Here's an explainer in plain English. | |
| Sahil Patel Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" went live on Facebook 14 times during the Republican National Convention. It was stunt-heavy with live streams set up next to condiment stations and garbage cans — nothing newsworthy. And yet, these streams contributed to the 24 million views "The Late Show" generated on Facebook during RNC week. As Facebook has made live video a priority, it's an area CBS is exploring with all of its programming, not just the late-night shows. |
| | | Lucia Moses The popularity of e-newsletters is giving rise to a new specialty at publishers: the newsletter editor. The Washington Post has an editor in charge of strategy for its 75-plus newsletters. Quartz has a small team to ensure its Daily Brief is consistent in content and tone and Vox Media is hiring newsletter editors at its verticals, recognizing that “newsletters are their very own platform, and we should think about them in the way we think about other platforms," said Melissa Bell of Vox Media. |
| | | Shareen Pathak A year ago, Adidas was losing market share to Nike and Under Armour. In order to change things up, the company realized it had to look internally to its people first. In response, brand marketing chief Eric Liedtke got rid of an entire layer of management and actively rewarded people who broke the mold to come up with ideas. That meant, in some respects, going against its German culture and heritage. "We knew we needed to build a culture of people that help and ask for help," said Liedtke. "A culture of people who are confident to take some risks." | | | | Jemma Brackebush Podcast audience metrics remain hard to gauge, with only download figures available. For advertisers, this means a return of investment isn’t always easy to quantify. Traditionally, podcast advertising is read by the host, but in Atlas Obscura’s first attempt at the medium, it has partnered with car-sharing service Zipcar. "With traditional podcast advertising, you still have to step outside the show for a moment to hear it,” said Atlas Obscura’s CEO David Plotz, who believes sponsored content is the way around it. |
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| | | Yuyu Chen The International Olympic Committee changed Rule 40 for the first time this year to let athletes appear in commercials for unofficial sponsors during what is known as the blackout period. Here, we explained what Rule 40 is and how the new guidelines have changed Olympic sponsorship marketing in general. |
| Grapeshot The recently release of the Association of National Advertisers report on agency transparency has shone a spotlight on the diminishing trust between agencies and their partners. It’s imperative that the industry work to restore this trust, which is the foundation of our business and livelihood. Sponsored content by Grapeshot. |
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