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☆ Prebiotic soda Olipop approaches $200 million in annual sales — and CEO says Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have already come knocking
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Prebiotic soda maker Olipop is set to cross $200 million in annual sales this year, just five years after it arrived on grocery store shelves. Olipop had raised $55.4 million as of Jan. 2, at a reported valuation of $199.8 million, according to Pitchbook data. Consumers are also increasingly interested in "gut health," one of the latest wellness trends. Both Olipop and Poppi have leaned into influencer marketing on TikTok, where gut health became a trending topic last year. But Olipop's Goodwin is confident that consumers are willing to pay more for the drinks he formulates.

☆ Gen Z eats fast food like no other generation. From a love for spicy food to visiting restaurants in big groups, these are 6 traits that define their dining habits.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

They eat with their phones first and are pulled in by influencer marketingd3sign/Getty ImagesGen Z diners like their food to be "Instagrammable," the execs said. But as well as organic content, restaurants are paying influencers to advertise their products. Rebhun said that El Pollo Loco's work with influencers "without a doubt" drove customers to the brand. Dickey said that Dickey's work with influencers – in particular those involved with food and sport – was "directly in response to millennial and Gen Z." "We noticed massive fanfare around the viral hack and partnered with the creators to officially add the Fajita Quesadilla to our menus for our Gen Z superfans," Perdue said.

☆ Chipotle says it has seen some of its best digital sales after launching its TikTok-inspired Fajita Quesadilla
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chipotle added the Fajita Quesadilla to its menu last month, inspired by a viral TikTok menu hack. During the launch, quesadilla sales nearly doubled and Chipotle had two of its best-ever digital sales days. It is inspired by a menu "hack" of adding fajita veggies to its steak quesadilla that went viral on TikTok in 2022. Adding fajita veggies – pepper and onion – to a quesadilla was not previously an option at Chipotle. "During the launch, we nearly doubled our Quesadilla business and had two of our top digital sales days of all time."

☆ ChatGPT and Generative AI in the Creator Economy: Reality, Hype, What's Next, and How to Prepare
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Insider Intelligence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Generative AI has the power to revolutionize and expand the creator economy. Social platforms and creator economy startups are rolling out generative AI tools but due to major limitations, generative AI won't replace creators. The current capabilities available through generative AI will allow users to generate text, develop creative briefs, test creative, produce audio, develop creative, and pitch brands. But generative AI is a whole new ballgame that marketers need to prepare for now. Want to learn more about ChatGPT and Generative AI in the Creator Economy?

☆ Anheuser-Busch facilities face threats after Bud Light backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —Several Anheuser-Busch facilities received threats last week, a company spokesperson confirmed, following weeks of backlash against Bud Light because it sponsored two Instagram posts from a transgender woman. Mulvaney’s timeline shows one previous post that is also marked as a Bud Light partnership. Siegfried Anthony/STAR MAX/IPx 2023/APMulvaney is among many social media personalities that Bud Light partners with, Anheuser-Busch said in a statement to CNN last week. “F**k Bud Light, F**k Anheuser-Busch,” he said. Anheuser-Busch (BUD) is set to report its first-quarter financial results, including revenue, on May 4.

☆ How I transformed my online vintage-clothing side hustle into a bustling brick-and-mortar store in NYC
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Nichole Sesti is the founder of the New York City vintage-clothing store The Niche Shop. Sesti's vintage store opened amid a boom in the secondhand-clothing industry. The Niche Shop booked nearly $400,000 in sales in its first year, according to documents viewed by Insider. The risk of a brick-and-mortar store was worth itThe Niche Shop is located on New York's Upper East Side. Having someone dedicated to shooting, editing, and engaging on social media ensures we're constantly popping up in people's feeds.

☆ 3 new data points show TikTok's rise as an influencer-marketing platform and its hold on Gen-Z and millennial consumers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Nhari Djan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Two new reports show TikTok is influencing more purchases among Gen-Z and millennial consumers. TikTok's influence on shopping is growing among young people, according to new data from two reports. Influencer-marketing company IZEA found in a 2022 survey that Gen-Z and millennial consumers viewed TikTok as the best platform to promote a product through an influencer, ahead of Instagram and YouTube. The findings come as TikTok tests its shopping product TikTok Shop in the US, and recently started allowing creators to earn a commission for driving sales through the app. "This type of content allows brands to showcase their products or services in a more authentic and relatable way."

☆ Juul settles lawsuit with West Virginia for $7.9 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —West Virginia has settled a lawsuit with e-cigarette maker Juul Labs for a total of $7.9 million, the state’s attorney general announced Monday. The company was accused of unfair, deceptive acts or practices in the advertising and marketing of Juul products in the state, specifically targeting teenagers. The lawsuit claimed Juul targeted these users through social media, influencer marketing and fashion bloggers and celebrities popular with teenagers. “This settlement puts companies like Juul in check to not copy big tobacco’s playbook and gear marketing strategies toward underage people,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said. Last summer, the FDA ordered Juul products to be removed from the US market.

☆ I use these 5 ChatGPT hacks to cut my workload by 8 hours a week. Here's the exact wording of my prompts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Ashley Couto | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Here are my five most valuable hacks, with example prompts I use daily to reduce my workload. I started using AI tools in 2022 but didn't find them to be effective at capturing brand voice and tone. I think the best marketing copy reads a little below that, at a fifth- or sixth-grade level. With ChatGPT, I can write freely and then prompt the AI to change the reading level and tone for me. I interact with other marketers on Discord servers and in Facebook groups to get more ideas for using ChatGPT.

☆ Shopify Power Players: Meet the 16 leaders driving its growth as it looks to build the future of commerce
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Shopify focuses on predicting the future of commerce. It has launched a number of new products to make sure merchants are ready for the next phase. And Shopify has also adjusted its strategy to blend e-commerce and in-person retail and help merchants to meet their customers where they are. It also further explored the use of new technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality in commerce. From leading new product launches to bringing entrepreneurs from around the world into the Shopify ecosystem, here are the 16 power players driving the company's next phase of growth.

☆ UK's WPP buys Obviously to expand social influencer marketing business
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 27 (Reuters) - British advertising group WPP (WPP.L) said on Monday it has acquired Obviously, a New York-based social influencer marketing agency, for an undisclosed sum. The deal comes less than a week after WPP agreed to buy Goat, an influencer marketing specialist, which focusses on marketing campaigns that aim to improve customer engagement for brands including Dell, Tesco, Uber and Natura. Obviously's team of nearly 100 people will join WPP subsidiary VMLY&R, a marketing agency with over 13,000 employees, WPP said. WPP said Obviously's proprietary "next-generation" tech platform helps the agency service large-scale complex campaigns for enterprise clients including Google, Ford, Ulta Beauty and Amazon. Obviously was founded by Mae Karwowski and Maxime Domain in 2014 and has operations in San Francisco and Paris.

The YouTube subscriber count has quickly become an outdated relic. YouTube shorts has lowered the barrier to entry, making it easier to gain subscribers. "Especially in the world of short-form content, where your viewers are one swipe away from moving onto someone else." Nearly every social platform, from YouTube to Facebook to TikTok, is still working to crack the code for monetizing short-form video well with advertising. Short-form video ad spending worldwide for 2022 to 2028, via Insider Intelligence.

☆ WPP is nearing a deal to acquire influencer marketing specialist The Goat Agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

WPP is in late-stage talks to acquire UK-based influencer marketing agency The Goat Agency, sources said. Sources said the deal could value The Goat Agency between $121 million million and $425 million. The Goat Agency said last year it "was on a fast track" to reach $100 million in revenue. Advertising giant WPP is closing in on a deal to acquire the fast-growing influencer marketing specialist The Goat Agency, according to people familiar with the matter. Sky News in April reported that The Goat Agency had appointed financial advisory firm GP Bullhound to help explore its strategic options.

☆ TikTok is using SoundOn to take on the entire music industry as it queues up creator marketing and hires an A&R lead for North America
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Dan Whateley | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The company is using its editorial influence on TikTok, Resso, and CapCut to promote SoundOn songs. Would it eventually roll out a standalone music streaming service, as a May 2022 trademark filing from its parent company ByteDance suggested? The company is now offering editorial placements to some SoundOn artists across TikTok, ByteDance's music streaming app Resso, and its video-editing app CapCut. These placements, which include being featured in high-traffic playlists, offer SoundOn users a unique path to being discovered. TikTok's parent ByteDance previously sought to hire for a similar A&R role in Jakarta, Music Business Worldwide reported in May.

☆ TikTok's new Bold Glamour filter has gone viral for simulating 'mainstream beauty' but it's a reminder of how far AI has to go to integrate 'faces of color'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

TikTok's new filter "Bold Glamour" has taken the platform by storm in recent weeks. Instead, she pulled out her phone to show me "Bold Glamour." Bold Glamour has appeared in millions of videos on TikTok because of how seamlessly it melds into certain users' faces. And on users with conventional, Eurocentric features, Bold Glamour looks like a wash of well-applied makeup. The argument that a filter like Bold Glamour can subtly distort a users' sense of reality, beauty, and very self is certainly valid.

Brands will account for 70% of that spend, with most of the rest coming from so-called collectives, alumni groups that funnel money to athletes, according to Opendorse. Female athletes and meme starsGiven the wide-open field, brands’ strategies with NIL deals vary widely. Jill Cress, chief marketing and experience officer of H&R Block in a 2018 picture. Favorability ratings from both Gen Z consumers and parents of college students rose after the campaign, according to Ms. Cress. Bigger deals aheadNIL deals will likely evolve to often include intellectual property agreements with the schools in question, said Mr. Schwab.

☆ 3 steps small-business owners can take to build successful (and affordable) influencer collaborations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Erin Greenawald | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Small-business owner Molly Fedick and consultancy owner Alexandra Shadrow discuss influencer marketing. Molly Fedick founder of Buzzkill Wines Molly FedickMolly Fedick, founder of nonalcoholic beverage company Buzzkill Wines, saw her direct-to-consumer sales jump 327% when she started investing heavily in influencer marketing. Alexandra Shadrow, founder of Trailblaze Consulting, said she's relied heavily on influencer marketing for a recent client, live resale app Jamble. Shadrow and Fedick shared with Insider the best practices they've used to ensure their influencer collaborations are successful — while staying within a small-business budget. Finally, rather than sending out hundreds of influencer packages, Fedick recommends focusing on creating deeper relationships with 20 to 50 people.

☆ 6 ways shopping sites trick you into buying more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Danni Santana | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Online retailers use psychological tricks and tools to get consumers to make purchases. But we're shopping online now more than ever before, and these subtle nudges are starting to feel more widespread. Buy online, pick up in storeBuy online, pick up instore was all the rage during the pandemic. So much of how we shop and make purchase decisions is subconscious, he said, and while you may rationally know that scarcity is a marketing tactic, your subconscious doesn't. Tips for avoiding retailers' marketing tricksJust being aware of these marketing tactics isn't enough to protect you from them, Goldberg said.

☆ YouTubers and creator-economy insiders react to the sudden CEO shake-up, and describe the challenges that will define the future of the platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Marta Biino | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down, and being replaced by chief product officer Neal Mohan. YouTube chief Susan Wojcicki's sudden announcement on Thursday that she is stepping down has sent shockwaves through the creator community. Wojcicki has been YouTube's CEO since 2014, and joined parent company Google in 1999 as its first marketing manager. Chief product officer Neal Mohan will be taking over her role, having previously been in charge of key products like the short-video platform YouTube Shorts and launched subscription services YouTube Premium and YouTube TV. "Susan understood from the beginning the importance of content creators on YouTube," said Alessandro Bogliari, CEO and cofounder of The Influencer Marketing Factory.

Not only have marketers been pausing ad spend en masse, YouTube is also battling TikTok for audiences and content creators. Industry insiders credit Mohan with building out the ad products that made YouTube Google's main growth engine for so many years. Tal Chalozin, CTO and cofounder of the adtech company Innovid, said that Mohan's expertise stretches across all of YouTube's ad business, particularly adtech. "He was leading product for the launch of YouTube Premium and YouTube TV, and the growth of YouTube Music," said one former YouTube employee. "It's now Neal and YouTube against TikTok, and that's the existential battle for short-form video monetization and creators," Norman said.

☆ Apple and Meta's cold war over privacy is coming to a head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Do you know any marketing/ad execs who are figuring out how to use generative AI? But experts told my teammate Paayal Zaveri that Meta needs to entirely reinvent its advertising model to escape Apple. Microsoft's new ChatGPT-powered Bing loves to pick fights and sling insults — and people are sharing their wild, wild, wild experiences with the chatbot. Generative AI like ChatGPT can do these side-hustles for you. Freelancers are relying on generative AI to increase their productivity and take on more projects.

☆ 7 internships that will pay you to film and post TikToks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider found eight internships listed right now that are looking for candidates who can ideate, film, and edit video for TikTok and other social media platforms. Jetzy is a social media app for people around the world to connect with each other while traveling. Candidates should be going into sophomore, junior, or senior year, and be majoring or minoring in digital film, digital design, social media, or marketing. The intern will be responsible for keeping up with social media trends, and conceptualizing, filming, and editing video content. Candidates should have experience with filming and editing social media video, and currently studying marketing, communications, or a relevant degree.

☆ Pay rates for sponsored TikTok posts have fallen as those on Instagram climb, according to data from 405 influencers. Here are 4 other key takeaways.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Nhari Djan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Rates for sponsored content on Instagram, overall, exceed those on TikTok, shows a February report published by Hashtag Pay Me. While Instagram rates increased year over year from 2021 to 2022, TikTok pay rates appear to have declined, according to the startup's data. Hashtag Pay Me compared how much money influencers are getting paid on Instagram and TikTok. The average rates for Instagram are about 200% higher than for TikTok, for influencers with similar follower counts. Additionally, brands pay $150 to $900 more on average if they request ownership of the content, according to Hashtag Pay Me.

☆ Read the 27-page deck a creator with 300K TikTok followers uses to pitch himself as a consultant for brands
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Here's the deck he uses to pitch services like content strategy, headhunting, and influencer marketing. Offering brands services beyond traditional influencer marketing can unlock many opportunities for creators, Barnett said. Like many creators and agencies alike, Barnett uses a deck to pitch potential clients and highlight case studies. While he often uses his website as an alternative, Barnett shared the latest version of the pitch deck he uses for BarnettX and CreatorX. Read the 27-page deck content creator and advisor JT Barnett uses to pitch consulting opportunities to brands:

YouTube is shaking up its influencer-marketing program BrandConnect. As part of the layoffs, the BrandConnect team shrunk, with several people who identified themselves as part of that team posting on LinkedIn that they'd been let go. Many of the insiders said they were unclear as to YouTube's future plans for BrandConnect and its team. Two talent managers said the BrandConnect team would routinely present deals that paid mid-five-figures. But sourcing deals focused on YouTube had begun to feel out of step with the market, some insiders said.

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