What's different about brands' BLM response, Quibi's growing pains, and advertisers chip away at TV's power
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Brands face up to social-justice issues
A reckoning is sweeping through the advertising, media, and tech industries along with the rest of corporate America as companies face up to their role in racial-justice issues. Editors have stepped down at Bon Appétit, Refinery29, The New York Times, and Philadelphia Inquirer. Facebook and the Times employees walked out to protest their company's handling of these issues. Many companies are examining their policies and practices around hiring, news coverage, and advertising as it relates to people from underrepresented communities.
With protests continuing for the foreseeable future, this upheaval isn't likely to end soon.
We're all wondering: How much will the public statements of support for Black Lives Matter and self-flagellation really result in actual change in industries like advertising, which has a dismal track record for diversity?
There are some signs that this time is different. People are demanding more of the companies they work for and buy from, and social media has given them a megaphone to do so.
- Social-media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are going further in reviewing their policies around false and inflammatory speech. LinkedIn said the platform would "restrict" President Trump and other politicians if they used it to incite violence or spread misinformation.
- Corporate America is also promising actions like internal training, policy commitments, and monetary contributions.
- The narrative is shifting, according to Jacinta Gauda, principal and chief strategy officer at The Gauda Group, pointing to civic and corporate leaders freely using terms like oppression and white privilege. "Very often, protests have a lifespan," she said. "But there are leaders today who are looking at it in a much more systematic way, and seeing their role as contributing to a more sustainable solution."
Television faces its own reckoning
The pandemic is overshadowing the upfronts sales period where TV networks historically locked in $20 million in big ad deals. But as Lauren Johnson reported, it's giving advertisers a shot at changing the timeworn way they've bought TV ads — and could result in them wresting more control from the networks over the long run.
Read her analysis here: The pandemic has upended the TV industry's $20 billion in upfront deals, and it could give advertisers more control over future ad buying
Quibi's growing pains
Quibi's had sluggish growth since its April debut. But it's not for lack of attention to detail. As Ashley Rodriguez learned from people who worked on shows for the new
Read the rest here: Inside Quibi's productions: From extensive notes to close control over social-media clips, the mobile-video startup is still figuring out how to create its first hit
Here are other must-reads from advertising and media:
- A TikTok HR exec breaks down how to get a job at the tech company, from landing an interview to demonstrating 'ByteStyle'
- Brands and influencers are stopping their marketing campaigns to focus on messaging around the George Floyd protests
- Edelman insiders describe layoffs at the PR giant after the CEO promised there wouldn't be job cuts
- G/O Media has been wracked by big traffic drops and clashes with employees. CEO Jim Spanfeller reveals how he plans to make the digital publisher 'nicely profitable' by year's end.
- Revenue for Google's Waze fell by 60% as a fallout of the coronavirus. Here's the pitch deck it is using to woo advertisers back.
- Older fans may leap back into watching sports on TV post-pandemic, but networks are going to have a tougher time winning back younger viewers
That's it till next week. So long and stay safe.
— Lucia
