Tag: marketing and advertising

X is ‘close to breakeven’ says CEO Linda Yaccarino | CNN Business

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CNN
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X CEO Linda Yaccarino, leader of the platform formerly known as Twitter, said the company is keeping an eye on new competitor Threads, despite the sharply slowing growth of the rival app from Meta.

“Threads did jump in with a ton of hype and a launch pad from their Instagram users … [but] it’s dropped off dramatically,” Yaccarino told CNBC Thursday in her first interview as CEO of the company now called X.

“But you can never, ever take your eye off any competition because they’ll continue iterating and as much as the launch has stalled, we’re keeping an eye on everything that they’re doing.”

Still, Yaccarino said X remains largely focused on its own future as the company chases profitability, and that Threads may be looking at its past.

“What we can see is that [Threads] may be building to what Twitter was — enter rebrand, enter X — and we’re focused on what X will be, and it’s an entirely different roadmap and vision,” she said.

Staving off competition from Meta’s Threads and other rival platforms is just one of the things Yaccarino is now tasked with after taking over from owner Elon Musk as X’s CEO in June. In just her first two months, the company underwent a massive rebrand from Twitter to X in hopes of transforming into an “everything app” similar to China’s WeChat, and has continued to warn of challenges reviving its core advertising business. Musk, who is now the company’s chief technology officer, has also been preparing for a cage fight with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Yaccarino joined the company after months of turmoil caused by Musk’s takeover, including mass layoffs, controversial policy decisions and various legal battles.

But on Thursday, she doubled down on the company’s vision and explained why it retired its highly recognized brand name.

“The rebrand really represented a liberation from Twitter, a liberation that allows us to evolve past a legacy mindset and to reimagine how everyone … around the world is going to change how we congregate, how we transact, all in one place,” Yaccarino said, adding that users would soon be able to make video calls and payments through the platform.

“It’s developing into this global town square that is fueled by free expression, where the public gathers in real time,” she said.

Yaccarino said that the company is returning to growth mode after months of slashing costs through ongoing layoffs, infrastructure and office space reductions and, in some cases, allegedly holding back on paying its bills and employee severance. Twitter’s staff has shrunk from nearly 8,000 employees to just around 1,500 workers since Musk’s takeover, Yaccarino said.

“Are we hiring? Yes,” Yaccarino said. “I get to come in and shift from this cost discipline to growth … the future is bright.”

Threatening to stand in the way of that evolution are the company’s very real business challenges. Musk last month disclosed in a post that, due to a 50% drop in advertising revenue and a “heavy debt load,” the platform is still losing money. After Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, the company’s value now stands around $15 billion, according to a May disclosure from a Fidelity fund.

Yaccarino, a former marketing executive with NBCUniversal, was brought on to Twitter in part to help revive its advertising business. And she said on Thursday that the company is “close to breakeven.”

“Coca Cola, Visa, State Farm is a huge partner, they’re coming back — the last bunch of weeks, continued revenue growth,” Yaccarino said.

But maintaining the ad business has been an uphill battle for the site since Musk’s takeover. Hordes of advertisers halted spending on the platform over concerns about content moderation, mass layoffs and general uncertainty about the company’s future. Musk has also defended his own controversial tweets, telling CNBC in May, “I’ll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.”

Yaccarino pointed to the company’s “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach” policy that aims to limit the reach of so-called lawful but awful content on the platform and to protect brands from having their ads appear alongside such content. X on Tuesday rolled out additional brand safety controls for advertisers, including the ability to avoid having their ads show next to “targeted hate speech, sexual content, gratuitous gore, excessive profanity, obscenity, spam, drugs.”

“I wrap my security blanket around you, my brand and my CMO, and say your ads will only air next to content that is appropriate for you,” Yaccarino said Thursday.

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August 2, 2023
Meta considers paid subscription in EU for users to bypass targeted ads | CNN Business

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CNN
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Instagram and Facebook users in the European Union may soon be able to opt out of targeted ads if they pay for a monthly subscription.

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Meta is evaluating a range of options to comply with multiple European regulations aimed at curbing US technology companies’ use of personalized ads. Over the last year, the EU has tightened regulations and will require big tech companies to ask users for their consent around such advertising.

In July, a court ruled tech companies could use subscription models as a way of offering such consent, including asking users if they want to access Facebook and Instagram without advertising, for a fee.

Under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), companies may collect and use the personal data of EU citizens so long as the usage falls into certain disclosed categories. Meta has previously argued that its data collection for advertising is needed for fulfilling the “contracts” between the platform and end users to provide service. But privacy advocates and regulators have said that justification doesn’t support the use of personal data for advertising.

CNN’s source said Meta remains in close discussions with its lead regulator in Europe, the Irish Data Protection Commission, about a compliance solution. The plans, if implemented, would not apply to users outside of Europe.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported Meta aims to charge about $14 a month to users who want to bypass targeted ads on Instagram on their phones and $17 to access both Facebook and Instagram without ads, to comply with EU regulations.

A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment on the possibility of rolling out a subscription plan but echoed that it is looking at all options.

“Meta believes in the value of free services which are supported by personalized ads,” the company said in a statement. “However, we continue to explore options to ensure we comply with evolving regulatory requirements. We have nothing further to share at this time.”

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August 2, 2023
ADL says it will resume advertising on X following feud with Elon Musk | CNN Business

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CNN
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The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday said it plans to resume advertising on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, following a spat with owner Elon Musk.

Musk last month threatened to sue the ADL for defamation, claiming that the nonprofit organization’s statements about rising hate speech on the social media platform had hurt X’s advertising revenue. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt pushed back on the claims, saying that while the ADL was part of a coalition of groups that called on companies to pause advertising on the platform immediately following Musk’s acquisition last year, it had not been engaged in such calls in recent months.

Musk’s statements about the group also amplified a campaign of antisemitic hate against the organization that had begun prior to Musk’s legal threat, leading to a surge of threats directed at the ADL, Greenblatt told CNN last month.

The rights group reiterated in a statement Wednesday that “any allegation that ADL has somehow orchestrated a boycott of X or caused billions of dollars of losses to the company or is ‘pulling the strings’ for other advertisers is false.”

“Indeed, we ourselves were advertising on the platform until the anti-ADL attacks began a few weeks ago,” the group said. “We now are preparing to do so again to bring our important message on fighting hate to X and its users.”

Musk responded to the ADL’s statement in a post Wednesday saying, “Thank you for clarifying that you support advertising on X.”

The statement appears to mark a resolution — for now — to weekslong tension between Musk and the ADL, which has coincided with incidents of antisemitism rising across the United States. But the group says it will continue to monitor for antisemitic content on X.

“As we have noted in our research over the past several years, X – along with other social media platforms — has a serious issue with antisemites and other extremists using these platforms to push their hateful ideas and, in some cases, bully Jewish and other users,” it said. “A better, healthier, and safer X would be a win for the world … As we do with all platforms, we will credit X as it moves in that direction, and we also will call it out when it has not.”

The ADL and other similar organizations, including the Center for Countering Digital Hate, have said in reports that the volume of hate speech on the website has grown dramatically under Musk’s stewardship. (Musk has criticized the findings.)

Two brands in August paused their ad spending on X after their advertisements ran alongside an account promoting Nazism. X suspended the account after the issue was flagged and said ad impressions on the page were minimal.

X has emphasized its new “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach” policy that aims to limit the reach of so-called lawful but awful content on the platform and to protect brands from having their ads appear alongside such content. CEO Linda Yaccarino has also promoted additional brand safety controls for advertisers, including the ability to avoid having their ads show next to “targeted hate speech, sexual content, gratuitous gore, excessive profanity, obscenity, spam, [and] drugs.”

Asked about Musk’s threats to sue the ADL in an interview last week, Yaccarino said, “I wish that would be different … We’re looking into that.” She added that the ADL should acknowledge X’s progress on addressing antisemitism.

It appears the platform may have more work to do. A search on Wednesday for Greenblatt’s name immediately surfaced multiple hateful and antisemitic tweets about the ADL leader.

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August 2, 2023
Two brands suspend advertising on X after their ads appeared next to pro-Nazi content | CNN Business

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CNN
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At least two brands have said they will suspend advertising on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after their ads and those of other companies were run on an account promoting fascism. The issue came less than a week after X CEO Linda Yaccarino publicly affirmed the company’s commitment to brand safety for advertisers.

The nonprofit news watchdog Media Matters for America documented in a report published Wednesday that ads for a host of mainstream brands have been run on the account, which has shared content celebrating Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Ads for brands including Adobe, Gilead Sciences, the University of Maryland’s football team, New York University Langone Hospital and NCTA-The Internet and Television Association were run alongside tweets from the account that had garnered hundreds of thousands of views, CNN observed.

Spokespeople for NCTA and pharmaceutical company Gilead said that they immediately paused their ad spending on X after CNN flagged their ads on the pro-Nazi account.

“We take the responsible placement of NCTA ads very seriously and are concerned that our post about the future of broadband technology appeared next to this highly disturbing content,” NCTA spokesperson Brian Dietz said in a statement, adding that the organization had opted into X’s brand safety measures including keyword restrictions and limiting its ad placement to the “home feed of target audiences.”

“Brand safety will remain an utmost priority for NCTA, which means suspending advertising on Twitter/X for the foreseeable future and heavily limiting NCTA’s organic presence on the platform,” Dietz said.

A spokesperson for Gilead said the company will pause its ad spending while X investigates the issue.

Jason Yellin, University of Maryland’s associate athletic director, expressed concern about the placement of the football team’s post on the account and said Maryland Football has not spent money on advertising on X since 2021, meaning X may have promoted the post despite it not being a paid ad.

A spokesperson for NYU Langone said in a statement that the hospital was “completely surprised by this and are extremely concerned with any appearance of our advertising and brand next to obviously objectionable content that promotes hatred,” adding that it expects its advertising partners to “act responsibly.”

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN. Hours after the Media Matters report was published Wednesday morning and CNN observed additional brands’ ads running on the account, the account appeared to be suspended.

Adobe did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CNN.

The issue comes as X has been trying to lure advertisers back to the platform after many left in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover of the company last fall over concerns about content moderation, mass layoffs and general uncertainty over the platform’s direction. Musk said last month that the company still had negative cash flow because of a nearly 50% drop in its core advertising revenue.

Yaccarino — who joined the company in June, just ahead of a major rebrand from Twitter to X — told CNBC in her first public interview as chief executive last week that many of the platform’s advertisers have returned and that the company is “close to break-even.” She touted the company’s “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach” policy, which aims to limit the reach of so-called lawful but awful content on the platform and to protect brands from having their ads appear alongside such content.

X last week said it had rolled out additional brand safety controls for advertisers, including the ability to avoid having their ads show next to “targeted hate speech, sexual content, gratuitous gore, excessive profanity, obscenity, spam, drugs.” In addition to human content moderation reviewers that monitor for content that violates the platform’s rules, X says it has automated software that determines where and how ads are placed on the platform.

“Your ads will only air next to content that is appropriate for you,” Yaccarino said during last week’s interview.

But Wednesday’s report suggests that the company still has work to do if it wants to avoid monetizing, and placing ads alongside, objectionable content. “Media Matters and other observers have documented how X has remained a dangerous cesspool of content, especially for advertisers,” Wednesday’s report states. Media Matters says it has also documented instances of brands’ ads being placed next to content from Holocaust denial and white nationalist accounts.

While she did not publicly comment on the ads appearing alongside pro-Nazi content, Yaccarino did post on X Wednesday that, “Sensitivity Settings is live globally in the X Ads Manager — making it even simpler for all advertisers to find the right balance between reach and suitability.”

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August 2, 2023
Meta criticized for making reproductive health an R-rated issue | CNN Business

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CNN
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Female reproductive health experts are calling on Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to rethink its restrictions on reproductive health content.

The company has long faced criticism for removing and restricting female reproductive health information with a prominent report from the Center for Intimacy Justice early last year accusing Meta of systematically rejecting many female and gender diverse reproductive health ads. The CIJ report also accused Meta of having bias algorithms, stating that male reproductive health ads were found to be permitted, including ads that referenced male sexual pleasure.

In bid to combat those concerns, Meta tweaked its “adult products or services” advertising policy last October to include clearer guidelines about reproductive health, clarifying that it allows the promotion of “reproductive health products or services” if the content is targeted to “people aged 18 or older.”

Meta

(FB) argues the topic is sensitive, stating that as a global company it needs to take in to account the “wide array of people from different cultures and countries” to “avoid potential negative experiences.”

However, female reproductive experts tell CNN that the advertising policy is still too restrictive and is creating barriers for how younger people around the world access information about female reproductive health issues, including the menstrual cycle, which can start as early as 8 years old.

They argue that censoring content about normal and natural bodily functions plays into the shame that has long plagued how people learn about the female body and hormone cycle. That can hinder how people with uteruses advocate for their bodies in healthcare settings, including obtaining care for misunderstood and underdiagnosed conditions like endometriosis.

The practice of censoring female reproductive health content is not unique to Meta, with similar issues reported on other social media platforms. However, Meta is under specific scrutiny for failing to adequately address the issue within its policy updates last year.

The founder and CEO of the Center for Intimacy Justice, Jackie Rotman, told CNN that despite the policy update, Meta’s algorithms still seem to have a problem with female reproductive health content.

“The policy says that reproductive health is allowed, but in practice their technology is still rejecting it,” Rotman said, explaining that images of uteruses are often mistakenly flagged as nudity, and words like period, menopause, endometriosis and vagina also commonly triggering sexually inappropriate warnings.

Rotman outlined that while Meta’s reproductive health guidelines are targeted toward advertising content, unpaid posts are also often being impacted by Meta’s algorithms. She says shadow-banning, which refers to content being partially blocked from certain audiences, is common practice for organic content. Several reproductive health content creators told CNN that they experience shadow-banning, explaining that it is time consuming game of trial and error to determine what is considered too taboo.

Dr. Hazel Wallace, author of “The Female Factor” told CNN she wishes she could be more direct in how she speaks about the female body and hormone cycle, including menstrual health. However, said has learned that “to educate people, you almost have to play the game.”

She says she often experiences shadow banning, with her analytics showing less engagement if she uses words like period. She explained that her team experimented with Meta’s algorithm, finding they could often dodge restrictions by mis-spelling the word period as p3riod.

“We found that it increased engagement because it doesn’t flag your content as being inappropriate to certain audiences,” Wallace outlined.

While Meta on several occasions has apologized and re-instated female reproductive health content that it says was mistakenly removed, it still stipulates an age restriction in its policy. Therefore, even if the updated policy was perfectly implemented, Meta would still be green lighting the practise of censoring crucial content from certain audiences.

CNN asked Meta about the reports that it is continuing to remove, restrict, and shadow-ban female reproductive health content. CNN also asked Meta why all female reproductive health, including menstrual health, is classified as an 18+ issue.

In response, a spokesperson for Meta, Ryan Daniels, said, “We welcome ads for women’s health and sexual wellness products, but we prohibit nudity and have specific rules about how these products can be marketed on our platform.”

In a bid to change the conversation, female reproductive health content creators are not letting Meta’s restrictions silence their voices.

Wallace, a like so many others in her field, says she should not need to self-censor how she speaks about female reproductive health, arguing that censorship perpetuates a “hush hush” narrative about “normal experiences.”

“Imagine a world where we are teaching young girls and women from puberty – this is what to expect, this is normal, this is not normal, this is when to ask for help. We would feel a lot more empowered,” Wallace stated.

Categorizing reproductive health as an R-rated topic is an issue that extends far beyond Meta advertising policies, reflecting wider societal views, from politics to sex education curriculums.

Tracey Lindeman, the author of “BLEED: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis,” says classifying all female reproductive health issues under the umbrella of sexual health “perpetuates the idea that our sexual organs are to be exploited and used for sexuality, even at a young age.”

“You’re born with a reproductive system. Whether or not you’re having sex, you still have that system in your body, and it’s still affecting your body in different ways,” Lindeman reasoned.

“How about we just teach people about how their bodies work first, before we start teaching them how they work to have sex,” Lindeman stated.

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August 2, 2023
Bed Bath & Beyond is back from the dead | CNN Business

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A month after Overstock.com announced it bought Bed Bath & Beyond’s brand out of bankruptcy, the company has dumped its name and morphed its website and app.

On Tuesday, Overstock’s website relaunched as BedBathandBeyond.com, a move that merges Overstock’s online business model and merchandise categories with popular branded products favored by Bed Bath & Beyond shoppers.

“All of Overstock’s categories will transition over and new products will also come in,” Jonathan Johnson, CEO of Overstock, said in an interview with CNN.

The relaunched website touted a “Welcome to a bigger, better beyond” welcome message, offering deals of an extra 15%-20% off bedding, bath and furniture items.

“Since this deal was announced, we have added over 600,000 new products to the site,” said Johnson, adding that a lot of the new products “are the name-brand products that people have always bought and expected to buy at the old Bed Bath & Beyond.”

Overstock

(OSTK), which sells furniture, home furnishings, bath, lighting, rugs and an array of other products online at discounted prices, acquired Bed Bath & Beyond’s name, intellectual property and digital assets in June with a winning bid of $21.5 million for its assets.

Johnson promised newness blended with familiarity for Bed Bath & Beyond customers in the latest digital-only version of the retailer.

“It will have the same great bed, bath and kitchen items but it will also have a much bigger beyond,” he said. The “beyond” includes a wider array of linens, cookware and small appliances.

Fans of Bed Bath & Beyond’s 20%-off a single item “Big Blue” coupon will be somewhat disappointed that it will not be resurrected.

“I guess what I would say about the coupon is that if you like Bed Bath & Beyond coupons in the past, you will like new Bed Bath & Beyond mobile app we will be rolling out with launch in US,” said Johnson.

He said shoppers can avail themselves of special deals and promotions through the new app, including a 25% off coupon for downloading the app and making purchases. Former Overstock.com loyalty program members will get a 20% off coupon and their membership transferred to the rebranded loyalty program.

BedBathand Beyond.com is also reinstating up to $50 in unused loyalty rewards points for active members of the former Bed Bath & Beyond loyalty program. “Those rewards points had gone away in the bankruptcy,” he said.

“We’ll still be offering coupons even if they’re not as large as the 20% coupon that people expected and frankly demanded from Bed Bath & Beyond,” said Johnson.

What’s not coming back — at least in the foreseeable future — are physical stores.

“Never say never,” said Johnson. “We’re focused on this transition now and we like our asset-light business model…. But never say never. We’ll look, we may test, but right now, it’s not in the current strategic plan.”

Bed Bath & Beyond announced in April it would close all 360 of its stores and go out of business.

One change that Overstock is contemplating is the company ticker symbol.

“We think the corporate name, which is Overstock and ticker ‘OSTK’ is probably not a fit anymore. We’re figuring out what to do. We’re not sure we want it to be the “BBBY” tainted ticker of a meme stock gone bankrupt. We’ll find the right name in time.”

Bed Bath & Beyond’s return comes close on the heels another iconic retail brand’s comeback.

Babies R Us, which went out of business in tandem with its parent company, Toys R Us, in 2018, opened its new US flagship store last month at the American Dream Mall in New Jersey.

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August 1, 2023
The European Union is opening an antitrust investigation against Microsoft over the bundling of Office and Teams

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The European Union is opening an antitrust investigation against Microsoft over the bundling of Office and Teams

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July 27, 2023
Facebook parent Meta posts higher profit, revenue for Q2 as advertising rebounds

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Facebook parent company Meta Platforms posted stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter on Wednesday, buoyed by a rebound in online advertising after a post-pandemic slump

ByBARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer

FILE – Facebook’s Meta logo sign is seen at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Oct. 28, 2021. Meta Platforms reports earnings on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar, File)

The Associated Press

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms posted stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter on Wednesday, buoyed by a rebound in online advertising after a post-pandemic slump.

The Menlo Park, California-based company earned $7.79 billion, or $2.98 per share, in the April-June period. That’s up 16% from $6.69 billion, or $2.46 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue jumped 11% to $32 billion from $28.82 billion in the year-ago quarter. It’s the first double-digit revenue growth for the company since 2021.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $2.91 per share on revenue of $31.08 billion, according to a poll by FactSet Research.

Facebook had 3.03 billion monthly active users as of June 30, up 3% year-over-year.

Squeezed by a slump in online advertising and uncertainty around the global economy, Meta has cut more than 20,000 jobs since last November. It had 71,469 employees as of June 30, down 14% from a year earlier.

Many other tech companies, including Google parent Alphabet and Amazon, have also cut thousands of jobs.

“There’s a lot to feel good about when it comes to Meta right now. It has been able to maintain decent growth in monthly and daily active users across both Facebook and its family of apps, and it has seen strong performance from Advantage, its AI-driven suite of ad automation tools,” said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with Insider Intelligence.

For the current quarter, Meta is forecasting revenue of $32 billion to $34.5 billion. That’s above the $31.22 billion that analysts are expecting.

Meta’s rebound followed a solid earnings report from Alphabet a day earlier.

Meta’s stock jumped $14.45, or 4.8%, to $313.02 in after-hours trading in response to the results.

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July 26, 2023
Elon Musk reveals new ‘X’ logo to replace Twitter’s blue bird

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LONDON — Goodbye Twitter. Hello X.

Elon Musk has unveiled a new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he follows through with a major rebranding of the social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year.

The X started appearing at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday, but the bird was still dominant across the smartphone app. In response to questions about what tweets would be called when the rebranding is done, Musk said they would be called Xs.

It’s yet another change that Musk has made since acquiring Twitter that has alienated users and turned off advertisers, leaving the microblogging site vulnerable to new threats, including rival Meta’s new text-based app Threads that directly targets Twitter users.

Musk had asked fans for logo ideas and chose one, which he described as minimalist Art Deco, saying it “certainly will be refined.” He replaced his own Twitter icon with a white X on a black background and posted a picture of the design projected on Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.

“And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk tweeted Sunday.

The X.com web domain now redirects users to Twitter.com, Musk said.

“I can’t say I’m surprised, but I think it’s a very selfish decision,” said Hannah Thoreson of Baltimore, Maryland, who’s used Twitter since 2009 for work and personal posts.

“There are so many small businesses and so many nonprofits and so many government agencies and things like that all around the world that have relied on Twitter for many years to push their message and reach people,” she said. “And they all have the Twitter icon on everything from their website to their business cards.”

Changing all this costs time and money, she added, not to mention the confusion that comes with a previously unknown brand name.

“I mean, do you want to get rid of the Coca-Cola brand if you’re Coca-Cola? Why would you do that?” said Thoreson, who now primarily uses Mastodon.

Musk, CEO of Tesla, has long been fascinated with the letter and had already renamed Twitter’s corporate name to X Corp. after he bought it in October.

The billionaire is also CEO of rocket company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly known as SpaceX. And he started an artificial intelligence company this month called xAI to compete with ChatGPT. In 1999, he founded a startup called X.com, an online financial services company now known as PayPal.

He also calls his son with the singer Grimes, whose actual name is a collection of letters and symbols, “X.”

Musk’s Twitter purchase and rebranding are part of his strategy to create what he’s dubbed an “ everything app ” similar to China’s WeChat, which combines video chats, messaging, streaming and payments. Musk has made a number of drastic changes since taking over Twitter, including a shift to focusing on paid subscriptions, but he doesn’t always follow through on his attention-grabbing new policy pronouncements.

Linda Yaccarino, the longtime NBC Universal executive Musk tapped to be Twitter CEO in May, posted the new logo and weighed in on the change, writing on Twitter that X would be “the future state of unlimited interactivity — centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking — creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”

Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg called the rebranding “the end of an era.”

“Twitter’s rebrand is a reminder that Elon Musk, not Threads or any other app, is and has always been the most likely ‘Twitter killer,’” she said.

It’s clear, Enberg said, that the Twitter of the past 17 years is gone.

“Musk supporters will likely celebrate the rebrand, but it’s a gloomy day for many Twitter users and advertisers,” she said. “Even so, Twitter’s corporate brand is already heavily intertwined with Musk’s personal brand, with or without the name X, and much of Twitter’s established brand equity has already been lost among users and advertisers.”

But Paolo Pescatore, a tech and media analyst and founder of PP Foresight, said the change could be a good idea.

“People are now getting increasingly frustrated with a slew of apps, so driving usage all towards one destination will increase engagement and ultimately make it easier for them,” he said.

Others predicted the new name will confuse much of Twitter’s audience, which has already been souring on the social media platform following Musk’s other changes, including limiting the number of tweets users can read each day. The new threshold is part of an $8-per-month subscription service Musk rolled out earlier this year in an attempt to boost Twitter revenue.

Wiping out Twitter’s brand name recognition that was built up over 15 years is an “extremely risky move,” because it means Musk is ”essentially starting over while its competition is afoot,” said Mike Proulx, a research director at global market research company Forrester.

Twitter users pointed out that few people refer to Alphabet, Google’s parent company since 2015. Facebook renamed itself Meta in 2021, but its collection of apps — Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook — still retain their own brands and logos.

But Pescatore said it might be the right time for the sweeping rebranding that Musk seems to have in mind.

“The removal of Twitter from existence will be difficult for many users to understand,” Pescatore said. However, “maybe it is time for something new in light of the negative sentiment surrounding the company. A new start over this challenging period of major disruption and appeal to new audiences.”

___

AP Technology Writers Barbara Ortutay in Oakland, California and Matt O’Brien from Providence, Rhode Island contributed to this story.

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July 24, 2023
Awash in pink, everyone wants a piece of the ‘Barbie’ movie marketing mania

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NEW YORK — Pink sauce on that Burger King burger? What about “Barbie-fying” your pet with sweaters and beds with Barbie motifs? If that’s too low-brow, perhaps you’d be interested in hot pink Barbie monogrammed knit leggings by luxury designer Balmain instead, selling at Neiman Marcus for a cool $2,150.

Welcome to the wonderful and weird world of “Barbie” movie marketing.

Ahead of Friday’s U.S. release of the “Barbie” movie, parent company Mattel has created a product marketing blitz with more than 100 brands plastering pink everywhere.

There are pink benches at bus stops and pink clothing displayed in store windows. Microsoft’s XBox has come up with a Barbie console series and HGTV is hosting a four-part Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge.

And then there are all the unofficial collaborators trying to grab a piece of the Barbie craze. Restaurants across the country are offering special pink cocktails, while interior decorators are showing options like vibrant pink backsplashes to “Barbiefy” your kitchen.

Even the organization I Support the Girls — a nonprofit that has provided 22 million bras and menstrual hygiene products to homeless people, refugees and immigrants — is creating a social media campaign around menstrual periods using Barbie and having volunteers create miniature packages of Barbie-sized menstrual pads and tampons as teaching tools.

“The capability to share stories and knowledge through playing with Barbie is what made us realize we need to jump on this pop culture Barbie bandwagon,” said Dana Marlowe, founder and executive of I Support the Girls. “If you can see yourself in a toy or in a doll, we want to also make sure that we’re raising awareness about bras and clean underwear and the like.”

Some experts say all the marketing beyond the movie is only good for the 64-year-old brand, helping to attract multi-generations of fans.

“When a brand owns something as iconic as the color pink, it’s good news and bad news,” said Marc Rosenberg, a Chicago-based toy consultant who led the global marketing teams for Hasbro’s brands like Furby, GigaPets, and Hit Clips. “In this case, I think it’s all good news. Everyone in the world wants a piece of pink now.”

But pundits also say it’s going to be hard for many of the products to stand out when the world is awash in pink.

“There is such a stampede toward this that most people are going to get stepped on and will not be noticed,” said Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce, noting he believes there will be more losers than winners.

For some shoppers like Hollie Krause of Mahwah, New Jersey, Barbie pink blitz that ramped up since June is already getting too much.

Krause, 31, said that she loved her Barbie dolls growing up and had about 20 of them along with a Barbie Dreamhouse. So when some of the merchandise started to roll in earlier this year, she bought Barbie-themed pajamas, a Barbie T-shirt, Barbie-trademarked pink lemonade, along with some other pink outfits.

Now she’s feeling overwhelmed.

“Barbie is supposed to be for everyone, but these nostalgic collaborations should feel a little bit more unique or a little bit more creative,” said Krause, who plans to focus on limited edition items.

Barbie’s first live action movie, an homage to the doll with some biting satire, comes at a time when Barbie sales have been up and down after slumping from 2012 to 2015, when it faced stiff competition from other dolls and was under attack for pushing unrealistic beauty standards to girls and lost some relevance. It enjoyed a big bump in sales during the depths of the pandemic when parents were looking to entertain their children.

Barbie now accounts for one-third of Mattel’s revenue and it has been diversifying the dolls with more skin tones and versions with prosthetic legs, wheelchairs and hearing aids. This year, it unveiled its first Down Syndrome doll.

As a result, according to market research firm Circana, Barbie has remained the top fashion doll for the past four years starting in 2019 and through June of this year in the U.S. as well in the combined 12 countries that Circana tracks.

So far, product marketing around the movie has done well.

Mattel’s Barbie that was specifically made for the movie and is dressed in a pink gingham dress, is No. 1 in sales for dolls and for the pre-school dolls and dollhouse category sold on Amazon, according to the retailer’s website.

Neiman Marcus noted that it launched its exclusive Barbie collaboration with Balmain last year and sold out of many items in the first few days. Based on the success of last year’s collaboration and the current Barbiecore cultural phenomenon, it has reissued the collection starting July 10, the retailer said.

Then there’s the mixed social media reviews for the “Pink Burger” offered by Burger King’s franchisee in Brazil. It’s offering a slice of melted cheese, bacon and a smoky-flavored hot pink sauce. The Pink Burger comes in a Barbie Combo, which also features French fries (dubbed “Ken’s Potatoes”), a pink shake and a pink-frosted donut.

“Has BK completely lost its creativity or is just too lazy to think of something better?” said one comment on Burger King Brazil’s Instagram account.

Restaurant Brands noted it is a limited-time partnership sold exclusively in the Brazil market and will not be available in the United States nor elsewhere.

____

AP Business Writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this story.

________

Follow Anne D’Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio

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July 20, 2023
Global software firm 360insights moving U.S. headquarters to New Orleans from Delaware

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A global software firm is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Delaware to New Orleans, state economic officials confirmed Thursday.

The move by 360insights will add at least 50 new jobs with an average annual salary of $85,000 to the New Orleans workforce, Louisiana Economic Development said in a news release.

“Expanding technology companies continue to select Louisiana as the ideal location to grow their business,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “360insights will have access to the nation’s No. 1 tech talent pipeline, ensuring it remains competitive and innovative. The specialized, high-paying jobs this project will create bodes well for the continued expansion and diversification of Louisiana’s future-focused economy.”

Indonesia’s top diplomat is warning of the threat posed by nuclear weapons, saying that Southeast Asia is “one miscalculation away from apocalypse” and pressing for world powers to sign a treaty to keep the region free from such arms.

The Solomon Islands has signed an agreement to boost cooperation with China on law enforcement and security matters in a move likely to raise concerns among the South Pacific island’s traditional partners.

Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher Tuesday ahead of an update on U.S. consumer prices that traders hope will show inflation is easing, reducing the need for more interest rate hikes.

Russia’s war on Ukraine is in its 17 month and Western countries are sending increasingly hi-tech and long-range weapons and ammunition to help President Volodymyr Zelenskyy defend his country.

The company already has an office in New Orleans and founder and CEO Jason Atkins moved from Ontario to New Orleans two years ago, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

“Two years ago, my family and I relocated to New Orleans to be part of this amazing city and experience the culture-rich, diverse and service oriented community,” Atkins said. “The programs, support and incentives offered by Louisiana to help us grow our U.S.-based technology team made it a perfect fit for 360insights. We look forward to welcoming NOLA to the 360 team. We are on an unbelievable journey, and we are just getting started.”

Founded in 2008, 360insights offers software platforms that help clients manage sales networks and marketing promotions, among other services. It works with more than 300 companies, including Samsung, Yamaha, Panasonic, Sharp and Mitsubishi Motors, and it has offices in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Louisiana lured 360insights with help from the state’s Digital Interactive Media and Software Development Tax Credit program, which offers up to 25% in tax credits for certain expenditures.

The company will begin recruiting software development and support positions this summer, looking to grow its current global workforce of more than 600 employees.

“We’re excited to continue to grow at a fast pace and we’ll be looking forward to continuing that growth with the New Orleans community over the coming years,” Heather Margolis, senior vice president of marketing, said in an email to the newspaper.

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July 7, 2023
Ad wars heat up in the 2024 presidential race as spending nears $70 million | CNN Politics

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CNN
—

Former President Donald Trump is dominating cable airwaves, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is betting on Iowa and South Carolina, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is blanketing New Hampshire as candidates tailor their ad spending with the 2024 presidential race heating up.

Spending data from AdImpact shows how the various White House contenders have different strategies for the early primary map, investing resources in the states and messages they hope can serve as launching pads to the nomination – spending nearly $70 million along the way.

Allies of Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, have taken a unique approach among the crowded field, devoting more than three-quarters of their ad spending dollars to national cable advertising campaign.

MAGA Inc., the super PAC backing his campaign, has spent $15.7 million on national cable advertising out of a total of nearly $20 million in ad spending so far. The pro-Trump group has split the rest of its spending, a little more than $4 million, between Iowa and New Hampshire.

Reflecting that strategy, in the last month, MAGA Inc. spent $1.6 million on an ad running in major media markets (Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia) which criticizes the former president’s indictment in the classified documents case. The super PAC has also kept ads attacking DeSantis in rotation in the early primary states.

There are also hints at the strategy of DeSantis’ camp in the ad spending of a super PAC backing his campaign, Never Back Down. The group has spent a total of about $15.5 million on advertising so far, directing $4.3 million to Iowa and $3.7 million to South Carolina. On Tuesday, the group launched a new TV spot in Iowa proclaiming that DeSantis was “waging a war on woke and winning.”

By contrast, the group has spent just $1.3 million in New Hampshire so far. Notably, Never Back Down has spent about $630,000 in Nevada, another early voting state, making it the only GOP group with a significant presence on the airwaves there. The group has also spent about $5 million on national cable advertising.

South Carolina Sen Tim. Scott – another top advertiser in the early going of the White House race – has taken a traditional approach to ad budgeting, splitting his advertising between Iowa, where he’s spent about $3.5 million, and New Hampshire, where he’s spent about $2 million. In both states, he’s been a steady presence on the air, running ads that tout his “conservative values” and feature clips from the campaign trail.

And the super PAC allied with Scott has followed a similar pattern, spending about $3.1 million in Iowa and $1.9 million in New Hampshire. Unlike the Trump and DeSantis super PACs, Scott and his camp have spent little on national advertising campaigns.

Meanwhile, North Dakota’s Burgum has emerged as the top advertiser in New Hampshire so far, spending more than $2.1 million in the state as the independently wealthy candidate works to raise his profile among voters.

Burgum has also spent $2 million advertising in Iowa. Excluding outside groups, only Scott has spent more on campaign advertising – and even including the super PACs, Burgum is the fifth biggest advertiser in the race so far.

A look at who has spent money so far on 2024 ads
MAGA Inc.: $19,922,815
Never Back Down: $15,511,532
Scott for President $5,679,567
Trust in the Mission PAC $5,605,080
Burgum for President: $4,220,175
Perry Johnson for President: $2,119,553
Future Forward USA Action: $2,063,400
Biden Victory Fund: $2,022,898
Democratic National Committee/Biden: $1,636,147
Ramaswamy for President: $1,409,095
American Action Network: $1,219,358
Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee: $877,800
Binkley for President: $857,445
SOS America PAC: $827,280
Defending Democracy Together: $786,377
DeSantis for President: $763,910
Biden for President: $758,026
Trump for President: $682,998

Overall, since the start of 2023, all campaigns and outside groups have combined to spend nearly $70 million on advertising for the presidential race already. That amount is nearly double what had been spent at this point in the last presidential cycle – during a competitive Democratic primary – when all candidates and groups had spent about $35 million in the first six months of 2019.

This year, Trump’s super PAC, DeSantis’ super PAC, Scott and his super PAC, and Burgum account for over half that total, combining to spend just over $50 million.

Only two other candidates have spent more than $1 million on ads so far: Vivek Ramaswamy and Perry Johnson, both of whom are independently wealthy businessmen self-funding their campaigns.

And while candidates have taken different approaches to investing their resources, the traditional early voting states are continuing to draw the lion’s share of the ad dollars. Candidates and groups have spent about $17.4 million in Iowa, $10.9 million in New Hampshire, $3.9 million in South Carolina, and $830,000 in Nevada.

The ad wars are heating up as candidates in the crowded GOP field are scrambling to qualify for the first presidential debate in August.

Several long-shot Republican presidential candidates, with smaller budgets for TV advertising, have been appealing to donors online to help them make the debate stage after the Republican National Committee released the qualification requirements, which include both polling and fundraising thresholds.

As he seeks to nab the 40,000 individual donors required to be on stage, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is up with Facebook ads that read, “I am running for President to bring out the best in America. From securing the border to creating a robust economy, I have the experience to deliver. Chip in $3, $5, or $10 today to help me get on the debate stage and move our nation forward.”

Ramaswamy – who is self-funding his campaign – is also urging supporters to help him qualify. “To secure a prime spot on the debate stage, we need solid polling numbers AND unique grassroots donors. Can you chip in just $1 today to help get to the debate stage?,” one of Ramaswamy’s ads says.

And Johnson, the wealthy Michigan businessman, is making similar appeals. “Even though I’m self-funding, the RNC is requiring that I get 40,000 donors to make the debate stage. Can you donate $1 NOW to ensure that I make the cut to share my plan to stop inflation and balance the budget?,” reads one of his ads.

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A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.

New York
CNN
—

First Republic Bank has been teetering on the edge for weeks. It may be finally falling.

The San Francisco-based lender could be next in the line to collapse, following in the footsteps of former competitors Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

It certainly fits the bill: First Republic

(FRC), like SVB, is a mid-sized regional bank with a highly concentrated customer base, outsized amounts of uninsured deposits and loads of unrealized losses on the bonds and treasuries it holds.

Rumors swirled on Wednesday as publications rushed out reports from unnamed sources saying that the bank was looking to cut a deal to sell assets, that the White House wasn’t interested in facilitating a bailout (there were also reports that it is) and that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is considering downgrading the bank’s debt, which would limit its access to essential Federal Reserve loans.

The FDIC, Federal Reserve, White House and First Republic did not respond to requests for comment about those reports. But the damage has been done.

Shares of the stock fell by nearly 30% on Wednesday, after plunging by 49% on Tuesday. The stock’s trading was halted numerous times both days as its rapid decline triggered volatility-triggered timeouts by the New York Stock Exchange.

But what’s actually happening here?

The reality of the situation: What we do know for certain is that First Republic reported on Monday that its total deposits fell 41% in the first quarter of 2023 to $104.5 billion, even after a consortium of banks stepped in with $30 billion to prevent the lender from failing. Without that cash infusion, deposits would have fallen by over 50%.

But, importantly, the bank said that while it saw a sharp drop in deposit activity after the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank last month, activity began to stabilize at the end of March and has since remained steady.

We also know that First Republic’s net interest income, which shows how much money the bank earned from lending and borrowing, was down 19.4% year-over-year at the end of the first quarter.

On top of all that, the bank is vulnerable to liquidity problems.

When the banking crisis erupted in mid-March, about two-thirds of First Republic’s deposits were uninsured with the FDIC. That’s lower than the 94% at Silicon Valley Bank — but at the end of last year, First Republic had an exceptionally high ratio of 111% for loans and long-term investments to deposits, according to S&P Global — meaning it has loaned and invested more money than it has in deposits.

In short: The outlook for the bank is not good.

“It’s becoming clearer each day” that First Republic is “toast,” said Don Bilson at Gordon Haskett, in a note Wednesday. “The only question that really needs to be answered is whether the [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation] moves in before the weekend or during the weekend, which is when it usually does its thing.”

Possible solutions: We also know that it’s not over until it’s over, and that the bank is still operating. There are still some narrow paths forward.

There’s a small chance that First Republic stays the course and “muddles along as a standalone company,” said David Chiaverini, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities.

What’s more likely is that the company will try to sell some of its loans and securities at the same cost they bought them for. In exchange, the buyer would receive a preferred equity interest in the company.

That will be a tough sell since those assets would probably sell for well above market rate. First Republic’s bonds maturing in 2046 are currently trading at just 43 cents on the dollar. But the bank has been lucky before. First Republic has stayed afloat since March largely thanks to a $30 billion bailout from a conglomerate of large US banks and a $70 billion line of credit from JPMorgan.

The third option is the worst for shareholders: the bank could go into receivership. When a struggling bank goes into receivership it means that a regulatory authority or government agency takes control of the bank and its assets, usually with the goal of liquidating those assets to repay the bank’s creditors.

Investors in First Republic would most likely see their money wiped out in that scenario.

Coming next: First Republic is in a very tricky situation. Investors will be crossing their fingers and holding their breath until Friday at 4 p.m. ET. That’s when newly-collapsed banks have admitted defeat in the past.

Facebook-parent Meta on Wednesday reported that it grew sales by 3% during the first three months of the year, reversing a trend of three consecutive quarters of revenue declines and far exceeding Wall Street analysts’ expectations, reports my colleague Clare Duffy.

Meta shares jumped as much as 12% in after-hours trading following the report, continuing the company’s strong trajectory since CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that 2023 would be a “year of efficiency.”

Another bright spot: user growth was relatively strong compared to recent quarters. The number of monthly active people on Meta’s family of apps grew 5% from the prior year to more than 3.8 billion and Facebook daily active users increased 4% to more than 2 billion.

Still, Meta has a big hill ahead of it. The company also reported that profits declined by nearly a quarter to $5.7 billion compared to the same period in the prior year. Price per advertisement — an indicator of the health of the company’s core digital ad business — also decreased by 17% from the year prior.

Meta has been in the midst of a massive restructuring, as it attempts to recover from a perfect storm of heightened competition, lingering recession fears resulting in fewer ad dollars and a multibillion dollar effort to build a future version of the internet it calls the metaverse.

Meta said in November it would eliminate 11,000 jobs, the single largest round of cuts in its history. And in March, Zuckerberg announced Meta would lay off another 10,000 employees. All told, the cuts will shrink Meta’s workforce by a quarter.

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Tag: marketing and advertising

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