Future of Media: Flipping out, cooking up subs, and Google's Oz evacuation
This is an extract from The Drum’s Future of Media briefing. You can subscribe to it here if you’d like it your inbox once a week.
John McCarthy here, and it sure is kicking off this week. Google's ripping up the cookies rule book (although not everyone is on board), BBC's setting billboards on fire to make a point about the climate disaster, and Tim Cook's taken a hammer to Facebook's business model.
Flip it
Mike McCue, chief executive of Flipboard (a news curation app), and formerly a board member of Twitter, reflected on the damage social media algorithms can reap as the nation still reels from rioters storming the Capitol.
In our interview, he talked about the power of amplifying well-sourced news, and the dangers of amplifying misinformation.
G'bye Google
Google's threatening to pull out of Australia in response to a proposed code of conduct from the government. Our reporter Shawn Lim looked closer at the clash. News Corp in particular, in the homeland of the Murdochs, has been pushing for it.
As Jeff Goldblum famously said in Jurassic Park, "Life uhhhh, finds a way." Microsoft's Bing has very kindly offered to step into the huge market gap if Google evacuates from Oz.
Recipe for Subs
Ever wondered whether you can build 300,000 subscribers by dusting off some old print recipes and giving them some love? Probably not. But, as the NYT tells our Ellen Ormesher, it can be done.
NYT Cooking’s general manager Amanda Rottier explained how it has built a hugely successful vertical in lockdown that brings in money and has a huge social presence. And all it needed was a one-of-a-kind content archive and the brand halo afforded by the NYT.
Data ethics
GroupM's released a new tool that measures the ethical expense of its buyers' data use. Working with Unilever, it built a tool that scores campaigns based on ethical and privacy risks.
How will media plans develop under the umbrella of this new tool? Can we expect channels and tactics to change? With a host of privacy regulation coming in you could imagine more groups embracing these hand-holding tools.
Old meets new
It's always TikTok that TikTok this. Yes, we all laugh at the videos, and yes, the app sparks a viral trend every single week, and yes, remember Ocean Spray [happy accident]. Sensible brands are bumping up investment in the platform, and this ice cream company's TikTok sales success wasn't an accident.
There are results to be delivered, and nothing epitomises that more than TikTok teaming up with advertising giant WPP to educate staff and clients on its products.
Other Stuff
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Insider Inc. to drop Business Insider name amid massive global expansion [It's just Insider now, and I think it wants to be inside everything]
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How The Washington Post’s new Instagram editor will try to boost its subscription business [WaPo has an Insta team, and a plan]
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Adobe's Digital Trends Experiences report [13,000 marketers and IT executives polled]
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Fox News ratings in freefall [They were out-crazied on the right, says one critic]
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As the US descends into chaos, what better time for Britain to go the same way? [GB News is coming...]
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Survey Says: Never Tweet [NYT's Ben Smith on journalists' Twitter balancing act]
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User Privacy Doesn’t Solve Publisher Privacy [FLoC ain't quite a silver bullet, privacy needs a buy in from all]
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Digitalbox looks to turn student news network The Tab into profitable business [It owns the Daily Mash too]
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HubSpot is acquiring The Hustle [a software company buys a popular newsletter brand]
Well, that’s this week’s round-up. If you missed the last issue, read it here. And you can subscribe to some of our other briefings here. I'm always looking to improve this briefing. Let me know what you'd like to see more of - or if you have a pitch. And do share it if you can.
john.mccarthy@thedrum.com
@johngeemccarthy on Twitter