Together with
Productivity hacks. That’s on our mind here at TheFutureParty HQ. With all the remote working, half-in-office, and “recession”-but-maybe-not vibes, we’re curious: how do you stay productive? From Google group tabs to nifty smart email inboxes and even time blocking, nothing’s off limits. So, pleeaassee give us your hacks. If there’s anything new and interesting, we’ll mention it in the newsletter. Sharing is caring.
In other news... brands adapt to this year's Super Bowl, Instagram forms a creator plan, and YouTube Shorts battles TikTok.
Top Trends
YouTube → Succession S4
Twitter → Lil Wayne
Google → Bad Boys 4
Reddit → Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
TikTok → The 1619 Project
Spotify → “TRUSTFALL” - P!nk
Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe
SPORTS
Came for the football, stayed for the ads // Illustration by Kate Walker
How brands are fielding the Super Bowl
The Future. Amid mass layoffs and economic uncertainty, brands are debating whether or not to splurge $7 million on a national Super Bowl ad in 2023. While some consider an expensive ad buy to be in poor taste, others argue that companies often gain market share when they continue to advertise through difficult times. Brands that are intentional about how they market to belt-tightening consumers could score a last-minute touchdown at this year’s Super Bowl.
The game must go onCompanies are more vigilant about their media spend due to layoffs, the slowing economy, and rising inflation, reports Ad Age.
Although Google will air commercials even in the wake of its 12,000 job cuts, other tech giants like Meta, which laid off 11,000 employees in November, will sit out of this year’s game. Amazon, which recently laid off 18,000 workers, still hasn’t announced its Super Bowl plans yet.
Kia is the only automaker as of now that’s confirmed a national ad buy on Game Day. Toyota, which ran two commercials in 2022, won’t air a spot this year.
Travel companies like Turkish Airlines, Expedia, and Booking.com aired commercials last year, but only Booking.com has confirmed a spot in 2023.
What’s the play?Brands that want to gamble on expensive advertising in 2023 have data on their side, according to a recent Analytic Partners report in E-Commerce Times.
60% of companies that increased media spend during the last recession saw greater ROI.
Those that spent more on paid advertising saw a 17% increase in sales.
Brands that want to play it safe — and spend less (between $200,000 and $1 million) — on Game Day might opt for regional ad buys, as viewers often can’t differentiate between a national and local commercial.
While the usual advertising strategy is to increase brand awareness, one exec tells Ad Age that a company like Google will find more success by “push[ing] the phone instead of the platform. People will be more receptive to a product promotion than to the brand.”
We’ll see how brands fare with the crowd on Game Day.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram keeps creators from cashing in // Illustration by Kate Walker
Is Instagram creator-friendly?
The Future. Once creators identified TikTok as a platform on which they could go viral, build huge followings, and land ad sponsorships more easily than on Instagram, they began to divert their attention away from the Meta-owned app. And Meta execs have taken notice. If Meta hopes to win back the creators who will keep Instagram relevant (and lucrative), they may have to greenlight a revenue-sharing model for creators sooner rather than later.
Reel moneyThe Information breaks down why Meta has been resistant to splitting profits generated in Instagram feeds.
Meta leaders worry that a revenue-sharing model will not only cost the company money but also set a precedent that can’t be reversed.
In Q3 2022, Meta’s ad revenue dropped by 4%, partially because Instagram users spent more time on Reels, where there are fewer ads than on Instagram’s main feed.
Meta doesn’t know where to place ads on Reels, as videos can run anywhere between 90 and 15 seconds, which is too short for an ad to go in the middle.
Progress reportAfter the Instagram partnerships team told Chief Adam Mosseri that Meta would need to pay creators more and increase their views if Meta wanted to stay competitive, Mosseri made creators the center of the company’s attention.
Instagram adopted a TikTok-esque Discovery model that promotes creator content over regular content shared on the app by users’ friends and families.
Meta started paying creators $35,000 in monthly bonuses for posting Reels.
It also installed a subscription tier that lets fans pay to access bonus content from creators.
What’s next?
While the timeline for Meta’s revenue-sharing project is unclear, company representatives have hinted at a launch in Q4 2023.
As short videos have transformed popular culture over the last few years, they’ve given creators more leverage than ever before.
Without creators, it’s unlikely that Instagram — or any platform, for that matter — can retain users or drive new trends.
TOGETHER WITH ADVISOR
Money is hard
It’s good to have someone have your back, especially when it comes to your finances.
Advisor is the have-your-back type of financial support you need. They’ll help you plan, save, invest, and make sense of your money.
Sound good? It is.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The battle of the Shorts
The Future. These days, it seems like everyone’s trying to become TikTok. Most recently, YouTube Shorts just went live with its creator revenue sharing program, splitting ad revenue with creators nearly half-half. With TikTok dealing with backlash for creator pay, this just might be the foot in the door that Google needs to compete.
Your move, TokYouTube Shorts is ramping up its attempt to take on TikTok.
The online video-sharing platform is offering new financial incentives to content creators to lure them away from TikTok.
Starting February 1, creators that are part of YouTube’s Partner Program (those with over 1,000 subscribers and 10 million views) can monetize their videos with ad revenue sharing.
YouTube will give 45% of advertising revenue on in-feed ads to creators, pocketing 55% for itself.
The clock’s Tik-ing…Why is this a big deal? Well, TikTok has been siphoning ad dollars away from major tech platforms like Google and Facebook for years now. From Instagram Reels to YouTube Shorts, everyone’s been trying to reclaim their audience.
With TikTok’s seemingly unstoppable success, it’ll be a tough uphill battle. But revenue sharing may turn out to be the best way to take a shot at TikTok. The social media platform has been criticized for its poor payment sharing. Its $1 billion Creator Fund paid some TikTokers mere cents, while TikTok Pulse (the platform’s version of AdSense) hasn’t been that successful.
Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Nike collabs with Tiffany & Co.
Nike and Tiffany & Co have teamed up on a new shoe. A long-rumored partnership, the Tiffany-edition Air Force 1 comes with sterling silver badges on each heel, a shoe horn, shoe brush, whistle, and dubrae — yes, we had to Google what that last one was too. (It’s a metal shoelace ornament). Joining forces with Nike isn’t the first time Tiffany has been part of a peak cultural moment. Its worked with Supreme, Patek Phillipe, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and more. Beautiful design really does make a beautiful life.
Read More → gq
ChatGPT Plus goes live
On the heels of their massive $10 billion investment from Microsoft, OpenAI is not wasting any time. The company has announced ChatGPT Plus, the premium paid version of ChatGPT, for $20/month. The perks? You’ll get priority access to the AI bot, even during peak time, and will also come with “faster response times” and “priority access to new features and improvements.” Don’t want to dish out 20 buckaroos a month? Don’t worry — plain old ChatGPT isn’t going anywhere. You’ll just have to be willing to sit in traffic.
Read More → theverge
US wage growth slows
Yep, it’s not just you — things really are getting a whole lot more expensive… and our salaries aren’t keeping pace. In the US, wage growth slowed to 1% in Q4 2022, down from 1.3% in Q3. And for the whole of 2022, salary growth actually declined by 1.2% due to high inflation. In fact, US consumer inflation went up 6.5% in December compared to a year ago and remains high… which means the Fed will likely continue to hike interest rates. That spells even more doom for purchasing power and personal finances. Gosh, guess it’s time to tighten the belt even tighter.
Read More → insider
Podcasts ads are flourishing
While the rest of advertising spend grinds to a near-halt, podcast ads have been holding strong. According to a report from Acast, 65% of the 500 marketers and advertisers surveyed said they were planning on increasing podcast marketing spend YoY. And 83% of those who weren’t in the space yet say they expect to increase their spend on podcasts YoY. The market is truly booming — some project it to be a $4 billion industry by 2024. Looks like it’s about to be the year of the pod.
Read More → digiday
Snapchat crosses 2 million paid subscribers
Snapchat+ now has over 2 million paid users, according to the company in its latest earnings report. The paid plan, which costs $3.99 a month, allows users to pin someone as their No. 1 friend, claim priority in replies to Snap Star (Snapchat’s program for popular creators), and see the “general direction” of travel for where friends have recently moved. It first launched in June 2022 and attracted a million subscribers within 60 days. The next 2 mil, it seems, has taken a fair bit more time. Still, considering the stiff competition over from TikTok, it’s a notable milestone.
Read More → techcrunch
Like what you see? Subscribe Now or Partner With Us
Today's email was brought to you by Kait Cunniff, Melody Song, and Sara Kitnick.Edited by Boye Fajinmi.